The President is using the current economic crisis to implement a federal government takeover of a significant amount of our free market economy and our liberties. The “trojan horses” he is using are the bailout, stimulus and omnibus budget bills, which he claims are necessary to get the economy back on its feet and create jobs. Instead, these bills will set up the federal government to permanently control the banking industry, auto industry, education, health care, energy and significantly expand the federal bureaucracy and entitlements. Additionally, there will be no further efforts to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country and those who succeed will be given ever increasing amounts of federal benefits (education, health care, welfare, voting rights, social security, etc.). Our liberties will be gutted in areas such as the right to bear arms, private property ownership and school choice. Doctors will be forced to perform abortions against their moral convictions and enemy combatants will be given the legal rights of U.S. citizens. The funding for all of this will fall on businesses and taxpayers who are the major producers in the economy. They will be hit with higher income and payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, cap-and-trade energy taxes, inheritance taxes and will lose deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state taxes, etc. However, this will not be enough to cover this massive expense and the government will need to go further into debt or print more money which will devalue the dollar and spur inflation.

The President and Democrat-controlled Congress are poised to use these trojan horse bills to transform this country for generations to come. They are trying to divert attention from them by blaming the problems on Bush, ignoring the stock market response, starting a fight with Rush Limbaugh and flat out lying about not believing in big government. They are also trying to equate the stock market response to the false idea that the bills do not include enough spending and that more is needed.

Other than the unanimous vote against the stimulus bill in the House, the Republicans have been pretty much flopping in the wind when it comes to making a case against these socialist directions that the country is heading. A big part of this stems from the fractured leadership within the party. Without a Republican president or a dominant candidate for 2012, several individuals have tried to fill the leadership gap such as Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, Bobby Jindal, etc. While they all have good ideas and oppose Obama's radical transformation, their disconnected, and sometimes conflicting, ideas are not providing a consistent, coherent message to the American people. Without that, they will not be able to stop or even slow down the transformation, nor will they convince the American people to vote them back into office in 2010 and 2012. Not having a single individual who the GOP can rally around, means that they will need to develop a leadership team and a plan to carry their message and take the necessary actions to regain control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government.

This can be accomplished by first organizing a GOP convention. The attendees would include the national and state party officials, members of Congress, aspiring candidates for Congress and governorships, current governors, former governors and members of Congress, College Republicans, conservative talk show hosts and columnists, bloggers and various policy experts. The agenda would be as follows:

Day 1 – Key Issue Presentations; policy and subject matter experts would present facts and perspectives on the key issues that the country is facing such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, illegal immigration, taxes, education, health care, energy policy, climate change, trade agreements, national debt, social security, etc. The objective is to get everyone up-to-speed on the issues and on common ground with them.

Day 2 – Pundit Forum; conservative talk jockeys, columnists and bloggers will get the chance to present their views on the direction of the Republican Party and the issues of the day through individual speeches or by participation on panel discussions. They will be able to weigh in on the previous day's presentations and provide their perspectives on the solutions and positions that the party should promote.

Day 3 – Platform Development; small groups would focus on specific issues and develop solutions and positions that could be adopted for the platform. Hopefully, these would include many of the reforms I mentioned in my previous post titled “The Elephant in the Room: GOP Rx”. Especially important now is getting tax reform with the Fair Tax, challenging man-made global warming and carbon taxes, opening up oil and gas exploration in this country, building nuclear power plants, defending marriage, preventing terrorist attacks, making health insurance affordable, dealing with illegal immigration, balancing the budget and cutting entitlements and insisting that people take responsibility for their mistakes (i.e. no more bailouts).

Day 4 – Platform Adoption and Designation of Champions; each plank in the platform would be presented by the small group responsible for it. Discussions would ensue and possible refinements made until the plank was officially adopted. Also, 3-5 “champions” would be assigned to take these positions public. These champions would consist of a mix of former and current governors and members of Congress. Their objective would be get interviews on news programs, write opinion pieces, do speaking engagements, develop bills in Congress or fight against ones proposed by Democrats and find any way possible to deliver their messages to the general public.

