Herron: New Republicans need new ideas

Long ago in the streets of Paris, the French radical Alexandre Ledru-Rollin saw a crowd march by… Long ago in the streets of Paris, the French radical Alexandre Ledru-Rollin saw a crowd march by and said, “There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them.” While the Republican Party scrambles to rebuild, they’ve come to painfully resemble Ledru-Rollin — unsure and unable to lead.

If the 2006 mid-term elections hadn’t solidified the Republicans as a party in the wilderness, then the 2008 elections certainly did. While they have plenty of ideas and energy, it’s clear that they lack direction and leadership. With Sarah Palin’s resignation as governor of Alaska, and the downfall of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, the search for a face opposite President Barack Obama has become all the more difficult.

A Gallup poll released in June revealed that, when asked who the “main person who speaks for the Republican Party today” was, 10 percent of Republicans said Rush Limbaugh, 10 percent said Newt Gingrich, 9 percent said Dick Cheney, and 6 percent said Sen. John McCain. Of these names, only one — Gingrich — might run in 2012, but would do so with scant odds of success.

Consequentially, the principal question on the minds and mouths of pundits everywhere is understandable: Who will lead the Republicans? And when?

But finding a leader requires patience. For instance, after Watergate and the election of Jimmy Carter, the Republicans had no clear leader. A handful of names were fermenting in the minds of party members, but there was no frontrunner. It took a couple of years, but Ronald Reagan eventually took charge and secured the party’s presidential nomination in 1980. His victory over Carter was greatly in part because of his ability to forge a coalition of economic libertarians, social conservatives and staunch anti-Communists.

Ever since Obama’s inauguration, Democrats have successfully caricatured the Republican Party as “the Party of No.” Until Republicans can formulate a tangible platform, that is what they will have to be. Republicans should dedicate the next few years to creating a fresh platform and determining who will lead its implementation.

The GOP has succeeded at this task before, most notably in 1994, when, after losing the White House just two years prior, they ignited the Republican Revolution and took both houses of Congress. Gingrich — the eventual Speaker of the House — was the party’s aspiring leader, and the platform he created was labeled the Contract with America, a document detailing the actions Republicans would take if elected. It described 10 bills that would be introduced into Congress and also promised to reform government with greater transparency and accountability. The Contract was presented to the American public six weeks before the 1994 election, and it led to Republican victories throughout the country.

The next Republican platform does not need to be so sleek and ostentatious, but it must be coherent and dynamic. Instead of merely demanding tax cuts at every economic hiccup, there must be a willingness to explore other small-government alternatives. The Republican Party, though hard to believe now, was once a party that advocated balanced budgets and general fiscal restraint, not supply-side economics.

In addition, the Party must show that it is capable of taking on not only the challenges of today, but also the challenges of tomorrow. Republicans must find innovative and effective ideas to battle the problems of modernity: energy, nuclear proliferation, emerging superpowers, forthcoming debt and any other problem that looms on the horizon. Having the ability to anticipate upcoming problems is an indispensable asset, and one that could help Republicans re-capture a majority.

Furthermore, instead of retreating to mollify the current base, perhaps Republicans should work to develop a new one. Presently, the party’s factions are numerous: libertarians, religious evangelicals, neoconservatives, staunch federalists and party reformists. However, instead of attempting to satisfy all of these blocs — as has been tried recently — compromise must be reached among them.

Americans, historically, are temperamentally conservative. Unfortunately, the Republican Party of recent years has been anything but. Part of the solution to the Party’s woes is to get back in tune with American sentiment.

In 2012, the Republicans will have to nominate somebody for president. The GOP must hope that by then a leader has emerged as the head of a rebuilt party and representative of new ideas. If not, then the party will be forced to throw a Hail Mary and select not the best candidate, but simply the least bad.

E-mail Mason at mph20@pitt.edu.