Say Anything Blog

But what’s interesting is that this coward, who apparently sees problems with in his own party but lacks the courage to put his name to his own criticism, seems to think that the GOP needs to get more moderate to win elections.

The Republican U.S. senator sits glumly across the restaurant table.

“I don’t think we have learned much from the election in terms of what people want to see,” he says. “We have the same gridlock.”

By the “same gridlock,” he means that party hard-liners, both Democrats and Republicans, will remain in control of the machinery of Congress. And that means more of the same. It means more politics as usual — especially in his party.

“We need someone who speaks from the center,” he says. “Sarah Palin is not the voice of our party.”

He talks a little about immigration. He is a moderate on immigration, which is to say he is out of step with most of his party. He says the Republican hard line on immigration hurt the party with Hispanics.

Barack Obama won about two-thirds of the Hispanic vote this year, up from the 53 percent that John Kerry won in 2004.

And the Republicans are very, very worried about the Hispanic vote. They see the African-American vote as largely gone, but the Hispanic vote was a possibility in future elections. If only Republicans knew how to appeal to Hispanic voters.

“We have to become much more attuned to the rhetoric and issues that Hispanics care about,” the senator says. “We have to talk about education, family, and moral issues like gay marriage and abortion.”

I have a pretty hard time accepting this argument.

First, isn’t John McCain - the guy who just got shellacked in the election - a moderate?  And a pro-amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants moderate to boot?  And, despite protestations from the left, hasn’t Bush governed as a moderate as well?  Are we really suggesting that John “open borders” McCain and George “compassionate conservatism” Bush are hard line Republicans that have lost elections for the GOP?

I just don’t see how that lines up with reality, and more finger-pointing at Sarah Palin isn’t going to change that.

If the GOP wants to get back into power they have got to stop pretending like trying to out-Democrat the Democrats is a sound strategy.  And they’ve also got to stop pretending like being against gay marriage and against abortion makes you a conservative.  Now I’m very pro-life myself, and ambivalent toward gay marriage, so I don’t necessarily have any problems with keeping those social issues in the GOP platform.  But for anyone to think that they’re issues that are going to turn national elections any more is lunacy.

If Republicans want power again they need a pro-freedom agenda.  And when they say things like “less spending” and “limited government” they need to mean them.