Day 5 - Candidate Lists and Gap Analysis; documentation would be provided that identifies all of the potential candidates for the each open congressional seat and governorship for the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections, along with presidential candidates for 2012. Many of the challenger candidates (vs. incumbents) would have the opportunity to give a short speech to introduce themselves to the convention attendees. The objective is to have at least one Republican candidate for every open seat, so the gaps will need to be identified. These gaps will become the responsibility of Republican National Committee (RNC) who will work with state affiliates to identify and prepare new candidates.

Day 6 – Liberal Indoctrination on College Campuses; documentation would be provided that lists all the colleges and universities that have College Republican organizations on campus and the number of members. Major universities without a Republican organization would also be identified. College Republicans would participate in panel discussions that address how to form a organization, overcome resistance from school administrators, recruit members, sponsor speakers and debates, disseminate marketing materials and position papers, develop an Internet presence and discuss ways to counter the liberal biases of most professors. The Young America Foundation would provide a presentation on how they successfully bring in conservative speakers to college campuses. The RNC would be responsible for identifying individuals who would be willing and able to start up a College Republican organization at each of the schools that do not currently have one.

Day 7 – Media Bias; liberal bias has corrupted objective journalism for several decades, but with this past election the liberals in the media blatantly became campaigners for the Democrats and tried to do everything they could to downgrade Republican candidates. However, this day is not to figure out ways to fix that, but to discuss ways to deal with it and use it to Republican advantage. The entire list of media organizations (print, Internet, television and radio) will be graded on the strength of their liberal bias, along with key individuals in those organizations. Panel discussions and presentations will provide ideas on how to handle hostile interviews containing “gotcha” questions and unfair challenges. Also, how do Republicans successfully counter liberal propaganda that poses as objective news? Can conservative views make significant inroads into other media besides talk radio, the Internet and FOX News? (By the way, this is the only day that will be closed to all media organizations.)

During the convention, all potential candidates and current office holders will be asked to sign the Commitment to Integrity Pledge which has these tenets:

• Members of Congress will not add any earmarks or pork spending to any bills.

• Members of Congress will vote “No” on any bills containing earmarks or pork spending.

• Governors will refuse federal money that is for earmarks or pork spending.

The convention will also kick off the RNC's new goals:

• Identify, recruit and train candidates for every congressional seat and governorship before the next election.

• Establish College Republican organizations at every major college and university during the next four years.

• Expand conservative voices in the mainstream liberal media.

• Raise a boatload of money to support candidates and the marketing of the GOP positions.

Holding a convention like this sometime in the next few months could provide huge benefits for the GOP. It would show that the party is not going to just wander in the wilderness for the next four years, while waiting for the next Reagan to lead it to the promised land. It will help them shed the “party of no” label when they oppose Obama and the Democrats because they will have documented, opposing positions on all the issues. They will be much better prepared for the next election through aggressive recruiting of quality candidates and will be actively countering liberal indoctrination in the schools. They will have a cohesive and consistent voice with which to speak to the voters and be able to successfully articulate how Obama's trojan horses will destroy the greatness of this country.

Previously, I posted an initial plan for reviving the Republican Party (see “Getting the Elephant Back on its Feet”). My intention in this post is to expand and elaborate on that plan…

Besides being out of power in Washington, the GOP is currently fractured and in disarray. While President Bush should be thanked for the actions he took to keep us safe after 9/11, his inability to garner public support for his policies left a void that the liberals successfully filled with lies and propaganda that has hurt the Party overall. The slate of presidential candidates put forth in this election cycle exposed the lack of involvement the Party has in bringing forward the best candidates. Each of them had various flaws that they couldn’t overcome, yet they were all we had to choose from. Several congressional candidates in the past two elections were involved in unethical or illegal behaviors, lost their seats and further damaged the Party. We knew that the mainstream media was biased against Republicans, but with this election cycle we saw that they will now openly try to defeat GOP candidates and promote Democrats.

So, how do we get this moribund Elephant back on its feet? I don’t think the solution is to clean house, let it crash and burn or start a new party. There are some strong Republicans that can be leaders in resurrecting the Party. However, these leaders need to have a sound strategy and approach on which to make it happen. What they need is a set of actionable reforms based on conservative principles that will put them back into a position of strength (similar to the 1994 “Contract with America”). This also requires effective candidate development and marketing of the GOP brand.

