After their landslide defeats in the White House and the Senate, who could 
blame the Republican Party for looking a little desperate. It’s unclear whether or not newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele is contributing to that desperation, or proactively steering clear of further icebergs.
From the Washington Times’ piece entitled, GOP Needs Hip-Hop Makeover:
“There was underlying concerns we had become too regionalized and the party needed to reach beyond our comfort” zones, [Steele] said, citing defeats in such states as Virginia and North Carolina. “We need messengers to really capture that region – young, Hispanic, black, a cross section … We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”
But, he elaborated with a laugh, “we need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets.”
“Where we have fallen down in delivering a message is in having something to say, particularly to young people and moms of all shapes – soccer moms, hockey moms,” he said, though he insisted that party messages won’t be different strokes for different folks. “We don’t offer one image for 18-year-olds and another for soccer moms but one that shows who we are for the 21st century.”
Operating in one’s century is usually a good place to start. But “upticking their image” may prove more difficult for the Republicans than they think. Why? Young voters typically vote liberal. The quotation, often attributed to Winston Churchill, goes like this: “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brain.” But if this is true, then the GOP may have an easier go attracting one-armed midgets, than Conservative youths.
Don’t forget, however, that Reagan and Bush the First took something like 60% of the youth vote. It had little to do with image, and a lot to do with message.
I was encouraged by yet another story out of Mesa, Arizona, which of course we heard no mention of in its real content. High school students protested as Obama arrived and an accelerated history class pooh-poohed his message and its obvious economic flaws. Definitely refreshing.
I agree Nicole. It was refreshing. I thought that it was a sign that the kids in Mesa are actually thinking about what’s going on right now. Imagine that.
But I don’t think the liberal agenda has a lock on the youth vote or the soccer/hockey/security mom vote. I do think the GOP needs to know how to better communicate its agenda. Never mind actually stand for something again. I think the Grand Old Party has lost its way. I like Steele. Anytime I’ve heard him provide commentary he’s come across as a man that actually makes sense. Wonder of wonders. He’s also one to present his arguments logically without yelling over people, or being insulting. I think he’ll be good for the GOP.
I agree that the GOP has either lost or abandoned its foundational message and before they can communicate it, they have to decide they believe in conservativism and dynamic capitalism.
This garbage we’re having to swallow in only a month is choking me.