After being soundly beaten on November 4th, the Republican Party finds itself in a very dangerous position. Historically, political coalitions have tended to react in one of two ways to similar situations: either they thoughtfully reexamine themselves and change course, or they decide to hold course and become more shrill and extreme as they continue to lose elections. The latter course generally seems to turn off voters and tends to result in a slide towards permanent minority status.

If the Republicans are to avoid this fate, they will need to assess themselves calmly and rationally. One problem for the Republicans is that they became ideologically rigid instead of pragmatic in some ways, and did not hold to their conservative principles in others. This combination resulted in the alienation of many who might otherwise have supported them. One word that is continually applied in criticisms of the Bush Administration is incompetence'. For four years in Iraq (prior to the surge), the Administration's mantra was 'stay the course'. While ideologically correct, this was another way of saying that the Administration did not have a coherent plan. Another example is that the Administration held roughly to an 'all free markets all the time' ideology. While a commitment to the free market is a desirable characteristic in a government (or a Party), the ideological rigidity of the Administration seemed to blind it to the recognition that financial markets sometimes need sufficient, effective, and proactive regulatory regimes. On fiscal issues, on the other hand, one could argue that the Administration was not ideologically rigid enough. The Administration and a Republican Congress put forth the view that tax cuts are a cure-all for the economy and that Reagan showed that "deficits don't matter". The result of this combination was series of tax cuts and a free spending Congress, which resulted in a rather large federal budget deficit. The end result of these and several other mistakes is that the American people lost faith in the Republican Party to effectively deal with the nation's problems.

In order to return to power, the Republicans need to convince the country that they are capable of governing. The good news is that much of the Republican message still resonates with the electorate. This is evidenced by the fact that the Democratic ticket had some challenges getting elected, despite the massive political winds that were in its favor. Meanwhile, the Republicans need to recognize and embrace a pragmatism with which certain moderate Republicans such as Colin Powell tend to hold their positions. While many conservatives understandably chafe at being constrained by centrists such as Powell, it is people like him who are able to sympathize with many conservative aims and yet temper some of the ideological rigidity that can lead to poor decisions. Even Reagan compromised with Democrats to accomplish certain things, all while fighting them on other things. Fiscally, the Republicans need to return to their roots as the Party of small, limited, and efficient government. In fighting to hold the line on spending as Newt Gingrich did, the Republicans can reestablish their credentials as the Party of small, fiscally responsible government.

As we look ahead, there are many challenges facing this country. Social Security and Medicare are two examples of issues that do not have pure free market solutions that fall neatly within the conservative ideological framework. By combining the fiscal conservatism of a Gringrich, the pragmatism of a Powell, and the optimistic vision of a Reagan, the Republican Party can offer meaningful solutions to the problems of today and reestablish its reputation for competence which will allow it to return to the majority once more.