Here are the objectives of the strategy:

• Implement reforms that will benefit the country, help Republican candidates win and that put the Democrats at a disadvantage on the political playing field
• Learn to effectively identify, develop and support quality candidates at the national level
• Ensure ethical conduct and integrity in all party members and candidates
• Establish an ongoing marketing campaign to promote the GOP brand and combat the mainstream media
• Restore party pride, unity and loyalty

The Party leaders implementing this strategy will be critical to its success. I will identify potential individuals that I believe can lead the Party and champion each of the specific reforms.

Mitt Romney is my choice to be the new leader of the Republican Party. He is a proven executive that has successfully built and run several organizations. He would also be an effective promoter and fundraiser. Michael Steele would be a good second-in-command. They will be the ones to implement the strategy and establish “champions” to lead each reform to make sure the reforms stay visible and active. I will throw out some names for potential reform champions as well.

Here’s why I believe these are the critical reforms that the Republican Party should rally around at this time:

• These are key issues of our time and will have the greatest impact on the future of the country and the success of Republican Party
• They are founded on conservative principles and American values
• The majority of Americans can support them
• They allow candidates to campaign on a consistent set of actionable issues, instead of a myriad of promises
• The implementation of many of these reforms will result in political disadvantages for Democratic campaigns and candidates

Following are the key reforms I believe need to be part of the ongoing Republican platform. Certainly, the Republican Party may want to make some modifications. I won’t deal with the details of the reforms here, but they can be found in my previous post titled “21 Steps to a Greater America”. There are five broad areas of reform and specific issues within each of them. I will list each one briefly, suggest champions and address the issues in implementing them, along with how they can politically disadvantage Democrats.

1. Congressional Reform (Champions: Fred Thompson, Lindsey Graham, Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback)

• Term Limits – the country needs people in Congress who are there to serve their country, not their next reelection bid. The Executive branch has term limits and so should the Legislative. This will only have a chance if existing members of Congress are not credited with prior terms. The limits on their terms would begin with their next reelection. This is a tough sell for Congress to put limits on itself and will likely take a Republican Congress to accomplish it.
• Line-Item Veto – Congress needs to give the President the ability to veto any specific funding items in a bill while approving the rest of it. Congress can still override any of the vetoed items with a two-thirds majority. This may only be achievable with a Republican Congress.
• Balanced Budget – a balanced budget amendment is needed prohibit excess spending and stem entitlement growth. There are probably enough people in both parties concerned with the swelling national debt that it may be a ripe time to introduce this legislation again.
• No Earmarks – all Republican legislators must pledge to refrain from inserting earmarks into any legislation. Also, they must be fully committed to vote against any bill that contains them. This can be made effective immediately.
• No Lobbyist Money – Republican legislators will not accept any campaign contribution from registered lobbyists. An effective date can be determined by the Party.

Democrats thrive on legislative power where they can promise pork and take lobbyist bribes to secure reelection after reelection. These reforms will strip them of their ability to successfully push earmarks and entitlements and their ability to campaign on them to stay in office.

2. Tax Reform (Champions: Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Carly Fiorina & Saxby Chambliss)

• Fair Tax – the current income tax code is a complicated behemoth that is overdue for reform and should be replaced with a consumption tax, such as the Fair Tax (www.fairtax.org). The Fair Tax movement is gaining support from many citizens and just needs critical mass from enough legislators to get it implemented, along with repealing the sixteenth amendment. However, it’s only likely that a Republican Congress and President could get it passed.
• Social Security – it will demand significant tax increases or reduced benefits if it is not addressed. It needs to be phased out and replaced with personal retirement accounts. Again, a Republican Congress is needed for this one and they must ensure that the transition to personal accounts does not take away what retirees have been promised.

This reform would politically devastate the Democrats. Their ability to win elections mostly hinges on income redistribution, “making the Rich pay their fair share”, the growing gap between the rich and poor, “grandmothers will have to eat dog food”, etc. When tax revenue now comes from people’s spending and not from people’s income, Democrats will no longer have the power to legislate income “fairness” through tax rates, deductions, exemptions and credits. Also, getting rid of the Social Security entitlement will eliminate another program that Democrats have used to demagogue Republicans.

