Was reading CNN today, and one overwhelming thought took hold. The GOP is dead. They can try all they want to give themselves a shot in the arm, but it won’t work. They’ve already proved to the rest of the country, and themselves, that they don’t know what America wants. Their solutions are the same things they’ve been offering for 60 years, and none of them have or will work. The leaders are old and don’t understand the new world. Their policies are staunch; too staunch to be appreciated by a generation who actually bothers to ask questions. That’s right. The GOP won’t questions themselves, and thus have become a casualty in the war for people’s minds. They depend on tradition rather than people thinking things through, and when people bring up arguments that they HAVE thought thru, the GOP doesn’t have an answer…instead they have a slap in the face to anyone with the cajones to actually think.
Now, I’m not saying that the Democrats have one. They haven’t and they won’t. No one will “win” – but the GOP will form into another party – a different party. The name will be the same. The premise will be the same. But in order to survive, they will need to revamp what they’ve always held as true. And it kills them. How dare a country force its leaders to progress? Well, we do. Because our leaders represent us. And that is why McCain/Palin lost. Because no body wanted them to represent. No body had enough faith in them.
Being a constitutional libertarian, I have the luxury of being able to step outside the box and see views from both sides. I’m fiscally conservative, socially liberal, believe in a free market economy and hold a strictly constitutional view of foreign policy – relations with all, allies with none. This is why its easy for me to laugh at both sides, and yet defend both sides. But I’ll be the first to admit, the GOP will fail miserably in every attempt until they are willing to progress to the level its new followers demand. And the Dems will fail miserably until they are humble enough to admit that while their ideas my be good in theory, their practice can destroy them.
One can only hope that enough Constituonalists stand up to guide our country where it needs to be – with a eye to the past and a goal of progress. To lose sight of either will get us lost.
