General
A Blueprint for GOP Victory
- Restore our conservative credibility
Our platform is the foundation of our identity, yet we failed to uphold its principles year after year. We cannot win elections unless we restore the public trust in our leadership, and we cannot restore that trust without fidelity in our core values. - Develop a broad policy agenda
To often, voters identify Republicans with what we’re against rather than what we’re for. The 2008 elections offered more of the same. We delivered constant criticism of our opponents without presenting a clear, convincing alternative to their ideas. Republicans need bold, thoughtful solutions on a broad-based agenda that addresses today’s concerns. We need to be thinkers, leaders, and problem solvers, not just critics. And our solutions must be based on the foundations of our Republican ideology. - Build beyond our traditional base
We lost every major demographic group in this past election. We need a consistent outreach program to establish a day-to-day relationship with every key voter bloc – youth, seniors, values voters, sportsmen, veterans, business leaders, unions, Latinos, African Americans, independents and others. Statistics prove you simply cannot win elections with only Republican voters. We should embrace ideas such as the “40 under 40” proposal challenging our party leaders to fill 40 percent of our open, non-incumbent races with candidates under the age of 40. - Re-engage the middle class
Our party once carried the middle-class suburban voters by two-to-one. In this election we tied. Democrats found their resurgence, in part, by offering an agenda with an eye on middle-class families, not Wall Street tycoons. Families are struggling under the weight of the worst economy in generations, and our worn-out rhetoric on taxes falls short of addressing deep concerns about lost jobs, shrinking investments, home foreclosures, and, of course skyrocketing health care. Republicans do not believe government is the solution to every problem, but our reputation has many voters believing we simply don’t care about their problems. Republicans will not win the crucial middle-class if we fail to provide clear and convincing solutions. - Connect on campuses
According to exit polls, Barack Obama won Ohio voters under 30 by 25 percent, leaving the Grand Old Party to look a lot like its middle name. Research proves that voters are more likely to establish a long-term identify with a political party after voting with that party in two or more elections. Simply put, we are loosing a generation of new Republican voters. - Develop advanced voter contact programs
On program that needs our attention is voter registration. More than one out of five eligible Americans is unregistered, thousands of unregistered Republicans live here in Montgomery County. Some have recently moved here, while others have simply failed to update their registration records. We must work collaboratively with the Ohio Republican Party and our coalition groups to make voter registration a priority. We now have the tools to use advanced microtargeting data to identify likely Republicans who are unregistered. We need the focus, the discipline, and the coordination to sign them up. We need to harness the power of the internet to give our activists more resources and to get them organized and help them take action where they are-without forcing them into a phone bank or to a Victory Center just to get involved. - Utilize new technology to improve message delivery
The Obama campaign used everything from the iPhone to Facebook to reach people beyond the traditional methods. They understood the value of reaching directly through new technology, whether by text messaging, e-mail, social network sites, or online advertising. On the contrary, many of our Republican candidates have no idea how to use new technology. We failed to organize our volunteer base. Technology is rapidly changing, and we must adapt. - Create a comprehensive political education program
We cannot expect our candidates, party leaders, campaign managers and volunteers to compete effectively without a solid understanding of how to win. From basic instruction on fundraising and campaign finance law to party management and voter contact strategies, we must provide a comprehensive series of ongoing training programs designed to cultivate a skilled, experienced Republican team at every level. - Improve candidate recruitment
One of the party’s fundamental responsibilities is fielding strong, qualified, electable candidates. Recruitment must be a constant priority. We must place a greater emphasis on recruiting a farm team that is constantly being cultivated. We also need smart recruitment. Democrats have discovered that running candidates who look like the district win elections. At least one third of the Democrats serving in the Ohio House consider themselves pro-life, and many more espouse pro-gun, pro-family views. This proves that Ohioans, even Democrat districts, are willing to elect candidates with conservative social values who offer a broad, positive agenda on the issues they care most about. - Enforce a zero tolerance policy for misconduct
Our party historically upheld the highest standard for ethics and morality in government, but most voters know us better for our hypocrisy. Not an election goes by without a major scandal involving a prominent Republican figure. We cannot continue to campaign on a higher standard of government if we fail to uphold it, so we must adopt a zero tolerance policy for any candidate or elected official who crosses the line.
February 2, 2009 by Montgomery GOP · 4 Comments
Thank you for visiting our online headquarters. It is an honor and privilege to be the Chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party. 
As Vice Chair of the Executive Committee, I salute the staff and especially Greg for his forward looking leadership, to re-instill the spirit of our Republican system. I have added some thoughts in this time of trouble for every citizen of this County and the U.S. I hope you will share your thoughts. There is much at stake today and over the next two years. Our Republic is at risk as at only a few other times in our history.