3. National Security (Champions: Rudy Giuliani, Joe Lieberman, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich & Sarah Palin)

• Declaration of War – legislation is needed to recognize that this country is at war with Islamo-fascist terrorists and gives the Commander-in-Chief a framework of authority to prevent future attacks (communications monitoring, surveillance, interrogation techniques, etc.), along with the authorization to use military force to disrupt and destroy terrorist networks. Unfortunately, only the next successful major attack is likely to provide the opportunity to get this passed.
• Illegal Immigration – the border fence needs to be completed and existing laws against illegal immigration need to be enforced. The legislation needs to have more teeth put in to set a timetable for the fence and eliminate the ability to protect illegals in “sanctuary cities”. This would likely require a Republican Congress and President.
• Energy Independence - The goal should be to achieve energy independence so that we are no longer funding terrorist-supporting countries. It needs to start with eliminating all federal restrictions on accessing oil, gas & clean coal resources within our borders and in our coastal waters. President Bush has recently dropped the Executive ban and Congress needs to lift their bans. Congress will also need to rescind any restrictions on building and expanding nuclear power plants. This will likely require a Republican Congress and President and a period of high gas prices to get this moving again.

The disadvantages for the Democrats with this reform are that they will no longer be guaranteed votes from peaceniks who don’t understand the enemy, illegal immigrants and environmentalist extremists.

4. Abortion (Champions: Tom Ridge, John Boehner & Michele Bachmann)

The never-ending abortion battle can only be stopped with a compromise solution. The common ground is that neither side sees abortion as a good thing, and the less abortions that happen, the better. The basis for this change is to set up an environment where most women would choose to not have an abortion. This won’t eliminate abortions totally, but it should dramatically reduce them over time.

The compromise solution would be federal legislation that will provides strong incentives for women considering abortion to see their pregnancies to term and put the child up for adoption, but ultimately gives her the final choice. The legislation would prohibit any future laws that made abortion illegal, but would require that women receive information on adoption alternatives and require parental notification for underage women prior to the abortion procedure.

Even if Roe vs. Wade is eventually overturned, this issue will then go back to the states where they will decide the legality of abortion. If some states make it legal and others do not, then those seeking abortions will find ways to get them done in states that allow it and the problem will continue to be a political fodder for campaigns. Winning hearts and minds, not trying to make it illegal, is the most effective way to reduce abortions and the opportunity is there now to adopt this compromise solution.

Democrats currently have an advantage here because most people are against abortions, but yet want women to make that choice rather than have the courts decide it. If the threat of legal punishment for abortion is lifted, then Democrats will no longer get the votes of people who are afraid that pro-life Republicans will make it illegal.

5. Election Campaigns (Champions: Mitch McConnell, John Kyl & Karl Rove)

• Campaign Financing – current campaign finance laws infringe on people’s freedom to contribute money to the candidate of their choice. These laws should be repealed and replaced with legislation that allows unlimited contributions with the following restrictions: they can only be made by individual citizens (no organizations, groups or bundling) and requires public disclosure. Another alternative would be to have all contributions made and validated through the Federal Election Committee and distributed to the candidates anonymously so they do not know the contributors and won’t feel obligated to them. This reform is most viable just after an election and will likely need a Republican Congress to deal with the expected opposition of labor unions who are big Democrat contributors.
• Presidential Nomination - the process needs fixing so that all voters can have their votes mean something. One option is for every state to have a presidential primary. There would be only four primary dates for the entire country and all parties, including third parties and independents, would vote on one of those four dates. The country would be divided into four groups representing sets of 12-13 states. States in each group would be scattered across different regions of the country and have combined delegate counts that totaled up to approximately 25% of the total delegates. The primary dates would occur in March, April, May and June and the four sets of states would be rotated so they would all change order from one election to the next. This will require support from the Democratic Party and they should be receptive after the messy nomination process that just occurred.
• Voter Fraud – a photo ID required for registration and voting would significantly reduce illegal voting. Democrats would never support this, so a Republican Congress and President are needed to pass this legislation.

This reform would disadvantage Democrats because they rely heavily on union campaign contributions and groups like ACORN to deliver thousands of illegal votes each election.

Candidate Recruitment & Development

The Party needs to be more aggressive with ongoing efforts to identify future national level candidates. They need to actively vet, recruit and develop these individuals so they will be ready to take the national stage. They must provide training to improve their personal appeal, communication skills and understanding of national issues. These future candidates will also require fundraising and campaign support from the Party.

