Nice write-up in Newsweek, BTW.

Trouble is, personality cultists (those already hyping Huck, Romney, Palin, Jindal, etc.) will all want to prune away their adversaries under the guise of cutting out deadwood. We may be left with nothing but a stump if each faction has its turn with the saw and pruners.

Yet, even then, a shoot may sprout from that stump…

Well stated post. As you said, many in the Republican party put themselves first. From 1994 to around 1999 the Conservatives did great work, but by 1999 the “me first” politicians in the party emerged and they became Democrat Lite slick willy do anything to keep my seat types.

Their minority status is the result. It is my hope the “me first” types will scamper away like the cockroaches they are never to be seen.

I am one Rush disagrees with…I believe if you do not govern as a Conservative (with appropriate compromises) you deserve to lose and it is my responsibility to NOT vote for a Republican. The Republican Party got what it deserved. Had we rallied around them under the guise “my guy, as bad as he/she is, is better than their bad guy” we would still have the same Democrat Lite Republicans leaders.

Look no further than the African American (AA) segment of our society…The Democrats know they have the AA vote, so they play lip service to their problems every four years and forget them the day after an election. The Republican Party had started to look at Conservatives in the same light.

Now that the Republicans are in the minority, it is my sincere wish the dead-wood non-Conservatives will drop out since they can no longer game the system in their own self interest.

I’m glad you noted that politics is about compromise especially in a two party system. We expect too much sometimes from our politicians.

On a similar note, I think we should be more tolerant of “special interests”. The freedom to organize on behalf of your interest is American as apple pie. The phrase gets a bad rap, but the NRA is a special interest group, so is the Club for Growth. In that vein, insurance agents, tobacco companies, loggers, whoever also have the right to organize to better communicate their needs. Its called freedom of speech.

Naturally, “special interests” often become regionalized. We don’t elect 100 mini-Presidents. We elect 100 Senators. Too often, we attack good Republicans for representing THEIR constituents. It is not the duty of every Rep or Senator to represent all Americans. We live in a representative Democracy.

If a military base is going to close down in your district, you better beleive that many independents, moderates, consevative Dmeocrats and even good Republicans are going to want their Rep to fight to save it, even if it is considered “pork” from a national perspective. Reps are suppose to fight and represent THEIR constituents. If their consituents want improved roads, bridges and parks, they will fight for it if they expect to survive. It is a necessary part of our Representative Demcocracy. How they do it may be an issue, but they will do it and it is to be expected.

I’m sick of grandstanding conservatives acting like its the job all Representatives and Sentors to represent the national interest exclusively. That’s a big Poli Sci 101 – FAIL. That’s not how our founders created our government.

I agree with the premise of what Erick is saying. We need to compete with the older generation/element of our party that has gotten us to this point. I don’t think we can be overly outrageous or obnoxius but rather we need to put forth logical thoughts and ideas from a rational point of view that people will embrace. In other words, we need to be conservatives first but really good marketers second. Unfortunately, politics has become all about marketing and less about substance. Obama proved that. So the question is this: Are Eric Cantor and McCarthy the future of our party ready to compete with the Mitch McConnells and the Jim Boehners or are they going to let the old school seniority club dictate our direction? The old guard have the microphone because of their position so how will the new guys get our voices heard? I think its too early to tell but I am hopeful and I support Mr. Cantor wholeheartedly.

A lot of you are not old enough to remember the last time the conservatives had this argument with the GOP. In the 50s, 60s, and 70s there was a part of the conservative movement that claimed the GOP was not conservative enough, and referring to polls that indicated that 59% of the people considered themselves “conservatives” as it was then defined, as therefore the conservatives should form a new national Copnservative Party to replace the GOP. What they failed to realize then, and what we must realize now is, “conservatives” elected as Democrats are Democrats first. When push comes to shove, they voted with the Democrat leadership. This was manifiest in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Now days this is being repeated by Sen Casey and Sen Salazar and any number of “conservative” Democrats elected in the South and West. They get elected by mouthing conservative principles but join the Democrat majority in pushing its liberal agenda.

What we conservatives must realize is that the GOP will have many shades of conservatives: fiscal conservatives, pro-growth conservatives, traditionalists, social conservatives etc. Conservatives of every stripe need to work within the GOP to push their agenda and drive the GOP in the right direction. It is our only chance. No matter how many “conservative” Democrats are elected, they will never drive the Democrat Agenda.

The bottom line is that conservatives do not need a new party, they need to make the GOP a party that wins elections with conservative principles. The GOP needs to support social conservative values, be fiscal conservatives and be pro-growth not pro-big business.

In our own party is getting harder, but finding principled conservative-leaning Democrats willing to take a stand is even more difficult. Weeding thru the issues now and finding principled Democrats who have courage to stand with the minority on vital issues is also important. Big battles are brewing and fewer Democrats will be willing to stand on their principles when facing destruction in their own party.

Also finding the Chuck Hagels in our party and forcing them to choose now will be crucial. We already know their playbook, and we know whats coming.
We’ll soon be forced to pick our battles. Lets come out swinging at the bell and do our circling and measuring now before we even get in the ring.

Outstanding piece Erick. Forwarded to Maha.

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Even though it’s more likely I’ll be voting Republican 90% of the time. Why? Because deep inside, I’ve always understood conservatism to be a separate distinct rather than as a key component of Republican Party.

I would vote Democrat if GOP turns out to be more liberal across its board (a shocking thought!). I am always looking for politicians whose beliefs or agendas are closer to my conservative beliefs.

Registering as an Independent is my way of taking comfort in the thought that whatever voting decisions I make are always independent of any party obligations. That’s just me, if you don’t agree with me, that’s alright with me. In my heart, I’ll be always a Christian first, a conservative second, and lastly a Republican. Keep that in your mind!

If the GOP is going to regain power (both in the WH and congress) it needs to determine how it can cobble together a majority, just as it did during the Reagan years.

With Obama in power, our chances of attracting African-Americans (even conservative ones) is nil. I believe J.C. Watts even voted for “The One,” which demonstrates that race trumps anything else. With all his efforts to pass comprehensive immigration and pandering at La Raza, McCain only achieved about 30% of the Hispanic vote.

If you read excerpts from articles on Sarah Palin’s tour through Georgia on behalf of Chambliss, reporters and Erick both noted the crowd were larger, younger and more “scaled down” income than McCain drew earlier or those at any other GOP rally this year. In short, the rebirth of the Reagan Democrats.

The incompetents running the McCain campaign wasted their most valuable weapon – Sarah Palin. She is not Ronald Reagan, but she can relate to working class voters unlike any Republican since Reagan.

Our best chance for victory as conservatives is to discard the thinking of elitists by embracing middle class voters that Peggy Noonan, David Brooks and Kathleen Parker wouldn’t be caught dead with.

There’s only one person I can envision making this happen – the one in the skirt.

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve written, but sort of like a fish swimming in water not noticing the water, I think you breezed right past a major bone of contention that we need to be cognizant of, and on which we need to start to challenge Dems/libs/Marxists. You said we represent the cause of freedom. They say the same thing. But they say that because they have a different conception of freedom than we do. Our conception of freedom is the philosophical “negative freedom” and theirs is the philosophical “positive freedom.” We regard people as free so long as there are no constraints preventing them from doing something. They only regard someone as free is someone is able to do something. If someone is not able to do something, then obviously it requires a government program to enable them to do that something. We need to more directly address this issue in public, if for no other reason than to make clear that when we say “free” we mean something completely different from when they say “free.”

Is stop backing the bus over George Bush repeatedly.

He is an honorable man and should be treated as such.