Renewing Republicanism
The underpinnings of the Republican Party are as old as the Republic. In the words of Ben Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention, when asked “what form of government are we to have,” his response was, “a republic if you can keep it.”
Therein lays the promise and the threat of our last 232 years of existence of the American Republic. Under the guidance of Lincoln, TR, and Ronald Reagan, those principles have been defined and refined to every new generation. But the founding principles have not changed.
The Constitution is a living document, not because it needs re-interpretation for each new generation, but because it is the standard by which each generation can define itself. When necessary we amend the Constitution, but we do not redefine it based on the whims of a few pushing an alternative code. It is then we cease to become a republic and march down the road to collectivism and eventually totalitarianism.
We are still a nation of entrepreneurs, whether independent business owners or salaried workers. That is, our past and our future success depend on our creativity, our individualism that is made practical by bringing our God given ideas to our neighbors to enlarge and enrich. Free market capitalism is our economic system, and the only system that ensures a continuation of that guarantee of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This is what makes a nation great, and our nation the greatest guarantee or liberty in history.
We, the people, are now under a grave threat, one that has not yet been realized by the majority. Our very system and promise of equal treatment of exercising and using our God given talents and resources is threatened by those who would collectivize our country in the style of European socialism and beyond. Such as system will collectivize our monetary system by nationalizing our banks, our retirement independence by doing away with personal retirement and establishing a new mandatory government matched and controlled retirement account. Free speech, the lifeblood of a free people is under attack via the so-called ‘fairness doctrine.” This now includes a stifling not only of broadcast media but internet news and communication as well. The threat to a vibrant economy depends on small business, which is now under attack as at no time in our history by confiscatory taxes and regulation that will strangle any hope of future prosperity. Last and possibly the most important is our health care system, defined by our basic Constitutional guarantees and resulting in the best system to deliver care to the most people, both in our country and in other countries as well. Lenin said, “Medicine is the key to socialism,” because he realized that it is a commodity that everyone needs sooner or later, and if the government controls it, the government controls its people. The vast majority of Americans believe that the best way to ensure quality is to have the best information and trust in a personal physician, taken together to make best personal decisions. It is not the collective which forces everyone to have insurance; insurance is not health care. It is not “best practices,” which holds every patient to the “ugly mean,” that is, everyone having to fit into a predetermined statistical population to receive the right care or care at all. As example, if I am an 80 year old man and have a heart attack, your government in a national health scheme may determine you are too old to have a coronary bypass and you will simply be left to die. Think it cannot happen? Just check out the British system of care.
Yes, we Republicans have been apathetic, enjoying the good life that we and our forebears have given us, and our dedicated military has ensured. We have lost our way, but we have learned that to be an American depends on several propositions, those that define who we are and who we will become.
1- Respect the Xth Amendment to the Constitution.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The 10th amendment has routinely been misinterpreted at the whim of judges and justices who buy into the “living constitution” theory for personal political ends to destroy original intent so carefully crafted by the Founders to prevent centralization of power- that which we are witnessing today. The power to police, establish local governance and guarantee basic liberties are further eroded with every federal biennial budget with ever increasing regulation of our lives. We don’t always get it right, but every other system has lapsed into tyranny eventually, including democracies (Tytler)
2 –Define the American economic system as one of free market capitalism as the best insurance of equality, justice and freedom for all Americans.
3- Reestablish the principle that our culture-the melting pot- is the best guarantee that everyone will be heard and respected rather than the short sighted system of multiculturalism and multi-linguality, where those who don’t learn English are left behind. This further ensures our borders will be safe and that respect for the law is upheld. If the law id unjust, we will change the law, as we have done throughout our history. Such respect guarantees not special rights but rights not given to one excluding others (groups).
4- Respect for free speech, whether at the ballot box or media. Elitism consists of capturing control of the people by controlling information and communication, and in many instances having a double standard for the rulers than the ruled. Do I hear an echo of what happened in Illinois or recent cabinet appointments? Think who else might be included in the ruling class were it not for a free press and broadcast media.
5-Re-establish a free market health care system, where every patient is accorded the same respect and the same access to care, “if they need it, when they need it, and as much as they need.” (Edward Annis, former President, American Medical Association. Such a system can only survive when a free people are given the economic control over their lives- in this case their health. It can only be done by releasing all Americans from the notion that their employer is their health care nanny or worse than that their government is. This is accomplished in 2009 by true price transparency, tax deductible health accounts and freedom from onerous regulation.
6 – Last and most important is to re-establish the truth that this American Republic was founded on the principles of a Judeo-Christian philosophy,…”that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
Our cultural heritage is based on first the individual’s relationship with the Creator, that extension to the family, and those principles to the community and then to the national community. Our future depends on our relationship to our God, our families and our community.
