New GOP Platform for 2010?

Black Swan

What will be the Republican political platform and leadership for the 2010 mid-term elections? Will they repeat the mistakes of the 2008, or learn from them? Will they relabel and recycle the old Bush-Cheney policies, or reformulate new ones that will address the current financial crisis in the US?

Regardless of your personal political position on US politics (I'm Independent!), if you were hired to reformulate and develop the Republican political platform to win more Congressional seats for the mid-term 2010 elections, what would you advise the Republicans to do?

At this moment in time, here is the Bad B!ue Political Consultants, Ltd., recommendations for the GOP. What's yours?

If Republicans are smart for the 2010 mid-term elections, they will:

• Avoid smear tactics so popular in the 2008 presidential elections that tended to alienate independent voters (e.g., Ayers-Obama, Obama place-of-birth, painting Democrats as socialists, and in general mud slinging character assassination attacks that take attention away from real political issues).
• Avoid any association with the Bush-Cheney administration or its actions, including any critique of how the Obama administration has handled "Bush's" two wars. If you resurrect the war issues, you also resurrect Bush, which would be a huge mistake.
• Avoid any mention of trickle-down economics resulting from reducing taxes for the rich (where, in actuality, India and China have benefited more than American workers by the exporting of labour to cheaper job markets).
• Avoid any mention of deregulation (where, in actuality the Bush deregulation of investment banks, and the cut-back of SEC oversight in 2004, contributed to the out-of-control strategies of investment banks, hedge funds, and the huge losses in the equity markets).
• Avoid sensationalist candidates (e.g., Sarah Palin) that may energize Republicans, but who tend to alienate many independents because of their political distance from the center, while at the same time mobilizing Democrats in a THEM-vs-US bipolarisation (rather than taking advantage of the tendency of Democrats to fight among themselves as PJ cited earlier).

Rather, Republicans can win more Congressional seats by building a positive, proactive political platform (very unlike 2008), that focuses on solving real issues that are affecting voters, with practical solutions that make sense to the average voter, especially drawing their attention to, and offering solutions for:

• Rising unemployment and how people are hurting as a result
• Decline in, and sluggish new job growth
• Historic and growing federal deficit, how that depreciates the purchasing power of the dollar, impacts the retirements of Baby Boomers, and mortgages their children's futures.
• If they spin anything during the 2010 elections (without resorting to character attacks or mud slinging), they could point to the inconsistency between an improving economy and increasing unemployment as a result of inconsistent fiscal policies that may lead to a double dip recession (i.e., unemployed and underemployed people default on credit cards, mortgages, and other loans, leading to more bank failures, federal bailouts, and astronomical federal deficit), which could wipe out the "short term" 2009-2010 economic gains with a secondary collapse of the US financial infrastructure. This message may undermine the Democrats recovering economy message in 2010, but will probably not work for 2012, as an improving economy will eventually improve unemployment.

But whom will lead them away from repeating the mistakes of 2008? Not a sensationalist, inexperienced, and somewhat comic Sarah Palin, or someone too far right from the center like conservative Doug Hoffman, or an obviously rating-biased extreme and sarcastic talking head like Rush Limbaugh. Is there a Republican moderate that can unify and lead his party in a more proactive, less mud-slinging stance for 2010, that doesn't sacrifice his earlier political positions simply to win leadership (i.e., someone unlike McCain, who sacrificed his moderate stance in 2008 to win far right conservatives)? Whom?

Democrats will focus on, and claim credit for the improving economy, and how that will eventually improve unemployment, but a lot of people will still be hurting and not have realised the benefits of the improving economy by the 2010 election due to the lag between economic recovery and job growth, and could be swayed away resulting in Republican mid-term election Congressional seat gains.

2010 Improving economy and increasing unemployment projections:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.phil.frb.org/research-and-data/real-time-center/survey-of-professional-forecasters/2009/spfq309_unemployment-rate-2010.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.phil.frb.org/research-and-data/real-time-center/survey-of-professional-forecasters/2009/survq309.cfm&usg=__c5-btYiFkIhl241jYnqxWSMAnR4=&h=569&w=600&sz=39&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=qFI1LtVqNbl8rM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dprojected%2Bunemployment%2B2010%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

Pocono Joe

For 2010... I’d say Republicans should just let the Democratic leadership continue on their present path, which will cause the rank and file Democrats to accompany them right off the political cliff. Republicans will then be voted in merely by being the big red default button for reason by Independents.

(Simple but effective strategy provided by PJ’s Political Posturing, LLC… where do I send the bill?)

JohnMc1

Pocono Joe wrote: »

For 2010... I’d say Republicans should just let the Democratic leadership continue on their present path, which will cause the rank and file Democrats to accompany them right off the political cliff. Republicans will then be voted in merely by being the big red default button for reason by Independents.

(Simple but effective strategy provided by PJ’s Political Posturing, LLC… where do I send the bill?)

If the current trend continues the Reps won't have to do anything. If Healthcare passes I wouldn't be surprised if the Unemployment rates skyrockets [$15,000 per individual? WTF is Pelosi and co smoking? How is that supposed to help the poor people like it claims] Just keep purging the Rep party of the Democrat wannabes and they're good to go.

Overheal

• Agressive campaigning of non-renewable energy policy to get us off of foreign oil; reduce our import figures; dramatically increase manufacturing and refining jobs via offshore drilling and the construction of new Nuclear plants. Continued R&D into Fusion reactors. Renewable Energy sources still need exploration but will not produce jobs at nearly the same rate, bang for buck.
• Unwavering support of NASA
• Unwavering support of Aerospace and Military industry which accounts for huge numbers of jobs in the US; R&D into new defensive and non-lethal deterrents (Laser; Sonic; Troop defense; etc)

I could think of more but im drawing blanks. Outside of political issues, these things are my picks for economic stimulation. Nuclear energy is prefarable to fossil energy, particularly to invigorate the private Electric Automobile industry which is an altogether necessary thing. Fossil fuels should be extracted to the point where we are Exporting, not Importing. Or stockpiling for future endeavors, like space exploration.

As mentioned in another posts/thread, if they run as Moderates again, they will only fail. By running as conservatives is what wins them their constituents.

Black Swan

Overheal wrote: »

Agressive campaigning of non-renewable energy policy to get us off of foreign oil; reduce our import figures

Although I agree with you that the US should not be dependent upon oil imports, do you think that major US oil corporations that have drilling and pumping operations in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world would be enthusiastic and supportive ($) of a Republican party that wanted to eliminate oil from abroad?