Posted by
Republican Majority 2008 on Saturday, June 23, 2007 11:06:32 PM
By Jonathan Tallman
When January 20, 2009 comes upon us, the 24-hour news cycles will welcome the new President of the United States. They will also begin evaluating the presidency of George W. Bush. Will that new president be a Republican or a Democrat? That is the question that will remaim for many more months to come. At the rate the Grand Old Party is headed now, however, it is becoming evident that Republicans may be in for even heavier losses than in 2006. Right now, more than ever, President Bush must stand up to ensure that his party keeps control of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and regains control in the House and Senate. Here is my three point plan to ensure Republicans gain power in Congress.
First of all, the recent immigration bill that is being debated has completely alienated the most conservative members of the Republican Party. If the immigration bill that is trying to be pushed through Congress eventually passes, President Bush may be held responsible for the ensuing losses on November 4, 2008. President Bush has to produce a bill that will quell the voices coming from the far-right. To do this, he needs to first forget about what to do with the illegal immigrants here. The more important thing for him to do is to produce a tough border act that will close the border to all illegal immigrants. This will be highly favorable to the conservatives, who feel that both Republicans and Democrats have failed in their constitutional duty to protect the borders of this nation, and the American people as a whole. Second step in the legislation process, compromise the guest worker program. Conservatives will never tire until that atrocious legislative amnesty is gotten rid of. Republicans would stand behind a bill that would not involve the guest worker program, and party unity will allow the bill to pass. Conservatives will still feel cheated, but only by President Bush, not the party.
Second, President Bush and Republicans in Congress need to "sell" the War in Iraq to the American people. It has become quite clear that Americans are becoming antsy with Iraq, and that they have lost faith that Republicans know how to deal with such issues. In both 2002 and 2004, Republicans had great support with national security issues, now that advantage has shrunk dramatically. President Bush needs to go on a nationwide tour from July until September announcing the progress that America has made, and criticize those Democrats, especially those vying for the White House, that they are defeatists who have voted against our troops and are aiding the enemy. President Bush cannot do it alone, however. He will need Senator Joseph Lieberman to join him on this tour, as well as more liberal Republicans like Arlen Specter. Finally, when September rolls around, Congress will begin investigating whether the surge President Bush and the commanders on the ground favored, worked. The day Congress intends to announce their findings, President Bush should schedule his address to the nation from the Oval Office that night. This will prevent the press from making the Congress' finding a story for a couple of days. Instead, they will have to go from covering Congress, to covering and interpreting President Bush's address to to the nation all in the same day.
Lastly, President Bush and the Republican party must run completely opposite of the Democratic Party on crucial issues like abortion, stem-cell research, and gay marriage while compromising on issues like social security, healthcare, tort reform, and alternative energy. Republicans must work to show Americans that they are the party that is willing to put partisan politics to the side and fight for the average American. Democrats won in 2006 more so because of Americans being tired of the corruption and partisan politics than over Iraq. The fact that Congress' approval rating is at 32% should be encouraging news for disheartened Republicans. That is lower than President Bush's approval rating at about 34-38% and the 109th Congress' approval rating of 35%. A public war on the Democratic party establishment and the far-left nuts that control the Democratic Party from the daily liberal blogs could help Republicans in '08.
If Americans feel like the Democrats have done nothing to change the status quo in Washington, and that Republicans have learned their lessons from 2006, they may just be willing to vote the Grand Old Party back to power.