What the Republicans need is a big honking dose of vitality. The party is tired. Clinging to tax cuts doesn't cut it anymore. The old and wealthy might still want to wallow in tax relief, but recent polls show that taxes are not the primary issue for most Americans. In the aftermath of Katrina it became painfully obvious that the nation's infrastructure has been neglected. Americans don't want tax cuts as much as they want their tax money well spent.
As baby boomers retire and Gen X takes over, the GOP needs to be courting the issues that matter to younger voters. Classically liberal domains such as the environment and education need a Republican invasion. While thirty and forty something Republicans still very much value making a buck, they are also now raising their children after growing up with words like PCBs, half-life, and toxic waste in their vocabulary. Many have watched their parents or older relatives battle cancer and wonder if the smog blanketing most American cities and towns might be to blame. Today's parents are also stuck putting their kids into public schools overwhelmed and underfunded by Bush's No Child Left Behind policies.
If America wasn't somewhat homophobic, the victor of the last presidential election would not have been Bush. It was the states with gay marriage props and amendments on the ballots that got the GOP and moderates to the polling place. Lesson learned: It is hard to motivate moderates, but it is possible. The morals of the Republican party may be more in line with the average citizen than previously thought, but the agenda overall is out of touch.
Why is it that on most college campuses the Young Democrats rule? When I was in college, most Dems seemed liberal, but also angry and bitter. I never could figure out what the draw was to joining their group. One could work to help the poor and abused without being beaten over the head by cranky environmentalists trying to save the Spotted Owl. Republicans were having a better time and had more drinking money.
The stereotypical -and don't most stereotypes have at least a kernel of truth to them?- Republican, a late fifty something wealthy white male who clawed his way to the top of the corporate latter and expects government to further reward him (and his Fortune 500 employer) with tax cuts is no longer relevant.
During the Carter era when unemployment percentages were in the double digits, inflation was out of control, and the energy crisis was in full swing the Republican agenda made sense. It doesn't anymore. Bush seems to want to follow the same agenda as Reagan. As if there wasn't a single problem that tax cuts and a kick ass military couldn't fix.
Put down the fiber wafers and wake up! Allowing me to keep several hundred or a even a thousand bucks of my own money is not going to make a big enough difference in my life to buy you my loyalty come election time.
