Message To The GOP – You Need To Start Over.

In the wake of the 2008 elections, it has become painfully obvious that the Republican Party needs to wipe the slate clean, do a total house cleaning and start over; rebuilding the party around their young superstars.

Where was the famous and much touted day of the election get out the vote power of the GOP?

Why isn’t the name of the Chairman of the GOP, Mike Duncan, a household name?

How did the Republican Party get out done in fundraising by the Democrats?

Where was the Republican presence on college campuses?

Why were the same people running things during the 2006 midterm election disaster still running things in 2008? In a party that is supposed to be the embodiment of merit based success, those that failed in 2006 should have been long gone. In any corporation, that board of directors would have been out….

Why can’t members of the black community name one black Republican… or even know there is an equivalent to the Congressional Black Caucus on the Republican side.

Once upon a time, it was cool to be a Republican. That time has passed.

With a Presidential Nominee and a Chairman of the Party, not to mention the continued idolization of Reagan, the Republican Party has now become my grandfather’s party.

So here is some advice…

1. Find a new image. The Republican party has been the party of the rich white man for the last 50 years, a total shame and a betrayal of what made it great.

Remind people of your history.

Remind people that the first woman elected to Congress was a Republican. Remind people that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. Remind people the Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Remind people that Susan B. Anthony was a Republican. Remind people that the party that fought to get African Americans and women the right to vote was the Republican Party. Remind people that the Republican Party is the party of equality and freedom for all people. Remind people that the Republican Party is the party of innovation, dynamism and inspiration, not the party of old rich white guys.

2. Find a new Chairman. I suggest someone young and energetic. Michael Steele would be a great choice. Chairman of GOPac, he is universally respected in the Party. A former Lt Governor and Senatorial candidate, he is acutely aware of the minutia and difficulties of campaigning. As a PAC chairman, he is a keen and experienced fundraiser. As an ex-Lt Governor and Senatorial candidate, he is also aware of what image is and how to cultivate one in the media. Add this to the fact that he is also an African American, this instantly dispels the old rich white guy image.

3. Rebuild the College Republicans. Why is it that the college campuses have been taken over by the Democrats and how could the GOP have let the Democrats the first crack at a generation of Americans? Make youth reach out a priority… that is truly the future of the party and generates decades worth of votes.

4. Stop talking about Reagan as if he was President just yesterday and as if he was some sort of current force in politics when he left office 20 years ago… and people under 25 don’t remember him being President at all and those 35 and under just barely do. Reagan is a great figure to point to, but should be treated more like Lincoln than Clinton, who is still current, topical and all voters remember.

5. Clean house, get rid of the campaign and organizational staff that lost you the 2006-2008 elections. The GOP got it’s butt kicked up and down the electoral map by the DNC, not once, but twice. Bad. It’s time to draft some new players….

6. As a correlation to step 5, stop running people like Fred Thompson, John McCain, Duncan Hunter, or even Mitt Romney and anyone else born pre-1949. Though they are all good and honorable men, with much to offer, they don’t resonate with the majority of today’s voters and the image they present is one of the past and not one of the future.

7. Rebuild the party around your young stars. Primarily, stop the take down of Palin and stop it now. Get a hold of your party and get a hold of it now. Bolster people like Palin, Jindal, Cantor, Pawlenty, Steele, Watts and the like.

8. Stop relying on the technology of the 1990’s to get the job done in the 2000’s. The GOP has allowed the communications medium of the future to be taken by the Democrats… how the hell could you let that happen?

Stop relying on talk radio to get your message out.

The GOP needs a network of bloggers and a much larger online foot print. (BTW, Mr. GOP, I am available for consultations and to offer any advice on how to replicate an Obama type take over of the netroots should you decide to move into the new millennium LOL.) They need to increase netroots networks and maximize online fundraising capabilities.

The GOP also needs to gather cell phone numbers and create an SMS messaging program. Their membership databases need to be updated. According to one of my readers, the amount of horribly outdated information in the phone banks was astounding. I am guessing that is what happened to the election day get out the vote effort.

9. Start running a 50 State strategy much like the Democrats did, and start now. There is no reason that the Republican message should not appeal to everyone. The GOP should get off its’ butt and go talk to the people they haven’t visited in 50 years. I have a feeling they might like to see them… or at least some of them will, but isn’t that enough? Making small inroads into voting populations is essential because those small inroads become larger with time. And eventually, you can win states by the 0.5 to 2% margins that Obama rode to victory.

IN CONCLUSION: The GOP needs to remind people of its history, but also to leave its’ history as history. The Republican Party can no longer ride on the legacy of Reagan. They must re-invent itself and become the party of the future.

The Grand Old Party must become the Brand New Party or it will continue to wither away and die.

This is cross posted from my new blog home at http:/texashillblog.blogspot.com, so if you have links, please change them! Thanks!