The objective should be to ensure that the Party always has a stable of high quality candidates for every Congressional race. With term limits in place, this will become much more important because there will no longer be career politicians who retain their seats for 20-30 years. The Party also needs to groom future Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and they should constantly be working on lists of prospects who can be projected out to the next two or three election cycles. Just imagine what Sarah Palin would have been as a candidate in this election, if instead of getting a last-minute crash course on national issues and foreign policy, she would have been tutored for the VP position for a year or more. Bobby Jindall should be getting groomed right now for a potential candidacy in four or eight years. This grooming would include establishing a record of accomplishments and successes as Governor, getting acquainted with foreign policies and developing a strong understanding of domestic and economic issues. Tim Pawlenty and a host of other top candidates should be engaged with Party to look at ways to beef up their resumes. Specifically, all potential Presidential candidates should be finding ways to meet and get to know key foreign leaders and their issues.

The Party has been too passive in waiting for candidates to emerge. They need to take a more proactive approach that identifies individuals with the most potential, turns them into outstanding candidates and fully promotes their campaigns. There should never again be Republican candidates who are poor campaigners, have limited knowledge on key domestic or foreign policies or have past indiscretions that can be used against them. The Party needs to also get tough on any Republican office holders that violate ethical standards. They should distinguish themselves from Democrats and take swift, appropriate actions, including seeking resignations, from those who don’t uphold high standards of ethics and integrity.

Marketing Campaign

As we have seen from this current election cycle, the vast majority of the mainstream media is the liberal media. This liberal media is worth millions in campaign propaganda for the Democrats. The Republican Party needs to develop an ongoing marketing campaign to counteract the influence of the liberal media. The campaign must include advertising in the liberal media (TV, print, radio and Internet), the unleashing of spokespeople (including reform champions) who can convincingly explain Republican positions and a calling out of the “journalists” who are Democratic Party shills (“make them famous” as John McCain would say).

A scorecard should be developed that shows progress on each of the reforms. It can be distributed to the voters as an election approaches to reinforce what Republicans are trying to accomplish. The marketing should also include keeping a scorecard on what Democrats do, or do not do, in Congress and in the White House. This will make for good ammunition for Republican challengers. Finally, a list of all federal judges should be maintained by the Party and include ratings on how well they make their decisions based on strict interpretation of the Constitution. The list can be used to evaluate potential candidates for Republican appointments and used to identify Democratic appointments whose confirmations should be stopped.

It is also important to ensure that there are active College Republican groups at as many colleges and universities as possible. They should be provided with the necessary support to be able to sponsor Republican speakers on campus, arrange for Republican-Democrat debates and challenge the liberal propaganda preached by their instructors. These college groups can then be leveraged as campaign offices during national elections to distribute literature and spread the word about the candidates. Today’s youth are future GOP voters and candidates and they must be introduced to conservative principles before they become lost to liberal indoctrination.

The bottom line is that the Elephant must take aggressive action to revive itself. If it passively lays there waiting for the next Reagan, then it will likely stay dormant for decades. The next election is a two short years away. Let’s roll!

No matter who wins the Presidential election, the Republican Party is clearly on life support. If the worst should happen, namely a President Obama with a Democratic-controlled Congress, some serious Rx will be needed to bring new life to the GOP.

I hear a lot of pundits saying that the solution is to find the next Reagan or simply get back to conservative principles. While these are thoughts I would agree with, they don’t represent a serious solution to revitalizing the Republican brand.

What’s needed are specific political reforms that the Republican Party must stand for. McCain and Palin were on to something when they started talking about “reform”, but they haven’t been able to provide a clear message on what the reforms will be. Additionally, the Party needs to actively develop national candidates and market the GOP brand. If successful, conservative principles and the next Reagan will have the opportunity to reemerge.

Here are the key reforms that need to be part of the ongoing Republican platform until they are implemented:

Congressional Reform

Term Limits – the country needs people in Congress who are there to serve their country, not their next reelection bid. The Executive branch has term limits and so should the Legislative.

 

Line-Item Veto – Congress needs to give the President the ability to veto any specific funding items in a bill while approving the rest of it. Congress can still override any of the vetoed items with a two-thirds majority.

