I suppose I should start demanding my head on a pike.
Yesterday I was elected to the Executive Committee of the 7th District for the Georgia Republican Party. I didn’t seek the position, I was asked by the new chairman to run. My goals are to revamp the district’s web presence and work to leverage social media to engage younger voters in the conservative cause.
I ran un-opposed so I didn’t need to make a speech. That is good because I really didn’t write one. However if I had made a speech these are the talking points I would have used.
The GOP has two problems these days. Our Brand is in the toilet, and we were out organized by the opposition. The two are somewhat related, but the solutions need to be managed somewhat separately.
Our Brand is in the toilet because the worst President since Nixon just left the White House. When our party controlled Congress it increased spending, increased entitlements, reduced privacy and civil liberties, and generally created a circus atmosphere (Terry Schiavo). Congressmen went to jail for corruption, and were forced to resign over sex scandals. One was with a teenaged boy.
Honestly, the GOP deserved what it got. Unfortunately, the American People are going to pay the price with the Obama/Pelosi/Reid triumvirate in power.
The GOP must reform its brand. But it is not the place of the Republican Party apparatus to do that. The Brand must be reformed during the primaries by the electorate and by affiliate groups like the RLC and others. The Party should not be taking sides in primaries. The Party should not be deciding who is Republican enough and who is not. Showing the American People what the GOP stands for is done by the elected officials who bear the Republican badge. If we want to fix the brand we must fix or replace our elected officials and candidates.
Our Party also has an organizational challenge. In 2000 and 2004 the 72 Hour efforts was the cutting edge, and it helped elected and reelect a mediocre President. But technology moves fast and what was cutting-edge in 2004 was insufficient in 2006 and 2008. Social Media has been adopted by the left as a method of recruitment and organization.
The Republican Party must begin to use these tools, and the next generation of tools to follow to organize. We have begun to see that happen with the Tea Parties. They initially were organized via Twitter.
Mastery of Facebook and Twitter are not sufficient to restore the GOP to majority status in Washington. Our elected leaders will need to demonstrate they have reformed before we will again be trusted with the leavers of power. However, once we have reformed ourselves we will need to spread that message and the social media revolution will be part of that.