This is the whole basis of our society and our legacy as Americans
Dave Westbrock
I agree with the principles of this blueprint for GOP victory. While it is all well & good to espouse them, what the GOP must do, is to stand up for them! What I have seen over the last few years, is that the GOP has been a “shrinking violet” when it comes to standing up to left wing ideals that it is faced with.
The Blueprint seems very reflective with 10 respectable points. I also like the tone of the county website a lot better than the tone of the state website. I’m kind of unique in that I really like to delve into the details. I’d love to see the site publish specific proposals and indepth arguements / logic as to why they should be established. For instance today there was a Republican proposal for healthcare reform. I’d love to see a expose’ that referenced specific language in the proposal and then explained why it is there and what the expected outcome of the passage was suppose to accomplish.
Good Luck
tfm
Those who know me know that I am opinionated to say the least. However, I am not stupid enough to think that I have all of the answers. I also do not think that I am 100% right. I voice my opinions and welcome debate. If I am wrong I love to be shown so. This lessens the amount of time that I look like a fool. All I ask is that you read my comments in their entirety and then respond.
I have been a Republican since I can remember. I turned 18 in 1996 and was so excited to get involved. I was excited because it was the first presidential election that I would be allowed to help determine the outcome by voting. I was so eager to get involved. I actually campaigned for Buchanan during the primaries on my high school campus. This was a high school in northern California which was not conservative to say the least. As the years rolled by I became disillusioned by the political process. I pretty much became indifferent believing that nothing I did mattered. Then 2008 happened. I saw that people could make a difference. People were elected based on the promise of change and hope with no substance to those promises. Americans were ready for a change. I was ready for a change. Something awoke inside of me but I wasn’t sure what.
As time went by and we were hit with more and more of this crazy legislation I begin to do some searching. What I found was The Constitution. I found Individual Freedom. I realized that that what was waking me up was the fact that my freedoms were getting ripped away. I began to look back and I realized that they had been taken away slowly for a while, but all of a sudden were being taken at an alarming rate. Every day it seemed I would read of something else the Federal Government was doing that didn’t feel quite right. So I began to look to my republican leadership. Looking for someone to guide me and say this is where we are going. I was looking for someone who felt like I did. What I saw was a lot of squabbling and name calling. I saw republicans on the ropes. I saw republicans trying to do the right thing, and trying to hold back this tidal wave of out of control government, but they were doing it quietly. The republicans were on the defensive. Other parties are shouting from the rooftops “the republicans are the party of no”, “the republicans are the party of the rich white man”, and so on. The reply I heard from my party was a quiet “no no that is not true”. Then “tea party movement” happened. It is still happening. This was not about this party versus that party. This was about real issues.
First of all my first allegiance is to my country. My party is just something that I happen to be associated with because it is a group of people who think like me on most political issues. My love of this party rests in the fact that it and I agree most of the time. I do feel that I need to say that I am more concerned with what happens with American than I am with what happens to the GOP. I think this is something that we often lose sight of. We seem to be so concerned with how to keep ourselves in power that we lose sight of doing the right thing. I think we should just focus on standing up for Constitutional values and the people will come.
I think we should stand up first and foremost for Individual Freedom. Almost everyone regardless of party wants freedom. We need to present issues in these terms. How does this issue violate or secure my freedom?
We need to admit our mistakes. When we are being attacked and told we did this and we did that if it was wrong admit it. This is how we have gotten bad reputations in all of the demographics mentioned. Media, ads, and other parties themselves focus on some mistake we made and our response is to focus on some mistake they made. Let’s take the wind out of our attacker’s sails by just saying you are right. We can admit it. What other political party does that? Let’s act like people and not politicians. People are turned off by politicians because they feel that they are only there to procure their own future and are going to do whatever it takes to do so. Let’s show that we are not like other political parties. Show that we are the party of the people because we actually are people.
When our opponents attack and say we did such and such thing, we have a couple of options. If we support what we did then we need to stand up and say “yes we did that. It was the right thing to do and here is why”. If it was a mistake we need to say “yes we did that. It was wrong; this is what I should have done”. Every answer we give needs to have a solution in it. America should never hear just a “No” from us. They should hear “No, and this is why, and this is our alternative to that”. If you feel that the media is cutting us off with No, then speak louder and be more adamant. Find other outlets. Do whatever you have to do to get our message out. While fending off attacks and using these attacks as opportunities to share our message, we must also be proactive. If we want the middle class or college vote then we need to show each of them that we are working for them and show them how.
While fending off attacks and using these attacks as opportunities to share our message, we must also be proactive with the message of our goals for America. Focus on the message not the opponent. It seems we spend so much time talking about what the other guy did that we don’t have time to get the message of what we want to do out. Give Americans solutions with substance. Educate Americans on issues. Teach them what The Constitution says and why we support or oppose the issue. Show Americans that we are truly the party of ALL of the people not just a select few.