Republicans believe that it’s the way their message is being communicated, and not the message itself, that hurt them in their bid for the White House, and that hurt their image overall during the election cycle. Senator Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Sunday morning, on Meet the Press, “We have to show our ideas are better at fighting poverty, how our ideas are better at solving healthcare, how our ideas are better at solving the problems people are experiencing in their daily lives.”

On CNN’s State of the Union program, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said, “I think they don’t understand the conservative message,” referring to the American people. He goes on to explain that Republicans should consider looking at Republican governors, and not Washington, for how to get the support of the voters.

And David Schweikert (R-AZ) thinks that Republicans offer an approach to problem solving that is more analytical in nature than what the Democrats offer.

The issue, however, is their message, not just the way it’s being delivered, though how they’ve been communicating that message hasn’t been helping (Romney’s 47% comment, for instance). Jeff Bowles, of the Kansas City Star writes that that the explanation for the Republican Party’s problems are “varied and many,” and cites examples that have been bandied about over and over again throughout the media. But he mentions the very core of the issue as well, and that is while both parties have fallen prey to narrow ideologies that benefit very few, that has affected the GOP far more than the Democratic Party.





The GOP plans to re-elect Reince Priebus as the party chairman, and Priebus asserted that the party will become more inclusive in the future. According to McClatchy’s Planet Washington, his comments are expected to include a statement saying:

“We must compete in every state and every region, building relationships with communities we haven’t before. We must develop the best technology with the help of the best minds—and train activists, volunteers, and candidates with the modern tools of a modern party.”

Another expected statement is,

“We can stand by our timeless principles—and articulate them in ways that are modern…relevant to our time and relatable to the majority of voters. And that, I believe, is how we’ll achieve a Republican renewal. That’s how we’ll grow. That’s how we’ll win.”

But just a message of inclusiveness isn’t enough. Republican leaders are correct in saying they have to prove that their ideals are what’s best for America. So far, their track record on that is abysmal. Trickle-down economics, for example, doesn’t work; the U.S. is a consumer-based economy and in such, the consumers drive growth. Ideas like the one espoused by Orrin Hatch, which insist that the poor need to take up more of the tax burden and that increased revenue must come from the middle class, because they’re the biggest population segment, don’t encourage growth because it takes more money out of the pockets of the real drivers of the economy.

Business 101 – you don’t hire people you don’t need. If your current workforce can handle your company’s demand just fine, it doesn’t matter how many tax breaks and cuts you get, you aren’t going to hire more people.

So, first prove that trickle-down economics works.

Then prove that ever-looser gun laws will work. Stop with the fear-mongering and put actual, real studies and evidence out there proving that ever-looser gun laws will reduce gun violence and deaths. Take a good, long look Finland, their gun laws, their social welfare and educational systems, and their economic policies, and prove that looser gun laws is the solution to the problems in the U.S.; that the only issue at stake with gun violence is gun laws, and not deeper, wider, more complex cultural problems, including our penchant for turning our backs on the poor, the unemployed, the struggling, and anybody else whose life circumstances may be difficult, along with their children.

Prove that getting rid of abortion is the solution to abortion, and is best for everyone, including poor, single women who can’t afford a child, or another child, that it’s best for a mentally ill woman, or a woman who can’t take care of herself. Prove that it’s best for society as a whole for women to bear more children than they can handle.

Prove that marriage equality is detrimental to the U.S. Prove that it will destroy our society, since it hasn’t already destroyed the states where it’s currently legal.

There is a lot that the Republican party has to prove is better for America, and they have to prove it not with continued rhetoric, but with demonstrable evidence. They have several huge hurdles to overcome in order to come by some of that proof.

The problem is not the way their ideals are communicated. The problem, despite what they say, is the ideals themselves.