We complain about the superficial, biased coverage of the MSM. We are justified in doing so. Thus, we must not succumb to the same trite discussion of why McCain is losing and where the GOP went wrong.
The answer, my friends, is not found in one person, wing of the Party, policy approach or tactic. The reasons the “circular firing squad” now points to – inconsistent message, poor fundraising, inferior integration of new technology, even the President’s low approval rating — are symptoms of the disease, not the cause of it.
The disease is complacency with the status quo and arrogance. The same disease that caused Republicans to lose the majority in both houses in 2006. Americans demand change. Duh.
David Frum summarizes this well in The Week as reported by The Politico:
In The Week, former Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote of McCain’s travails in a way that seemed to take defeat for granted and warned the GOP faces a long road back. “That’s not a failure of campaign tactics. It’s not even a failure of strategy. It’s a failure of the Republican Party and conservative movement to adapt to the times.”
The Republican Party must heed this quote in the coming months: If you don’t change, you won’t change.
If the Republican Party doesn’t re-establish a core set of principles that address the issues the majority of Americans care about, we will continue to lose support. If we don’t understand that raising money is not the most important function of a campaign or political organization, we will continue to raise less than our leftist counterparts. If we don’t stop holding ourselves hostage to an entrenched consultant class, we only have ourselves to blame. If we don’t set specific goals and make investments in new media and political technology training, we will continue to cede grassroots dominance to our political opponents. And if we don’t start listening to the American people, and addressing their concerns, rather than pursuing our own agenda, we will continue to be unpopular.
Election Day is one week away. No matter the specific Republican vote count for President or seat count in the House and Senate, it will be time to finally admit that the status quo is not working; it will be time to democratize the Republican Party, to rewrite the playbook; it will be time rebuild.
It will be time to stop throwing blame around, and for every Republican official, candidate, staffer and consultant to open their eyes and ears to a new approach.
As someone who has advocated a new approach to the Republican Party for the last four years, I look forward to a more open, inclusive discussion about the way forward. Meanwhile, I look forward to your input here.
