Following the Republican defeats of election night 2006, Carol Platt Liebau wrote an article for Townhall.com titled, "Recapturing the Spirit of '94". She used the article to, in part, emphasize the importance that congressional Republicans should re-embrace the principle of fiscal responsibility.
Why are some lessons so difficult to learn?
Here are the key paragraphs...
... it's time for Republicans to let the sunshine - and the base - back in. For far too long, too many Republican politicians have treated the conservative base like Ross Perot's proverbial crazy aunt in the attic. Certainly, there's no place in either party for unreasoned extremism. But there's likewise no justification for Republican officials' inexplicable tendency to behave as though good, reasonable conservatives are either too unsophisticated to be taken seriously, too foolish to understand when the issues most important to them are being ignored, or too slavishly devoted to the GOP to withhold their votes when politicians haven't gotten the job done.
In short, congressional Republicans need to begin treating the base less like a rampaging beast to be placated, and more like a trusted friend to be consulted. Too often, party decision-making has a cliquish element reminiscent of an eighth grade cheerleading squad. Would it really hurt anyone for the politicians to turn to the people who fund, electioneer and vote for them most loyally and ask, "What do you think?"? Seeking input about the candidates for the party's new leaders would be a great way to start the conversation. Communication and transparency are key - and given the advent of talk radio and the blogosphere, easily accomplished. It hasn't been happening, and it's time for it to start.
There's no doubt that challenges come with defeat - but there are also new opportunities. It's time for congressional Republicans to close the book on Election Night '06 and resolve that, by November of 2008, theirs will once again be the party that Americans trust with their pocketbooks, their values - and, in an era of Islamofascist terrorism, with their lives.
The whole article can be read here.
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