 

No Earmarks – all Republican legislators must take a pledge to refrain from inserting earmarks into any legislation. Also, they must be fully committed to vote against any bill that contains them.

 

High Ethical Standards – all Republican legislators must pledge to uphold the highest standards of ethics and personal integrity.

 

No Lobbyist Money – Republican legislators will not accept any campaign funding from registered lobbyists.

Tax Reform

Fair Tax – the current income tax must be replaced with a consumption tax, such as the Fair Tax (www.fairtax.org).

 

Social Security – it will demand significant tax increases or reduced benefits if it is not addressed. It needs to be phased out and replaced with personal retirement accounts.

Energy Reform

The goal should be to achieve energy independence by 2025. It will start with eliminating all federal restrictions on accessing oil, gas & clean coal resources within our borders and in our coastal waters. Congress will also lift any restrictions on building and expanding nuclear power plants. Any promising alternative energy solutions will be able to obtain federal grants for research and development.

The reason for focusing on these specific reforms is that the majority of people in this country can enthusiastically support them, including Libertarians, Independents, Ron Paul supporters and Reagan Democrats. If the Republican Party can demonstrate commitment to these reforms, it should significantly help in getting Republicans voted into office, regaining a majority in Congress and then being able to push through the necessary legislation to implement the reforms.

This doesn’t mean that the Party will ignore its core beliefs of personal freedom and traditional values. Those will continue to be front and center. What the reforms will demonstrate is that the GOP is a party of action, not just a set of beliefs and values. It will allow candidates to tell voters what they plan to accomplish, not just give them platitudes about “fighting” for them or “standing up” for their beliefs. These reforms, when implemented, will result in limited government and economic growth that fundamentally changes the political landscape. These reforms will make it much harder for Left to use the federal government for their wealth redistribution and social engineering ideology.

Along with pursuing these reforms, the Party also needs to give itself a makeover with regards to recruitment and development of candidates and the initiation of an ongoing marketing campaign to promote the GOP brand.

Candidate Recruitment & Development

The Party needs to be more aggressive with ongoing efforts to identify future national level candidates. They need to actively vet, recruit and develop these individuals so they will be ready to take the national stage. They must provide training to improve their personal appeal, communication skills and understanding of national issues. These future candidates will also require fundraising and campaign support from the Party.

The objective should be to ensure that the Party always has a stable of high quality candidates for every Congressional race. With term limits in place, this will become much more important because there will no longer be career politicians who retain their seats for 20-30 years. The Party also needs to groom future Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and they should constantly be working on lists of prospects who can be projected out to the next two or three election cycles. Just imagine what Sarah Palin would be like as a candidate in this election, if instead of getting a last-minute crash course on national issues and foreign policy, she would have been tutored for the VP position for a year or more. Bobby Jindal should be getting groomed right now for a potential candidacy in four or eight years. This grooming would include establishing a record of accomplishments and successes as Governor, getting acquainted with foreign leaders and policies and developing a strong understanding of domestic and economic issues. The Party has been too passive in waiting for candidates to emerge. They need to take a more proactive approach that identifies individuals with the most potential, turns them into outstanding candidates and fully promotes their campaigns. There should never again be Republican candidates who are poor campaigners, have limited knowledge on key issues or have past indiscretions that can be used against them.

Marketing Campaign

As we have seen from this current election cycle, the vast majority of the mainstream media is the liberal media. This liberal media is worth millions in campaign propaganda for the Democrats. The Republican Party needs to hire a professional firm to develop an ongoing marketing campaign to counteract the influence of the liberal media. The campaign must include advertising in the liberal media (TV, print, radio and Internet), the unleashing of spokespeople who can convincingly explain Republican positions and a calling out of the “journalists” who are Democratic Party shills (“make them famous” as John McCain would say). It is also important to ensure that there are active College Republican groups at as many colleges and universities as possible. They should be provided with the necessary support to be able to sponsor Republican speakers on campus, as well as Republican-Democrat debates. These groups can then be leveraged as campaign offices during national elections to distribute literature and spread the word about the candidates.

The bottom line is that the GOP must take aggressive action to revive itself. If it passively sits there waiting for the next Reagan, then it will likely stay dormant for decades. On the other hand, if they can develop a reform strategy and recruit effective candidates to push it through, the Elephant may not only get back on its feet, but he could stomp the Donkey at the same time.