Republicans – what it would take to get my vote again

I come from a staunchly Republican family, and have voted Republican more often than not. I did vote for Lynden Johnson, because much as I liked Barry Goldwater personally, it was clear he intended to ramp up our involvement in Vietnam, but of course Johnson then did exactly the same thing, and less effectively – so much for that vote.

This past election I voted, albeit reluctantly, for Obama. I liked McCain personally (let’s not talk about Palin), but after eight years of Bush-Chaney, I was pretty disillusioned with what the Republican party had become.

I’m not happy with the prodigious spending and projected debt that the Obama administration seems to be committed to, and Republicans could have my vote again in future elections, if they reverted to their traditional values. Here’s what Republicans would have to change to get my vote again:

1. Lose the religious right. The Republicans used to be religiously moderate. The world has enough meddlesome mullahs imposing their peculiar religious views on whole nations; we don’t need the Christian right doing the same in this country’s government. We do need high national ideals and ethics, but the dogma-driven views of particular organized religions have no place in the government of a free people. Keep imposing minority religious views on matters like abortion, family planning policy, creationism and stem cell research and you will keep losing my vote. If Republicans feel they need to keep pandering to the religious right to keep them as their base, then they have become an irrelevant political party in any case.

2. Go back to your roots as real fiscal conservatives. Republicans used to be for balanced budgets and fiscal restraint. The Bush administration clearly abandoned any fiscal restraint, trying to produce both guns and butter on credit, with no attempt to pay for it. In recent presidencies, strangely enough, it has been under Republicans that government deficits have increased, and under Democrats that it has decreased (but our current president may well reverse that trend). The tired old Republican mantra of “no new taxes” just won’t cut it anymore – there is no free lunch, and somebody someday has to pay off the huge debt the government has accumulated. There will have to be new and higher taxes, so be honest about it and demonstrate that the extra tax money will be used wisely.

3. Get serious again about protecting civil liberties. Republicans used to be strong supporters of civil liberties. But again, the Bush administration produced the biggest assault on civil liberties in my lifetime, condoning torture, imprisonment without trial, warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, and all manner of other violations of Constitutional civil rights. The only civil liberty today’s Republican party seems to be interested in maintaining is the right to own an assault rifle.

4. Get serious about reducing the size of the Federal government. Republicans used to be suspicious of big government. Despite lip service to smaller government, in fact the Bush administration massively increased the size of government. Clearly this Democratic administration is going to increase it even more. This is unsustainable. Show me a plan and a commitment (not just vague campaign slogans) to significantly reduce the size of the Federal government and you have my interest again.

5. Move to the political center. Republicans used to be a “big tent” party, but now they have moved far right and lost the moderates. Some Republican leaders seem to think they lost the last election because they didn’t go far enough to the right (wrong!).

6. Get some articulate spokesmen/spokeswomen and candidates. The Republicans used to field articulate, competent candidates – Reagan fit that model, as did Republican greats like Dwight Eisenhower, Everett Dirksen, Barry Goldwater and Robert Taft. So long as the party is represented in public by people like Rush Limbaugh, Governor Sarah Palin or Governor Bobby Jindal, it’s going to be hard to take the Republicans seriously. And so long as Republicans keep recycling the same old tired and insincere campaign slogans, it’s going to be hard to take the Republicans seriously.

Maybe Republican strategists think returning to traditional Republican values would lose them more votes than they would gain. Perhaps they are right. But stay on the present course and they have certainly lost my vote.