An open letter to aspiring Republican Politicians

ILLUSTRATED: The GOP coalition is dead. Young Republicans need to start from scratch.

Dear Aspiring Republicans,

Whether you are running this year, or in the coming years, you have a great opportunity to remake your party.

Economics

Your first problem is on economics. Going back to its Hamiltonian lineage, your party’s core constituency has been big business and high finance. Currently, your party’s electoral base is in the South, not the center of finance. The problem reared its head on Super Tuesday, 2008, when Mike Huckabee won 5 Southern states talking about economic populism. He campaigned on a shoestring budget, yet his message resonated.

The core values of a conservative are property rights, efficiency, and order. With liberals it’s human rights, equity, and justice. But Mike Huckabee’s policies are rooted in his version of Christianity, and are not based on the values of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. Mike Huckabee’s economics are really more liberal than conservative. In short, there is a conflict.

You ought to look for inspiration from conservative mayors like Giuliani, and big state governors in the 1990s. [ahem under Bill Clintons overall cover] there are examples of pro-business development for inner city areas. Also look to Jack Kemp as HUD Secretary for conservative policy for inner cities.

Society

On social policies, if young Republicans don’t change really quickly, you will find yourself on the wrong side of the future. Imagine being on record as against the civil rights laws of the 1960s. That is what being anti-civil unions for gays and anti-choice for reproductive rights would be like. The young generation coming up is very liberal as this research suggests. Now there is Google and YouTube to document and propagate everything you say in an instant.

If you are beginning a political career as a Republican, take a “libertarian” view on social issues. And do it right away. Not only is the country becoming browner, more and more whites have biracial relatives. So the race baiting that your party has done for the last 40 years will backfire.

On immigration, the politics of nativism will not work in the long run. Most wealth is generated in places with lots of immigrants. Thus those places are where politicians will have to raise money, and so those places will have a lot of political power. And as alluded to above, if you bash immigrants at a small fund raising reception, it is likely your are criticizing someone’s spouse or adopted child.

The World

The Iraq debacle, and the underperformance in Afghanistan are on your party for a generation. The younger generation has grown up with war for the last seven years and will not forget it. They also know that terrorism, public health, crime, trade, and environmental concerns are all global. Bravado ultimately leads to weakness. The soft skills of diplomacy keep us safer.

To conclude, doing those things is the only way you can compete. It will also force my party to improve.