The Republican Brand, part two

I just read an interesting article by David Brooks, who by the way is becoming my favorite columnist, that discussed how the conservative party is redefining themselves in England. This is a timely article as Republicans here at home are trying to define the "Republican Brand". I am hopeful that we will follow their example and avoid the decades in the political wilderness they had to endure before realizing it was time to make changes.

They are onto something as they are moving away from focusing on the role of government and instead emphasizing community and quality of life issues. This is a brilliant strategic shift as it helps connect the dots between political theory and real life solutions that people want. Let's face it, most people could care less about the size and scope of government so long as it's competent and their community is thriving. We need to reexamine our policies in light of how well they provide services and how they impact people's quality of life.

For instance, it is not enough to say government should stay out of health care simply because we don't like big government. Instead we have to offer actual solutions that make health care more accessible and affordable. Instead of focusing on hot button social issues like gay rights and gun rights, we need to pay more attention to improving government services like transportation, our schools and the corrections system. Now ,there is a lot of room to debate how to improve these services but these areas should be our priorities.

It's not enough to be against government and for free market anymore. In some cases this approach works but not all the time. As a party we need to offer real solutions to improve the quality of life in our communities. These solutions might come from the free market but they also might include more government to fill in the gaps left behind by the market place. Without taking this approach, we will continue to lose elections and more importantly the public's confidence.