Republicans have a huge hill to climb if they expect to be competitive again, according to a Tuesday night panel sponsored by the America’s Future Foundation. And they’re going to have to climb it together.
The panel, which featured Red Alert Politics editor Francesca Chambers, was a discussion about potential New Year’s resolutions for the Republican Party, especially going into an election year. If anything, the dialogue showcased just how fractured the Republican coalition has become and how putting forth a common message has become increasingly difficult going into the midterm election cycle.
Chambers emphasized the need for Republicans to embrace what she called “compassionate conservatism” to be competitive. Republican talking points about jobs and lower taxes just are not resonating with voters.
“Things like that are not really the sort of thing that gets low-income people or the average American to vote for you,” Chambers said, noting that the Democratic strategy of telling people they feel sorry for them has been more effective. “That doesn’t mean that people on the Republican side — conservatives and libertarians — need to give up their values.”
Republicans need to learn how to make their message “more palatable” to people in need, she said, stressing how important sympathy and empathy have become. Success means having Republicans overcome the narrative that Democrats have established in the minds of many voters that paints all members of the GOP as being greedy.
“Just look at what happened in the last election,” Chambers said. “Mitt Romney — corporate raider, greedy — he doesn’t care about the average person.”
She contrasted Romney’s loss with Bill de Blasio’s recent win in the New York City mayoral election. De Blasio, she said, won because he promised the world to people and promised he would fix all of the social ills.
Chambers noted that the GOP needs to do a better job engaging young people, especially with those who are between 25 and 29.
Fellow panelist and Reason 24/7 assistant editor Matthew Feeney chose to focus on social issues such as drug legalization and gay marriage, suggesting the GOP should embrace social liberalism to be competitive — calling the Republican Party one of the most incompetent political organizations in the Western world. Feeney added the caveat that he, as a libertarian, did not care much for either the Republicans or the Democrats.
“The war on drugs is incredibly expensive,” Feeney said. “It does not just destroy families. It’s a big burden on the taxpayer, and it doesn’t work.”
He criticized libertarians for not speaking out enough about things like the Obama administration’s drone program and the ongoing sanctions on Iran.
“The government kills people abroad and should not be tolerated,” Feeney said.
Feeney blamed the Republicans’ consistent losses on their social conservatism, noting that Republicans were not talking about gay marriage or the war on drugs when they won 49-state elections in 1972 and 1984.
However, Richard Nixon formally began the fight against drugs in 1971, and the “Just Say No” campaign was a prominent aspect of the Reagan administration. Gay rights were not on the national radar as a major mainstream political issue in presidential politics until Bill Clinton ran 1992.
“I cannot see how given the economic state, Republicans not coming out in favor of people being able to do with their bodies and being in relationships with people they love could possibly hurt if they have a good economic message,” Feeney said.
The night’s third panelist, Rudy Takala, suggested that conservatives should try to expand their representation in the House Republican caucus because the Party has been unsuccessful in getting a conservative agenda across. Takala pointed to the Ryan-Murray budget plan that removed the sequestration-related spending caps as an example. Sixty-two Republicans, who account for 14 percent of all House members, voted against it.
“Whatever measure you use, only about 20 percent of the House is conservative, and yet establishment Republicans and liberals say that conservatives are starting to dominate Washington and cause all this dysfunction,” Takala said. “Imagine what they could do, say, if they reached 25 percent of Congress.”
He advised the GOP to stay away from issues, such as gay marriage, that divide their base and focus on issues such as gun control, which unite Republicans and divide Democrats.
The lack of message discipline and focus on the Right ultimately helps the Democrats and hurts Republicans. But as long as Republicans are unable to articulate a clear, unified vision that appeals to a broad spectrum of voters, victory could be a long way off.
