Where now for the GOP?

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

We need to get back to our roots. I am afraid of the populist, social conservative wing of the party. If we go down the road of big government, we are finished as a party. We need to go back to small government, low taxes, individual freedoms, and less emphasis on social issues. It's fine to remain pro-life and anti-gay marriage, but pushing for an amendment to ban such things will alienate moderate, which have all but left the party.  In fact, both parties are losing moderates.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

We didn't lose this election because of the Religious Right or our social conservative roots. It's seems like I'll be arguing against the idea that that cost us the election for awhile now but oh well.

I think we need a clean sweep when it comes to the "leadership" in Congress. We need fresh faces, not a mad dash to the left.

We lost because of the economic crisis. There was little we can do to stop it so let's stop thinking that we have to dump what we believe in (especially on social issues) because of a bad loss.

All that being said, I'm still sticking with the idea of taking a serious chill pill for awhile. Obviously, the leadership elections in Congress can't just be put on hold but everything else should wait a few months.

Oh I certainly agree that the main reason McCain lost was the Wall Street meltdown. Looking back, I actually believe it would've been best for him to oppose the bailout and rail against Obama and those who did want to bailout Wall Street. I was a big supporter of it at the time, but it probably wasn't the best move for McCain to agree to go along with it. This was always going to be a hard race. I agree that we shouldn't chastise the religious conservatives, but we don't need to make that the central issue of the party. We need to bring back the small government message. That is a message that resonates with a majority of Americans. It's why Obama tried to appear to be a small government moderate during the elections. We got away from that after 9/11, and now is the time we need to return to that in order to get back into relevance.

I think they should move in a more Libertarian direction. Moderate Libertarianism can work in this country.  Like Duke said, if we focus on curtailing spending and cutting taxes for the middle class we’ll go a long way to reforming. Social issues are a bit harder, and I don’t know how they should be addressed. I don’t think the party can afford a wishy washy approach to them, they need to really pick a side. Ideally I’d be in favor of downplaying social issues, but there’s no way that would work. So, I don’t know. Hopefully the Republican strategists are a good deal smarter then me, ha ha. But the focusing on responsible economics is a good start, I‘d say, if they can actually practice what they preach for a change.

If the GOP becomes Libertarian, where does The South/Religious/Populist/Other people go?

Unlike the guy who said "GOP should be a big tent, kick the religious conservatives out," the solution really is to have a big tent party.  The unifying message needs to be small government.  A key plank in the platform, recognized by Reagan, Fred Thompson, Ron Paul, and others, is federalism.  Religious conservatives are best served when Washington butts out of their business.  Most importantly, judges need to faithfully interpret the Constitution.  That by itself is reason for the Republican coalition to stick together.

The biggest challenge for Republicans is the dearth of effective communicators who will stand up and defend our beliefs.  I think the Bush presidency is one cause for this, as Bush himself is neither eloquent nor ideologically consistent.  Also, members of the party have been been muted in their criticism, for understandable reasons.  But above all, we need advocates who can build the party rather than Rovian tacticians who can find 51% of the vote in a given election.

Then, where would I go, as a  Gov't lover?

You should probably be a Democrat if you love big government. It depends which is more important to you: big government or your social values. The reason I am a Republican is because I believe in small government.