Ghosts haunt Republican minority outreach

If we are going to promote an ownership society in a society that let our ancestors own human beings we need as much distance from that dark legacy as we can get. This is more than just a marketing problem. Our insensitivity to legitimate minority concerns leads us to develop policies that are often doomed from inception.

Ghosts haunt Republican minority outreach

communities.washingtontimes.com

Republicans are recognizing that their established strategy has exhausted its usefulness, but change is hampered by a frustrating leg

David's Bookclub: Strom Thurmond's America

"How did the party that elected the first black U.S. senator, the party that elected the first 20 African-American congressmen, become a party that now loses 95 percent of the black vote? How did the Republican Party, the party of the Great...See More

David's Bookclub: Strom Thurmond's America

www.thedailybeast.com

"How did the party that elected the first black U

The Virtuous Circle of Declining Crime

"One interesting way to look at this is to do the math and chart not just the decline in homicide but the even steadier and more amazing decline in unsolved homicide. Part of the story could just be that the cops are getting smarter. One possible answer is that as crime falls the remaining crimes are disproportionately easy ones to solve—perhaps domestic violence cases."

The Virtuous Circle of Declining Crime

www.slate.com

Those of us who've read out Kevin Drum know that declining lead levels are a key driver of falling rates of violent crime in America. But I was looking

How the Religious Right and the Libertarians Buried the Hatchet

"Weyrich’s strategic shift not only changed the shape of the Religious Right, it eventually shifted the balance of power among the various libertarian factions.

"This carefully calibrated opening from well-established Republican evangelica...See More

How the Religious Right and the Libertarians Buried the Hatchet

communities.washingtontimes.com

The awkward alliance between the libertarian movement and fundamentalists helps explain why Republicans care so little about governing.

More Demographic Thoughts on the 2012 Election

The GOP cannot become a governing party again if it doesn’t find an economic message that has some relation to the actual economic situation in the country. I suspect that if it did, the old pattern would reassert itself, and it would win a larger share of both the white vote and the non-white vote. If not, the rump GOP base will continue its slide into petulant fury at the country it “lost.”

More Demographic Thoughts on the 2012 Election

www.theamericanconservative.com

The GOP is rightly concerned that its share of the Hispanic vote has dropped to historic lows. What's interesting about that drop, though, is that it occurred a

Jon Huntsman creating new PAC, testing the waters - Byron Tau

"The very survival of the party is based on our ability to really begin to define the real issues that we confront and to begin a dialogue of problem solving around them."

Jon Huntsman creating new PAC, testing the waters - Byron Tau

www.politico.com

Former 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is forming a new PAC dedicated to helping elect like-minded Republican candidates across the 

Solution-oriented black conservatives vs. Fame-oriented black conservatives

Essentially, black conservatives can be divided into two groups: solution-oriented black conservatives and fame-oriented black conservatives. Solution-oriented black conservatives prefer to use their platforms to intellectually engage wit...See More

Hip Hop Republican | Music, Politics & Culture

www.hiphoprepublican.com

Music, Politics & Culture

What If The Government Just Kept A Lot Fewer Secrets?

"It's a problem that the government collects the phone records of substantially all Americans and didn't tell us that it was doing so, but not for any of the usual reasons that people talk about overclassification being a problem. The issue here is that the secrecy prevents a public debate on the question of whether the policy of collecting the records is wise."

What If The Government Just Kept A Lot Fewer Secrets?

www.businessinsider.com

If we want the government to keep fewer secrets, we have to get agencies to properly treat secrecy as costly and weigh the cost of secrecy against the...

Republican ‘RINO’ Hypocrisy

Given the hypocritical application of the term, it is safe to say that being called a ‘RINO’ carries as much rhetorical sting as any random playground insult. Far from being a devastating critique indicting a political person for being insufficiently conservative, the current iteration of the term is largely futile.

Hypocrisy has rendered the term ‘RINO’ meaningless

communities.washingtontimes.com

Given the hypocritical application of the term, it is safe to say that ‘RINO’ carries as much rhetorical sting as any playground insult.

More White Votes Alone Won't Save the GOP

"To have prevailed over Mr. Obama in the electoral count, Mr. Romney would have had to carry 62.54% of white voters. That's a tall order, given that Ronald Reagan received 63% of the white vote in his 1984 victory, according to the Congressional Quarterly's analysis of major exit polls.

It's unreasonable to expect Republicans to routinely pull numbers that last occurred in a 49-state sweep."

