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Choosing the best GOP national strategy

Should the GOP change or stay true to its principles?

  • The GOP should reinvent itself

    Votes: 20 69.0%

  • The GOP should stay true to its convictions

    Votes: 9 31.0%
  • Total voters
    29
Tigger said:
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I defy any individual here at DP to tell me what the Republican Party actually stands for? What are their Core Values, which belong to the leadership of the party, their candidates, and their members. I don't believe it can be done.......
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Stopping the liberal agenda.....there, that was easy. I didn't even have to get into force-feeding pork barbeque to vegetarians part....
 
Tigger said:
I defy any individual here at DP to tell me what the Republican Party actually stands for? What are their Core Values, which belong to the leadership of the party, their candidates, and their members. I don't believe it can be done.
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Yes it can.

Right now, the Republican Party stands for whatever the Democratic Party doesn't.
 
I think where the GOP is missing it is they have made people, IE: voters, out to be "the problem". The democrats have done this too but to a far lesser extent. I'm of the opinion most voters don't really rank "policies" high up on the why I vote for ____________ on their list of voter preference considerations. What matters more than anything else is do they see the candidate or party as being on their side; is this party or candidate for them or against them. Policies are secondary and if the cases are properly made voters can be persuaded that this or that policy is in their best interest. Obama won re-election this month not because his policies were the best or his track record was stellar. He won because say what you will, voters connected with him because he is perceived as genuinely concerned, cares deeply about the American people and they trusted him to base his decisions on what he honestly thinks are in their best interest and does not view them as "the trouble with this country".
 
Put me firmly on the side of those wanting the GOP to stick to its principles and not change a thing! Winning elections is vastly overrated. It is far more important to maintain ideological purity in the face of all that riff-raff out there! They are the only hope for old white guys and they can't abandon us!
 
Wiggen said:
Put me firmly on the side of those wanting the GOP to stick to its principles and not change a thing! Winning elections is vastly overrated. It is far more important to maintain ideological purity in the face of all that riff-raff out there! They are the only hope for old white guys and they can't abandon us!
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I'll add winning the White House, although it is a big deal is somewhat overrated. The GOP would be far more effective if they just had just The House or The Senate but the majority of state legislatures, Governor's Mansions and school boards in the country (excluding Arizona :doh).
 
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Fisher said:
Stopping the liberal agenda.....there, that was easy. I didn't even have to get into force-feeding pork barbeque to vegetarians part....
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samsmart said:
Yes it can. Right now, the Republican Party stands for whatever the Democratic Party doesn't.
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LOL. You two are hilarious; or at least you would be if it wasn't such a serious matter.

How can the GOP be about STOPPING the Liberal/Democrat agenda when for the most part they have supported that exact same agenda? Oh, they'll re-word it and try to slap a different coat of paint on it, but in the course of my lifetime (38+ years) there has been no truly significant difference between the things the Democrats and Republicans have done while in offce.
 
Smeagol said:
Most of the talking heads are suggesting, due to demographic trends the Republican Party is going to have to either face the real likelihood of not winning the White House anytime in the foreseeable future or change its positions and approaches. This with the understanding one of the definitions of conservative is opposition to change.

As I see it the GOP is at an impasse. It's going to either have to reinvent itself in order to appeal to a broader audience or its going to need to be true to its historical convictions while facing the reality that they are likely going to be a minority voice politically and no chance at the Oval Office. Going forward should the GOP modernize and change its character in efforts to win the ultimate prize, the White House or should the GOP remain true to its principles and let the chips fall where they may being most effective as a national opposition party in congress and impacting state and local governments?
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In 2008 Republicans made fun of Obama for being a community organizer. They should think that over because Obama won re-election because he organized the best campaign and got people out to vote in droves. Republicans got too cocky that they would win and did not run a good campaign. That being said they do need to keep religion, abortion, and gay rights out of the conversation if they expect to win an election in the near future.
 
If the republican party were to return to the days when they supported SMALL business, while simultaneously distancing themselves from the far right cultural crusaders, they would certainly increase their appeal to me.
 
samsmart said:
Personally - and I'm probably the only Republican who thinks so - I think it would be interesting for the Republican Party to actually include some welfare state advocates into their big tent.

