Much talk has been generated after the results of the 2008 Presidential election as to the fate of the GOP after it suffered a fatal blow. Losing the White House by a wide margin, the Republicans are also in danger of a fillibuster-free Senate as Democrats inch closer to a majority presence.
This election proved many things. This country was tired of the current administration and the past eight years of missteps and wrongdoings. This country, and for that matter, the world, is becoming increasingly interconnected via the world wide web, and the social interaction of the Web 2.0 culture has a huge impact. President-Elect Barack Obama realized this from the beginning, embracing technology as he has done even in his Senate days. The Republican Party on a whole steered shy of utilizing technology though – their largest falter in this election.
And unfortunately for them, the GOP is only now realizing this. A website has sprung up recently calling for change – the same slogan that Barack Obama used to win the White House – a change in their standard operating procedures, and a change in their interactions with others. Rebuild the Party outlines a 10-point action plan to modernize and strengthen the Republican Party from the grassroots up. The site calls for a grassroots first policy, encouraging new candidates, with new strategies, and the embracing of new technologies. A snippet below explains the organizer’s mission statement and touches on what they believe the problems of the party to be.
The time is now to set in motion the changes needed to rebuild our party from the grassroots up, modernize the way we run campaigns, and attract different, energetic, and younger candidates at all levels.
We must be conservative in philosophy — but bold in our approach. We don’t need a slight tweak here or there. We need transformation. We can’t keep fighting a 21st century war with 20th century weapons.
The site calls for the use of the Internet, calling it the party’s number one priority. Organizers have an internal goal of trying to recruit five million new Republican online activists – which will engage grassroots participants and help to create the most creative, engaging, and compelling political messages. The site points out a political ideology that the Obama team has used – the Politics of Us – as his greatest strength. If the GOP can adopt this policy of putting the people first, giving the power to accomplish things to the people, the Republican Party will survive. And that shouldn’t be too hard, given that Obama’s winning strategy is an inherently conservative idea – the people, acting together outside of the government, can accomplish great things. The Yes We Can concept in action.
But who will be the one that can successfully put a face to the party? It is widely thought that Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) has such ambitions, wanting to put her rock star diva together in 2012 to run for office and resurrect a Republican president. But this is also widely thought to be a laughing matter, and a further detriment to the Republican Party. The GOP does not want Palin. So who do they want? Former Massachusetts Governor Mit Romney seems a likely candidate. He brings with him the independent wealth that he used to jump start and finance his Republican nomination bid over a year ago, and the swagger and following of many within the party. But he will have some hurdles to overcome if he were to succeed in 2012 as the Republican front runner. Romney needs a clear message, one that he believes in and not on that is generated to please potential voters.
Whoever the Republicans pick to be their front runner for office in a couple years, they now know that change is needed. The candidate that can successfully merge technology with policy and speech and can invigorate a grassroots system similar to the millions that President-Elect Obama had mobilized during his campaign will emerge with the party nomination.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 reports on the recent Republican Governor’s Association conference in Florida and includes commentary on what Republican Governor’s view as the needs and directions the party must take to succeed in the future.
Photo Credit: No RNC Poster Project, CNN, and Rebuild the Party
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