Republican Party will adapt to Changing Demographics, or Die

The Republican Party lost last night--even though they kept the house.  Status Quo is what we end up with after a long hard fought campaign.  What can the Republican Party do to change its dwindling fortune?

The Republican Party is broken, how does it fix itself

There seems to be two thoughts coming out of the GOP after last night’s defeat on the presidential level. One, Romney was not conservative enough and one he is to conservative. I fall on the too extreme side.

The GOP should do some soul searching, change who they are, and then come out a better political party.  The takeaways from this election are plain as day—and painful for anyone who thought the polls were wrong.  They were wrong; they did not catch the coming landslide.  What is next for the Republican Party?

Fox News’ Chris Whiton said “Republicans lost and they lost big on Tuesday, November 6.  The White House remains in the hands of perhaps the most liberal president in our history and GOP dreams of taking control of the Senate were dashed.”

Let us start with some of the positives to take away from this election.  The Republicans did keep the House of Representatives.  This means that voters are not approving of the liberalism that Democrats advocate.  Second, since Obama ran a slash-and-burn campaign against Romney, no real mandate for Obama is going to be a result of this race.  Democrats will say that it is higher taxes.  That is not exactly true.  Nevertheless, what it does mean is that Republicans need to find some sort of middle ground.

Here is what the Republican Party must take from this election cycle.    

Republicans will not run rich, successful, businesspersons that lack principals ever again.  The “I’m a businessman and know how to fix the economy” arguments are not going to work.  The Republican Party won in 2010 by being anti-bailouts.  The banks and big businesses that received millions or billions angered the voters.  Even though the auto bailout helped Obama win, the idea of bailouts is not popular.  This populous message is a winning one for the GOP. 

The GOP needs to be the party of states’ rights.  Democrats do not believe in states’ rights.  The young people are witnessing states pass laws that are important to them.  Voters in Washington and Colorado are legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Voters in Maryland and Maine are approving same-sex marriage laws; a similar measure in Washington State appears to be on track to pass.  The GOP can use these laws as proof that the best way to change things is through the states.  This argument can work on the same on people who are against these laws.  If you are against these laws, fight it out in your state.

Speaking of gay marriage in the United States, social issues are some of the reasons the Republican Party will continue to lose.  The Todd Akins of the world is driving women away from the Republican Party.  Pro-life people would be better off fighting these issues out in the states.  Gay Marriage will be legal everywhere.  This is something that will happen because young people want it and most people are averse to having the government making choice about whom someone marries. 

The same thing is true with abortion policy.  It is not that America is pro-choice (although most women are), but people understand that those who want abortions will go back underground to get them if it is made illegal.  This could be why most people that are pro-life personally, still vote pro-choice. Think about the harmful dirty situations young women used to have to endure when abortion was illegal.  You can see why many people do not want to go back there.  Being pro-life myself, this is a bitter pill to swallow, but a necessary one.  

Thomas Jefferson said, “The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.”  This is why the GOP needs to go back to true limited government principles.  If social conservatives like Erick Erickson want to say this not real conservatism, then call it something else.  If conservatism is about government controlling a woman’s right to choose and telling people whom to marry, then the ideology will die.  Maybe this will not happen right now, but some day it will.  What better time to change course but after a huge loss, and that time is now.     

Lastly, the GOP needs to soften its stance on immigration.  One of the most important lessons from last night is that Immigration is a sensitive issue.  The Republicans will not win elections opposing sensible bills like the Dream Act.  Come one, these young people are here because someone else brought them here.  If they want to go to school and become good citizens, let them.  The country needs them. Voters in Maryland used Question 4 to pass a version of the Dream Act.

If the Republican nominee ever talks about self-deportation again, it is over.  Romney’s tact to the right on immigration likely lost him this election.  He could have won many of the states he lost only if he gained a greater share Latino vote.  Romney lost every battleground state except North Carolina and maybe Florida.

Take the above issues and change them, the Republican Party and conservative ideology will come roaring back.  Keep doing what the party has been doing; a Democratic majority will come for real.