Back in the 90's, the GOP tried to run on a platform of "compassionate conservatism." Republicans ran on a platform of traditional family values, and, with people disgusted by President Clinton's sex scandals, they won a lot of elections that way.

However, family social values are not entirely compatible with the laissez-faire business attitudes that the Republican Party have had.

If we want parents to spend more time with their children to help raise them, government is needed to enforce regulations on worker hours to help them with that.

If we want to help single parents raise their children - whether it's for teen mothers, divorced mothers, or widowed mothers - we need to make sure those women can afford to.

If we want to end drug violence then we need to legalize the softer drugs and provide drug addicts with treatment rather than incarceration.

If we want to preserve the traditions of sportsmanship in hunting and fishing, then we need to preserve and conserve our pristine wilderness, which means environmental regulations.

If we want to expand that appreciation for nature, we need to promote our public parks, and utilize methods for people to partake in them, such as hosting concerts and plays.

If we want to promote education, then we need to provide funding to public agency that utilizes the internet to produce that media free for all people to download in order to educate themselves.

If we want to promote small businesses, then we should have government agencies, perhaps at the local level but with federal funding, that provide start-up loans to entrepreneurs so they can start their own businesses that private lenders aren't interested in.

If the GOP wants a more ethnically diverse membership, then they need to court educated immigrants as well as hard-working middle-class immigrants rather than keeping entry and citizenship restrictive.

Please note that I'm not saying that the GOP should rewrite it's platform to make ideas such as these their main platform. Rather, I think the GOP should stop trying to maintain an absurd sense of ideological purity and stop accusing others of being a "RINO" and expand those they can work with rather than demand people stay in lock-step with them.
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Welcome to the Democratic Party. :)
 
Simply put go back to the Reagan concepts and treat the Teas and extremists like lepers. Focus on real grass roots actions and find out what the 'average joe" wants or needs. Build on that and what the votes come in.
 
Smeagol said:
Most of the talking heads are suggesting, due to demographic trends the Republican Party is going to have to either face the real likelihood of not winning the White House anytime in the foreseeable future or change its positions and approaches. This with the understanding one of the definitions of conservative is opposition to change.

As I see it the GOP is at an impasse. It's going to either have to reinvent itself in order to appeal to a broader audience or its going to need to be true to its historical convictions while facing the reality that they are likely going to be a minority voice politically and no chance at the Oval Office. Going forward should the GOP modernize and change its character in efforts to win the ultimate prize, the White House or should the GOP remain true to its principles and let the chips fall where they may being most effective as a national opposition party in congress and impacting state and local governments?
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Here's a good article on this subject, specifically as related to the immigration issue:

Could Texas Become a Blue State? : The New Yorker
 
wolfman24 said:
Simply put go back to the Reagan concepts and treat the Teas and extremists like lepers. Focus on real grass roots actions and find out what the 'average joe" wants or needs. Build on that and what the votes come in.
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Therein you make the mistake of putting political expediency and victory above PRINCIPLES. The reason I will no longer vote for members of EITHER party is the fact that neither one of them even espouses, nevermind lives up to, any level of PRINCIPLES.
 
Tigger said:
Therein you make the mistake of putting political expediency and victory above PRINCIPLES. The reason I will no longer vote for members of EITHER party is the fact that neither one of them even espouses, nevermind lives up to, any level of PRINCIPLES.
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As I said earlier, I don't think most people rank policy issues as the top reason they vote the way they do. They vote for who they think is on their side and can be talked into almost anything as long as they know beyond a doubt the candidate honest to goodness, no pandering will government in their best interest.
 
Fisher said:
well, first, the House is the most important branch of government unless you want to order a drone strike on somebody....
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This is hilarious dude.
 
I think they should stick to their principles. WITH the caveat that they need to soften some of the rhetoric. It's OK to think that people on welfare aren't worth the trouble, but when you say "Well, they're victims. We don't need them..." etc., well....they're not going to vote for you.

