The Republican Brand, part one

It is obvious that this year is going to be a bad year for Republicans up and down the ticket. The overwhelming frustration and fatigue with Bush coupled with the war, a faltering economy and high gas prices has led to the perfect storm against Republicans.

The response to this problem from our party leaders is that we have to be true to the "Republican brand". This message was especially strong last year during the budget debate here in Michigan. This argument believes that the voting public wants a clear choice between the parties and that by allowing moderation in the party we are watering down our brand, making it more difficult for voters to understand what we believe in.

Our party leaders could not be more wrong. The fact is that most voters understand the Republican brand too well and they are resoundingly rejecting it. Anybody who doesn't know what Republicans stand for is either an idiot or not interested in politics. The problem isn't that we are ideological impure and therefore confusing to voters but rather that we are too tied to the same tired dogma of blindly cutting taxes and focusing almost exclusively on being against abortion and gay marriage. If that's the brand the party wants to continue selling, good luck because the people are not buying it. In fact, by pushing out the moderate voices of the party we are shrinking instead of expanding the party.

It's not only happening here in Michigan but in Minnesota as well. A group of 6 Republican legislators voted to override a veto of the gas tax increase. The money raised by that gas tax is going to fix Minnesota's infrastructure including roads and bridges. As you may recall, it was a bridge in Minnesota that collapsed last year killing 13 people. One could make a solid policy argument that raising the gas tax is a good idea. Yet, these lawmakers are now being targeted in Republican primaries by anti-tax candidates and the Republican party is supporting the challengers. To quote one Republican from Minnesota "What's even more dangerous than having Democrats is having Republicans that you can't count on." This type of thinking is going to kill the Republicans in November.

I had hoped that the defeat in 2006 would serve as a lesson to the party that we were headed down the wrong track. But apparently it will take additional losses to wake up our party leaders or better yet get new leaders in place.