comMITTed to Romney!

Romney Shows GOP the Path Back to the Majority

In the aftermath of the 2008 landslide, the Republican party appears to have fractured - split over where the party has to go to return to the majority. The theories range from the predictable: dumping one branch or another of conservatism to attract votes, to the far more exotic: some have suggested Republicans adopt an approach similar to that used to revive the Tory party in England.

Unfortunately, all roads don’t lead to Rome, in fact, very few do. Rebuilding the GOP is not as simple as picking a number out of a hat. The wrong strategy, at the wrong time, could keep the Republican party in the political wilderness far longer than is necessary.

The 2008 Election showcased the worst the GOP has to offer by combining an old and unpredictable moderate with an inexperienced, and by most standards, knowledge-lacking Conservative. The resemblance created by the ticket to the Bush administration couldn’t have been clearer.

Even worse, there are some within the party who believe that the Reagan coalition is dead, and that the Republican party must buck one or more of the groups that made up that coalition to survive. Some of those on the far right (often former Huckabee supporters) believe that we can go on without the wall street capitalists who many blame for the current economic crises, and it appears to be mutual, as many within that group have voiced an equal desire to eject the so-cons. A far smaller, though perhaps more vocal, faction is even pushing for a Democratic-style isolationist approach (is that a contradiction?) to foreign policy. The triumph of any of these groups would likely lead to disaster for the party and for America.

Luckily for the GOP, Gov. Romney, through his 2008 primary campaign, has already shown the party a path that it can follow to return to the majority. Governor Romney recognizes what many within the party have forgotten: that we win when we are united, and that all branches of the conservative movement are equally important to the party. As a former business leader, he knows the important role that fiscal and economic conservatives play in the GOP. As a father, husband, and man of faith, he knows how vital a strong social fabric is to America. As an America, he recognizes the dangers of isolationism and letting threats develop before taking action to stop them.

But in the sense that he is a “three-legged-stool conservative”, Romney is not in any way unusual for the GOPer. Even among the 2008 primary field, there were a number of Reagan conservatives who could have represented all three branches of the party, its just that none of them got onto the final ticket. So what exactly is it that makes Romney so unique?

For one, it is experience as one of a limited number of high-profile “competent conservatives” within the party. One of the main perceptions of the Bush administration that has hurt the GOP is the belief that the current President is an incompetent conservative ideologue (although I think many in the party would disagree on that second part), and that many of the failures of this administration on Iraq, the economy, ect. are a result of that incompetence. The 2008 Republican ticket, with Sarah Palin as one of its main focal points, did nothing to reform that image of the GOP. Romney, with his decades as a business executive, his successful term as the Governor of Massachusetts, and his tenure as an Olympic organizer are a nice contrast with inexperience offered by others within the party.

Experience is, no doubt, important, even vital to a Republican recovery. But there is another reason for the GOP to follow Romney’s lead - hopefully under his actual leadership - domestic issues. Since the contract with America, Republicans have steadily been losing ground on the domestic problems facing this country - just as such issues have been increasing in importance. The attacks of 9/11 and the War on Terror did grant the GOP a temporary extension of their ability to run primarily on defense, but that extension expired in 2006, and the recent economic downturn, with layoffs, bailouts, and a growing entitlement and health care crisis, has eliminated any chance we might have had of getting it back.

To a degree, all governors confront domestic issues, but few, if any, politicians have the kind of experience that Romney does. While he was Governor of Massachusetts, the state implemented a revolutionary  health care program that, though not perfect, went much further than any previous program in extending coverage to those without health insurance. Even more appealing was the program’s rejection of a government takeover of the health care industry, instead choosing to save money by helping people to purchase private coverage. During the 2008 primaries, Romney was also one of the few voices within the party who showed clear concern for American industry, which Republicans have largely neglected over the past few years.  That could be critical in 2012, when the industrial areas of the Great Lakes Region and the Midwest is are likely to contain a disproportionately high number or swing states.

Of course, debate will continue over the future of the party, but if the GOP wants a path back to the majority, they need only to look to the past, and fmr. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

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