House Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker of North Carolina said Republicans need better communicators — not necessarily new ideas or voices.
“Hear us again for the first time!” Walker implored Wednesday in an op-ed. “Conservatives need to reintroduce our voice, vision, policies, rationale, and principles to all people and communities. Doing this does not require the Republican Party to be a big tent party with a purpose only to include more ideas that trample the principles and standards that conservatives adhere to,” he wrote.
“I believe the day has arrived when preaching to the choir is no longer adequate— that’s the easy road,” he told colleagues as he assumed the helm of the caucus to which two-thirds of House Republicans belong.
“The worn-out language and rhetoric may be attractive language to our base, but the oft-repeated talking points of individual liberty and personal prosperity falls short in reaching many of our communities,” Walker continued. “We can do better.
“For too long some conservatives have stubbornly refused to modify the approach and voice in promoting and advocating a conservative message and agenda. We have invested poorly in community relationships with a blind eye to the suffering, thinking that a better program or a pandering policy would be the solution, even as we know that no government program, however well intentioned, can provide for the authentic needs of our neighbors,” the second-term lawmaker wrote.
“I am growing more convinced that policy alone is insufficient without the right approach and the right voice. The American people are demanding ‘effective conservatism’ and I am certain that all three — the right policy, the right approach, and the right voice can be accomplished,” he wrote.
Walker said the 172-member Republican Study Committee can be the GOP’s “contemporary” messenger who delivers on passing conservative policies.
“Congress will repeal Obamacare, deliver on authentic tax reform, secure our borders, and protect religious liberty,” Walker promised. “Moreover, conservatives will hold the line against proposals that expand government, limit individual freedom and threaten our national security.”
