GOP pundits across America lament the party’s lack of appeal to mainstream American voters.  How is it that fourteen short years after the storied “Contract with America” that the country is taking a hard turn…to the left?

The answer is simple.  The GOP leadership became enamored of its own press and failed to produce the change it promised to America.  They enjoyed the talk of change, and the attacks of the leftist media, but they squandered the legacy of Ronald Reagan, failing to capitalize on the demands of the governed to reform government.

And as a result, what changed was the public’s view of the GOP, which as a result, produced eight years of the Clinton presidency during which government grew at record pace.

So the public pushed the change button again.  Despite the Dems best efforts to divine the intentions of the governed by the auguries of the chads, a Republican became president.

The People had spoken.  Or, as some believed, had they?  For many citizens, the results of the election were suspect…and so they became more cynical about the electoral process.

And government grew some more.  Homeland Security, No Child Left Behind, The War on Terror, Freddie and Fannie…and No Mortgage Unapproved.

While some of the Republicans in Washington were part of the problem, some were frantically trying to get the attention of the American public to pressure the Democratic leadership to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the real crisis hit.

But Bear Stearns and AIG were not the only victims of the Wall Street Wipeout.

And the worst of it is that the worst of it might not be over.

In times of turmoil, people always look for a scapegoat. Today the GOP finds itself branded as liars, hypocrites and Wall Street sycophants as the entire global economic system is reeling in the aftermath of the worst financial crisis in modern history.

So it is understandable that people want change.

But the GOP—despite having a more economically-sound, Constitutionally-congruent financial platform— has done a poor job of marketing itself to a public that is desperate for some economic assurances.

After all, the GOP has been branded as the party of “the rich” for so many years.

And in America, very few of us believe that we qualify for that designation.

How, then, can the GOP possibly unify people who consider themselves middle class and victims of Wall Street greed run amok during eight years of a Republican administration?

The tactical approaches to achieve this end vary depending on which pundit is pontificating.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 11:49 am and is filed under Conservatism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.