I suspect it will take months or even years for those on the political and ideological Right to map out a strategy to compete in national elections after two sound defeats in 2006 and 2008.
The first step has been to assign blame for these defeats, to anyone who will listen. This op-ed by Governor Christie Todd Whitman in yesterday's Washington Post lays the blame on "social fundamentalists." I don't know how constructive that is -- each Party has a base, and if you alienate the base, you have to make inroads substantially across the political center to make up for it. The most liberal Republican he could have picked for his running mate would have been Whitman herself. I don't think that ticket would have run any better against Obama-Biden this year.
The next step is to figure out the strategy going forward. Whitman laid hers out in the column -- campaign less on positions that are against abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research, and more on economic conservatism. An alternative is provided by John O'Sullivan in his column, "A Future for U.S. Conservatives." It is a combination of waiting for the Democrats, now in power from 2006 - 2010, to have to own a track record that can be campaigned against and then laying out conservative principles as the alternative.
Capital Gains
I like your blog. I was wondering if you have read Conservative talk show host and blogger Kevin Price? He actually suggests that the Democrats could reconsider the position on capital gains. What do you think? Check it out at www.BizPlusBlog.com
theocrats not going away
As a non-theocratic economic conservative, I wish this was the case. But here in Cali, the people voted for Obama and against Prop. 8. Theocratic moral viewpoints are still politically viable, although they aren't enough any more as they don't help the economy (and actually the War on Drugs hurts the economy...)
The GOP has failed not only to deliver economic conservatism, but they have failed to market it as well except for some exacerbated "socialism" and "spreading the wealth" rhetoric. What is the Medicare drug benefit they pushed through if not "spreading the wealth"?
It will not be enough for the GOP to begin delivering economic conservatism, they now have to say "oh, we screwed up for the last 8 years on this", and they have to show why economic conservatism is a good idea. It has to be believable and understandable by the people, given a lack of the USSR to point to as a counterexample any more.
Price at BizPlusBlog
I saw the comment about Price and laughed it off. I later went to BizPlusblog.com and read some of posts and they make sense. What's most interesting is how much Obama is now backing off of tax increases all together. Crazy time.