What's wrong with the Republican Party? The GOP conservative CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) has been trying to re-identify itself. The question is whether the GOP has any continued relevance after the Bush legacy. Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota Governor, says it is time to get over Reagan according to a Bloomberg story.
The Republican Party needs to do a lot more than move beyond Regan. True he was a great orator and could unite America with his words of comfort, but after starting a revolution and, eventually in the Clinton years gaining control of both houses of congress, the Republicans forgot their values. They became tax and spend conservatives. Frankly, if we are increasing the size of government, I would rather have a government that looks out for the welfare of its citizens than the conservative Republican social agenda.
The fact of the matter is that if the GOP is going to have any relevance, it must focus on fiscal restraint, limited government and federalism. It needs to stay away from social issues, which have no place in politics (other than to unite people to convince them to give money to a candidate). The Republican party squandered an opportunity to demonstrate what principled leadership can do, and instead increased the size of government and used it as a vehicle to instill cronyism and redistribute wealth to the wealthy. It is hard to see how those values resonate with anyone these days.
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