A moderate's perspective

Given the results of NY-23, coupled with conservatives flocking to Marco Rubio over popular moderate Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, I've been curious to get some perspective from an actual moderate Republican. Fortunately, Brian Brodrick, a Watkinsville city councilman, shared his thoughts with me ...

I honestly haven’t paid enough attention to the national scene beyond the NY race to offer much good analysis. I am also not plugged into any sort of party apparatus. My general opinion, though, hasn’t changed: we can’t win back the presidency by winning Limbaugh/Hannity/Red State republicans. There is little up-side there. If they had the power to elect someone to national office, they would have done so years ago. This uber-conservative “movement” can and will win some highly partisan districts and states. But on a national level, it will take a bigger tent or a massive fail by President Obama. This tent shrinks when our state representatives and others are not reflective of our larger principles.

As for the attacks on moderates, you can imagine that I think it is ineffective and silly. We can’t beat the Democrats, so we’re going to focus on our own instead? It has the net result of pushing the entire party further from the majority of Americans. A fundamental issue in all of this has been the increasing gerrymandering of political districts that allow demagogues on both sides to get elected who have no reason to or appetite for compromise.

Off the top of my head, I would love to see Republicans focus on the following from a positive standpoint:

1) The Economy: The stimulus is here and being implemented. It hasn’t spurred much new stuff, but it might have prevented a disaster. But instead of focusing on that, we need to look ahead. How do we create good jobs for the future? What skills do the workers of the future need? How do we encourage entrepreneurship and an innovation driven economy? How do we instill a work ethic in our young people?

2) National Health Care: A winning issue for us, if we can propose a solution that is not a sop to insurance companies. A majority of Americans are scared to death of a public option for all the right reasons. The ineffectiveness of government swine flu vaccinations has not built confidence. Additionally, Republicans need to embrace the idea of personal responsibility when it comes to health and work on consumer driven solutions to improve health care. Eating healthy food, exercising, etc.

3) The Environment: Huh? I believe that countless moderates are incredibly passionate about the environment but disagree with the Democratic Party on about everything else. These people currently have no home in the Republican Party. There is also the hunting and fishing set that is already largely Republican. Even if you don’t buy global warming, you could buy millions of votes by clearly articulating what the party stands for and implementing responsible environmental policies on a state and regional level. New national parks. State parks. Land preservation. Higher fuel efficiency. Nuclear energy.