I don't think there's any need to reinvent their principles, but they do need to reinvent their image.
 
0bserver92 said:
Well first of all socially America is behind on social issues like gay marriage and abortion. Secondly what I mean is it would move the Democrats closer to social democracy.
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Europe's abortion laws are stricter than the US's.
 
mpg said:
Europe's abortion laws are stricter than the US's.
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Well compared to Canada your behind we first legalized abortion in 1969 and removed all laws regarding abortion in 1988. It is still under debate in the U.S..
 
rocket88 said:
I think they should stick to their principles. WITH the caveat that they need to soften some of the rhetoric. It's OK to think that people on welfare aren't worth the trouble, but when you say "Well, they're victims. We don't need them..." etc., well....they're not going to vote for you.

I don't think there's any need to reinvent their principles, but they do need to reinvent their image.
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Problem is, if they keep the tea party and radical religious right, they will NEVER be trusted, no matter what they say.
 
The GOP needs to focus on the failures of the Democrat party and how their path is/would largely hurt America, they need to have a better offense.

When it comes to immigration reform I think the Republicans need to change their policy. They should allow the children of immigrants without crime convictions to remain in the US, their parents should be fined and granted a temporary residency while they apply for full citizenship legally. We should only deport or imprison illegal aliens guilty of crimes.

When it comes to social issues they Republicans should stand with their convictions but should give those powers over to the states instead of trying to make social issues federal issues. Not only is this best for the country but I think it would be better for the party platform as a whole.

They need to emphasize a message of economic prosperity and allowing for more programs that get people off food stamps and welfare like funding more education for the financially disadvantaged.

They need to strongly denounce the poor fiscal planning of previous Republican leaders and put together a feasible plan to lower the deficit and national debt. They also need to emphasize the importance of doing so.

I also think they should reach out more so to the black community and help break the Democrat stronghold that exists within that group.
 
mpg said:
Europe's abortion laws are stricter than the US's.
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It may be in catholic europe. It sure the hell isn't the case in Protestant Europe. which is most of europe.
 
The Republican party basically has no future, I think. Its fundamental principles are exclusionary. It champions Christian values at the expense of everyone else's, routinely demonizes the poor, works to disenfranchise minorities, attempts to strip women of economic and reproductive freedom, and tries to impede equality for homosexuals. When you try that hard to make enemies, of course you're going to lose elections. The demographics of this last election reveal it all. Romney got the majority of white males, and Obama got the majority of nearly everyone else. The United States is no longer a place that devotes itself to the interests of a single demographic. I don't really see a way for Republicans to adapt to this change without basically no longer being Republicans.

There is a case for a real fiscally conservative, small government party, but that's not something that either major party espouses at the moment, so again, the Republican party would have to essentially abandon its current platforms. There's basically nowhere left for it to turn.
 
Muddy Creek said:
Problem is, if they keep the tea party and radical religious right, they will NEVER be trusted, no matter what they say.
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Hopefully, they will not only keep them but allow them to continue calling the shots for the Party. It's a great strategy!!
 
Paschendale said:
The Republican party basically has no future, I think. Its fundamental principles are exclusionary. It champions Christian values at the expense of everyone else's, routinely demonizes the poor, works to disenfranchise minorities, attempts to strip women of economic and reproductive freedom, and tries to impede equality for homosexuals. When you try that hard to make enemies, of course you're going to lose elections. The demographics of this last election reveal it all. Romney got the majority of white males, and Obama got the majority of nearly everyone else. The United States is no longer a place that devotes itself to the interests of a single demographic. I don't really see a way for Republicans to adapt to this change without basically no longer being Republicans.

There is a case for a real fiscally conservative, small government party, but that's not something that either major party espouses at the moment, so again, the Republican party would have to essentially abandon its current platforms. There's basically nowhere left for it to turn.
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Which republican was it who said something about the poor clinging to their guns and Bibles? I forget his name but I am sure you would know....
 
Muddy Creek said:
Problem is, if they keep the tea party and radical religious right, they will NEVER be trusted, no matter what they say.
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They can still be part of the party, put making them the forefront and the public face may not be the best idea.
 
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