Meandering Aimlessly Through the Wilderness

TW: The Republicans need to pick a new chairperson for their party. They appear to have some wonderful choices. I have posted before about how the Republicans are at a fork in the road, either move to modernize the party (i.e. moderate a bit, legitimately appeal to Hispanics and others etc.) or just keep singing from the same tired hymnal. I suspect they will have to fall further in before choosing the former...

From Economist:
"Mr Duncan and his five rivals...have made their sales pitches to the conservative Leadership Institute.

Saul Anuzis [MI] argued that the Republicans' problems were due to a rotten "brand", thanks to an unpopular president and votes for "higher spending and bridges to nowhere"...Mr Anuzis does not believe that Republicans needed to re-evaluate their policy stances or their message in order to win...Mr Anuzis argued that the party could overcome its problems with more activism, smarter messaging, and wider outreach...That combination of nostalgia and resistance to self-examination is one reason Democrats aren't spending much time worrying about the opposition these days."

Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina GOP. Big idea: Project 3141, to build the party in every American county, and "infiltrate areas that are solidly Democrat."

Michael Steele, chairman of the conservative political training group GOPAC. Big idea: "Recruit and train 25,000 grassroots activist leaders by 2012 drawn from every state in the union."

Ken Blackwell, former secretary of state of Ohio. Big idea: "I will end any practice of the RNC that withholds support for candidates based solely on the fact that they are more conservative than others."

Chip Saltsman, former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee. Big idea: "A 'watchdog' division within the national party should be established whose sole mission is to monitor and report on the actions of Washington, D.C. Democrats."

The whole survey is...an interesting snapshot of what possible Republican leaders think is wrong with their party. Messaging, technology, volunteers... and not much else. The election of Joseph Cao in New Orleans is trumpeted as a path-breaking win for the party, which is a stretch: Democrats didn't pretend that their capture of Mark Foley's seat in 2006 was meaningful, because scandal-driven wins almost never are."