The GOP is in the tank

Everyone knows it

Everyone is glad about it

This is what I think the GOP ought to do, ideology wise to recover:

The GOP used to be a relatively moderate party. Think fo Richard Nixon or Nelson Rockefeller.

Starting with the Reagan Revolution a new three tiered ideology developed which hoodwinked voters up until 2006. This is what Reagan claimed was the three stool legs that held up the GOP. The three stool legs are these...neocon foreign policy...supplyside economics...and social conservatism.

I think the GOP should junk these first two stools. Suppy side economics are absurd and everybody thinks they suck nowadays. They should revert back to their old stance that their should be a moar balanced budget and fiscally responsible economic plan, as opposed to this BS stuff about huge tax cuts.

The neocon foreign policy is also retarded. It is completely batshit insane, and it's basically a utopian, crusading view of things with no practical thinking coming into the equation. Republicans ought to go back to being just a harder version of moderate Democratic policies. They were always the folks who advocated a moar hawkish foreign policy, but it wasn't this nutso neocon crap. Also, this bellicose scaremongering has to stop. Lets get real...scaremongering works, but not the way the current crop of GOP do it. The sort of Michelle Bachmann, Dick Cheney style of scaremongering of threatening destruction at the hands of unpatriotic, traitorous Democrats has turned everyone off. Republicans should go back to Dick Nixon's old style of criticism, where he said essentially "I believe my Democratic opponent believes what he is advocating is best for America and he is patriotic..but his policies are naive."

Now, for the social conservatism...as much as I hate it, I don't think it should be scrapped for political reasons. But it comes with a big 'if'. The GOP has to get real with itself and fess up to its Southern Strategy of playing on racial fears to gain the votes of resentful whites. IF they can give this strategy up...I think they have an in with the Black community and the Hispanic Community with social conservatism. Both communities have strong religious strains, and if the GOP can sincerely try to reach out I can see some real inroads to be made here.

However, while I see possibilities in the social conservatism with minorities, there is also the reality of moderates and independents becoming moar and moar progressive. This is where the social conservatism aspect can be destructive. To gain on both sides of this issue the GOP ought to junk this whole 'party line or bust' philosophy that they seem to have....where if someone supports every aspect of the party philosophy except one thing (for example:gay marriage, or pro choice) they're unacceptable and are shunned. This whole thing makes them look like a cult of immovable fanatics.

So that's my prescription for the GOP.

Go old school on foreign policy and economics. Neocon and supply side theories have led to catastrophe, and conservatives ought to go back to being hard edged but pragmatic and not maniacal in diplomacy...and responsible and frugal, not pilfering fat cats in economics. And utilize social conservatism better

-Auchtung