Please join me in supporting Maryland’s own Michael Steele for RNC Chairman!

More to follow…

Michael Steele’s op-ed piece in the WSJ on what the GOP needs to do now.

A lot of people have been discussing whether or not referencing Reagan is relevant anymore for Republicans.

Scott Rasmussen thinks that Reaganism isn’t dead, just stolen.

The current success of the Democratic Party in recruiting new members and new voters can be directly attributed to two things:  the public dissatisfaction with the status quo and the co-opting of abstractions like hope and change that are shaped and molded by each individual into an American Dream of his own creation.

The simplicity of this strategy is brilliant.

The implications of it are staggering:  Few policy declarations need be made that require revision or repudiation at some later date.

Because it puts the responsibility for creating the vision on the voters.

And as a result, a leader can be elected on the basis of a collective illusion, based on abstractions that shimmer like a mirage in the desert, giving false information to anyone unfortunate enough to see it and move toward it, only to find that the oasis is always just beyond the next dune…or the next election.

Perhaps the better idea is this:  The GOP needs to offer a clear, concrete vision for the future of America that demonstrates in succinct, understandable terms, the benefits to the individual and to the corporate whole of adherence to conservative principles, especially if we are entering a period of slowed economic growth with declining tax revenues.

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Yesterday I presented a series of the best possible election outcomes that may revitalize the GOP.

Jon Henke concludes with his final tactical observations:

Fighting against Democratic schemes to grow government and engineer society is what Republicans do best. Republicans are good as a minority party. Unfortunately, the Right has never figured out how to translate that limited government tendency into a governing agenda.

So, whatever the result of the 2008 election, the best result for the Right is to return to fighting Democrats and stop apologizing for Republicans.

This tactic would seem to be the Maryland model.

But it has not been effective here in Maryland, and I suspect that it won’t work anywhere else in the country either.

For the Republican Party to position itself for a strong run in the next few election cycles, it must clarify its vision, revitalize support and recruit new members to its ranks.

When we say that we are for limited government and under our watch government spending grows faster than hurricane over tropical waters, we should not be surprised by the economic damage caused by such a storm.

There is also political damage:  we lose credibility with our constituents.

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Fred Thompson’s FredPAC has announced its slate list of endorsed candidate’s. Please consider financially supporting the FredPAC or these candidate’s individually.

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.

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A Baltimore Business Journal report from July 2008 indicates that Maryland slipped two places on Forbes’ list of best states to do business.  The state ranked 40th in the country for business costs, which include the price of energy, labor and taxes to employ workers in Maryland.

And a Business Week report published October 3rd, indicates that Maryland faces a projected 7.7% budget gap, roughly $1.1 billion dollars, which places the state in the top ten states unable to pay for themselves.  According to the report, which cites data released at the end of September from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Maryland may well join California in going to Washington for a bailout to help pay salaries for firemen, teachers and other state employees.

We are living in difficult economic times.

But living in Maryland under the current administration is going to become more difficult.  Just look at the last two years to see the trends begin.

Since Martin O’Malley took office, nearly 8,000 jobs have been lost.  The state legislature passed a $1.4 billion dollar tax hike that failed to produce expected revenues when the economy and housing market took a nose dive.

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Fred Thompson and Ted Pibil

Many of you who know me know that I was a Fred Thompson supporter and campaigner. And though the campaign did not end where we had hoped it would, the ideals that Fred represents remain central to where Republicans and conservatives need to be.

In an article yesterday on RedState, Senator Thompson reiterates five principles Conservatives must be determined to uphold.  These principles are as follows:  limited government defined by the Constitution, lowering taxes, eliminating deficit spending, maintaining strong national defense and appointing federal judges that uphold the laws, not create them.

He also announced the formation of FRED PAC,

FRED PAC will help identify and support candidates on every level who support a platform of conservative, principles-based leadership and policies.

As Fred Thompson continues to remind us, our conservative values are what has made our country strong, and we cannot abandon them. That’s why I will be joining and supporting the FRED PAC.

(h/t to Jon Henke)