“If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down… I hope he fails.”

Rush Limbaugh made this distasteful statement while discussing Liberals’ ill-treatment of President Bush. The fact is, Liberals wanted Bush and the Republicans to fail. They got their wish and the country is in dire condition.

I hope Limbaugh doesn’t get his wish. But, if Obama and the Democrats succeed, how can the GOP rebuild and become a dominant party again?

The GOP must return to core, conservative principles and illustrate what these principles are and why they will be successful.

The GOP is in shambles–and everyone knows it. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, told the Republican National Committee yesterday that the party was in danger of becoming a regional party without widespread, national support.

In a recent column, Is GOP Still a National Party?, Pat Buchanan issues a similar diagnosis. According to Buchanan:

“Put succinctly, the red pool of voters is aging, shrinking and dying, while the blue pool, fed by high immigration and a high birth rate among immigrants, is steadily expanding.”

Buchanan argues that minorities and the nation’s youth are predominantly liberal-minded. One GOP problem is demographics. The GOP can’t change the demographic inertia of the country.

What the GOP can do is return to core, conservative principles. This sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. The GOP can’t be the “conservative” party and not be conservative. The GOP also needs to illustrate what these core, conservative principles are and why they will be successful. The GOP must work hard to influence these demographic groups that lean to the left.

First, the GOP must repudiate the policies it supported for the last eight years. Many consider Bush’s failure to be a failure of conservatism. Bush’s presidency can hardly be called conservative. According to an article in Reason magazine,Bush’s Regulatory Kiss-Off, “…Republican rhetoric doesn’t always match Republican policy.” On the surface Republican rhetoric suggested that their policies were “conservative,” but underneath they were distinctly liberal.

One tenet of conservatism is small government. But, as Reason magazine points out in the same article, “The Bush team has spent more taxpayer money on issuing and enforcing regulations than any previous administration in U.S. history.” Hardly small government, hardly conservative.

US foreign policy has been equally anti-conservative. Traditionally, conservatism embraced foreign policy realism. Realism stresses preserving the power of the nation by avoiding foreign entanglements and costly wars. In contrast, the Bush administration’s liberal internationalism has sought to force democracy on other nations, destroying our image abroad and costing tax payers billions.

The problem here is that many Republicans are as convinced as all other Americans that GOP policies have been conservative. The facts, coupled with sound reason suggest otherwise. It may take time for the GOP to recognize its recent policy blunders and ideological shift.

After the GOP recognizes the reasons its policies failed, it must launch a conservative counter-attack on liberal ideas. It must convince the non-white, non-conservative demographic groups that its principles work.

It must also improve it’s image to these groups and to the American public at large. Appointing Michael Steele as RNC chairman is a step in this direction. Limbaugh’s comments are a step in the opposite direction.

If the GOP simply panders to these groups, offering benefits and special treatment, the GOP ceases to be conservative. In the long term this policy fails because the Democrats will out-pander the GOP. It’s what they’ve always done.

To be certain, the GOP can’t hope for President Obama’s failure because that is the same as hoping for the failure of the country. And saying it only further tarnishes the GOP’s image. What it can do is emphasize conservative positions as alternatives and revamp its public image.

If the GOP wants to rebuild, it must get back to conservative principles. And, it must shed light on the fact that it’s recent policies have not been conservative at all. First thing’s first. Then it can move ahead and offer sound, conservative alternatives to Obama’s policies and rebuild its image.

Article by Ryan Olivett