Comments for Reinventing the Party: A Cautionary Tale at http://www.urbanelephants.com , comment 1 to 7 out of 7 comments http://www.urbanelephants.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:05:05 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1857 Identity politics shouldn't be a GOP game. The idea that any ethnic group is "entitled" to special privileges because of its ethnicity is abhorrent to mainstream GOP ideology. The concept of identity politics was invented by the Weather Underground, a communist organization, back in the 1960s. The idea was to divide America by creating warring factions of Americans, separating them by race or ethnicity. It's a concept later adopted by the Democratic Party. President Obama owes his election to its success, plus GOP incompetence. Let's hope that its success is only temporary. - Quickjustice Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:25:47 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1856 Its not as simple as saying "gee you'll get more from republican" or some such thing. Until the republican party puts political resources into black communities and makes some direct effort to show they take the problems of black communities seriously, why should they trust us? After the debacle with the state party office in uptown manhattan a few years back, we only reinforce how little interest we have in minority voters, other than as a photo op to help promote how much we "care." - Paladin Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:00:30 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1843 ideology is the moral compass of a party. Not every candidate has to espouse every aspect of the party's line all the time, but there needs to be enthusiatic agreement as to what the "core" of those beliefs represent. The GOP needs to stand for small government first and foremost, the rest of the grassroots can mobilize around that. - spunky Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:05:18 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1840 "It should be pointed out to minority communities that they lose by voting for Democrats. What has Charles Rangel done to help his own people? His constituents should be angrier at him than I am." Here, Here, alessandra, that is the way to get it done...but it takes time. Time to build and time to grow. Changing the minds and habits of minority or poor voters will not happen overnight. But, YES, they need to know that the more government gets involved, the more their day to day lives will suffer... - Jay Golub Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:52:12 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1837 It should be pointed out to minority communities that they lose by voting for Democrats. What has Charles Rangel done to help his own people? His constituents should be angrier at him than I am. Does crazy Charles Barron really represent the voters in his district? The man is another disgrace. In New York State the Democrats' motto is "tax, tax tax and spend, spend spend." It would never occur to Paterson to do something about New York's expensive Medicaid system or bankrupt public school system, another cash cow. Minorities are hurt by terrible schools from which, in New York State, there is little escape except through charter schools. Many New York RINOS have vanished for a reason - good riddance! When Republicans run as Democratic lite, they lose. Goodby Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island and good riddance! In New Hampshire, unfortunately, many Massachustts residents have relocated and brought their terrible values with them. The same thing is happening in North Carolina and I really don't know what the answer is to these "alien" invasions of lousy voters! - Alessandra Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:44:53 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1827 It's important to have an ideology, but ideology alone isn't enough to win elections. If you want smaller government, you have to demonstrate to voters what government programs should be cut or eliminated, and how elimination of those programs and services benefit the public. It's a hard argument to make, one that requires a detailed knowledge of the programs, and fresh ideas for replacing them or demonstrating that they're not needed. If you're rich, you need less government. If you're poor, you probably need some help from the government. The question is, is that government assistance putting a poor person on track to get a private sector job, to prosper, and the move up the ladder known as the American Dream? - Quickjustice Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:34:23 +0100 http://www.urbanelephants.com/index.php/home/64/418-reinventing-the-party-a-cautionary-tale.html#comment-1824 Here, Here. But let me add something else to the mix. Although I've been a consistent and loud voice that the GOP, both locally and nationally, needs to get back to small government/individual liberty basics to become viable again, I would not rule out copying some of the Democrat's ways. Again, on policy and principles we should say "no," but on tactics, we need to be more open-minded. Concepts like "strict constructivism" need to be discarded as they are tangents to the true Republican/anti-federalist tradition. Also, the view inside the GOP that our issues do not resonate in poor or minority communities needs to change. Republican leadership needs to abandon this self-defeating creed and actively and aggressively invest into building the party in these areas. And I agree, Mike, that the GOP can't do this by trying to out-democrat the democrat - with spending and union concessions. Those methods only entrench the problem for the GOP further. I guess the key for all of this is that the leaders of the State GOP "believe" again as well. I hope they are listening... - Jay Golub Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:27:06 +0100