By Isaac MacMillen
For a party that espouses merit and personal responsibility, Senate Republicans have embraced anything but. And last weekend, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) took his party to task over their failure to practice what they preach.
Writing in an op-ed in The DC Examiner, he spoke of how Republicans have let down America by proclaiming conservative values on the campaign trail, but governing like “scandal-plagued, big-spending moderates,” once they get back to their oak-paneled offices on Capitol Hill. And in the past few years, Americans have strongly signaled their displeasure with the Republican product.
With Democrats now at the helm, he argues, it becomes more important than ever for Republicans to purify themselves and become true conservative standard-bearers. DeMint outlined three steps to take:
1. Republicans must reject the “culture of corruption” that they succumbed to while in power by committing to a 2-year earmark moratorium—even if Democrats do not join—and make merit, not seniority, the key to holding Senate offices—which would also be term-limited.
2. Republicans must also champion their ideals and offer solutions to the American people – openly, honestly, and despite mainstream media criticism.
3. Finally, they must replace leadership with fresh faces—the new “Sarah Palins,” who average citizens see as being from and of themselves.
DeMint’s proposals hit are a grand-slam strategy. By embracing new leadership, Republicans can once again grab the attention of Americans. That new leadership can then present conservative principles and solutions to the people without being tainted by the hidebound “RINOs” (Republicans In Name Only) who have long led the party down the road to failure and defeat. Finally, the cycle of sameness would be broken as old leadership would step down whenever their terms expired, allowing a constant succession of new faces to keep conservative ideals fresh.
For far too long, Republicans have run as conservatives and then moderated themselves upon reaching Washington. It’s time they began embracing the same precepts and principles they adamantly insist – at least at election time – should apply to all Americans.
Isaac MacMillen is a contributing editor of ALG News Bureau.