More White Votes Alone Won't Save the GOP

online.wsj.com

In The Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove writes that to win the presidency in 2016, the party needs to do better with Hispanics.

The danger in Republican climate denial

We can give hedged answers on the age of the universe with little consequence. Denying the reality of evolution won’t cause anyone to lose their favorite beach house, or for that matter, their favorite island. Climate change, on the other hand, is becoming apparent enough to the average layman to affect their holiday plans. We cannot swim against this scientific tide much longer.

The danger in Republican climate denial

communities.washingtontimes.com

For Republicans, denial is a river that is rapidly running dry.

"My creed is that public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation with full recognition that every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration, that constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought, that smears are not only to be expected but fought, that honor is to be earned but not bought." —Margaret Chase Smith (14 December 1897 - 29 May 1995)

Q&A with Jon Huntsman

“Anger is not a substitute for good policy.” 

On a breezy, overcast day in late June of 2011, former Governor and Ambassador Jon Huntsman traveled to Liberty State Park in New Jersey to announce his candidacy for President of the United States. It was the same spot where Ronald Reagan officially kicked off his general election campaign for President in September of 1980. Like Reagan, Huntsman spoke with the Statue of Liberty in the background. And, like Reagan, he laid out an optimistic vision of America based on his deeply held conservative beliefs.


Read interview here http://www.riponsociety.org/forum124jh.htm

What does it mean to be a moderate Republican?

Moderate Republicans believe in community, compassion, pragmatism, common sense, political-fellowship, and, most importantly -- intellectual honesty. This passion is pursued within the broad framework of enlightened Lincoln era principles. Moderate Republicans stand in a crowded room, with the burning spirit of Lincoln in their hearts -- truth, fairness, justice, and limited-compassionate government -- when all others sit during difficult times. Moderates are loyal to serving the greater good -- not an entrenched party leadership. Government, whether limited or expansive, must serve everyone. Moderate republicanism, is an esoteric ideology to many -- a philosophy difficult to define. Extremists and militant social conservatives have succeeded in wrongly labeling moderates as a recent political mutation.

Between 1890 and 1950, the moderate wing dominated the party. Moderate republicanism traces its roots to men like U.S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the 1850s. The impact of the movement, however, did not become apparent until shortly after the Civil War. The GOP emerged as the party of free enterprise. And by the late 1890's two distinct groups evolved -- moderate and conservative. The moderate wing called on government to curtail unbridled capitalism that exploited men, women, and children in the textile mills. It also wanted environmental protections and the ending of corrupt patronage in government. These early reformers recognized that some societal problems could only be addressed by the national government.

Moderate republicans often see limited government as a useful tool that when operated carefully, like a piece of heavy machinery, can improve the quality of life for all Americans. Moderates and conservatives fall under a broad philosophical framework of Republicanism. Although conservatives are a legitimate branch of the GOP who have made many positive contributions, this wing of the party has allowed itself to be dominated by extremists and social moralists that marginalize Lincoln era principles. Moderate republican orthodoxy includes: a passion for civil liberties; a disdain for conformity and suspicion of authority; a belief that the Constitution is a living, breathing document with timeless values that must be made relevant in a modern age; a commitment to protect the environment and not engage in mindless exploitation of the nation's natural beauty. A spirited case must be made for reusable energy sources like solar power.

Modern technology provides many options before the earth is harshly, brutally, and needlessly pillaged; a strong belief that diversity -- gender, racial, social, sexual, ethnic, and religious -- should be celebrated because it gives the United States moral strength. Diversity -- in the long-term, encourages respect, understanding, and a greater sense of community; a commitment to fiscal prudence and limited government; a recognition that government does have a basic social responsibility to help those in need; a belief that the nation does have international responsibilities; a belief that God and religion have a very important place in America -- at the dinner table and in churches, temples, and mosques.

But it should never be used by politicians to advance a narrow moral agenda; a belief that the national government should be used in a limited manner to advance the common good; a commitment never to put party above country; and a responsibility to publicly criticize those who call themselves Republican when the situation merits. Moderate/Progressives have a duty to vote against the party line when it does not serve the greater good. Doing so does not make them less Republican; it demonstrates that they have the honor, political courage, and intellectual honesty to put nation above party.

Interested in learning more about moderate Republicans? 

The Republican Mens Club of Clark County, Nevada is a great resource that seeks to educate the public about the meaning behind the name.