Republicans heavy-hitters across the party’s currently tiny political spectrum are going to go into retreat to do an autopsy on this election and their branding. Do they really have to think all that hard about what went wrong?
The meeting in Shenandoah Valley is the first of scores of inquests into the election defeats to be held over the coming months, some in public and others in the privacy of homes or committee rooms in Congress.
The immediate battle between right-wing and moderate Republicans is over who should become the public face of the party, heading the Republican National Committee. The 168-member RNC will elect its new chairman after Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration on January 20. They gather on January 21 for a three-day discussion.
I don’t hold high hopes for this meeting, given where it was held and the goal at the outset:
Yesterday’s meeting was held at the home of Brent Bozell, head of the Media Research Centre. About 20 people were invited including key grassroots organisers, top fundraisers and the heads of influential conservative groups such as Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform.
Their aim is to ensure that as the party seeks to rebrand itself, it does not divert too far from its traditional values.
This is a party that seriously needs new ideas. All these folks need to do is play videos of various McCain/Palin rallies held around the country and take a look at who was attending them (and how they behaved). Bible-beaters, people who vote against their own interests, and bigots. Sadly that’s their base, and it doesn’t look like the America of the future; their world is shrinking.
You know they have no clue about what to do when this happens:
In a sign of how far the party has fallen, the Republicans set up a hotline and website yesterday appealing for suggestions from the public on how to rebuild.
Here you go…
http://www.rebuildtheparty.com/
One reader went over and saw what some of the suggestions are. Whether the GOP will listen is another matter.