It's rather ironic that I got this e-mail tonight from one of the Republican leaders in the state with a link to this website: www.rebuildtheparty.com considering today I attended a meeting with prominent conservatives, businesspeople, and fellow young professionals to discuss rebuilding the Party.  More specifically, the County Party.  I, along with various local elected officials and fellow GOP activists, have been attending various meetings to discuss how to not only get back the local Party,  but to get back to our principles.

I thought the Republicans would learn from their mistakes back 2006 when Americans sent them a strong message.  Obviously, they didn't.  I am hoping they will finally learn from 2008.  Today, what separates the Republican Party from the Democratic Party?  Many couldn't tell you.  Furthermore, who is the Chairman for the Republican National Committee?  I bet you couldn't say either.  This is a problem.

It's time to go back to the basics: reorganize, restrategize, regroup, and go back to our basic philosophical beliefs of limited government, lower taxes, and self-responsiblity.  And perhaps,let's stick to definitions, shall we?  The private sector should remain just that- private.   It's so commonsensical but when you have both presidential candidates supporting the largest act of socialism in US history- a $700 billion bailout- one must wonder what happened to letting capitalism work?  What happened to "free" markets?  What happened to the consumers choosing which companies they want to support?   

I've been a conservative activist for many years now.  And I am only a senior in college.  But yet I get it.  I understand why the base is so disenfranchised with the Republican Party.  While I am one of those who thinks attracting independents and moderates is a great thing- how can we overlook the base?  To do so seems so nonsensical to me, but apparently it's a good idea to many others. 

Let me close with this.  As a Republican, I believe we have all the right answers.  However, we need to go back to our basic philosophical principles- and then educate the public on how those stances can help solve the issues facing America today. We need leadership, desperately.  We need a vision, desperately.  We need the conservative version of Obama; we need inspiration, we need excitement, and we need a leader.  Anything less will just lead to more devastating losses.  Who is our version of Al Gore, Howard Dean, the Clintons', Obama, etc.?  We need more national spokespeople, we need national leadership.  But most importantly, we need our current leaders, activists, and Party officials to realize this.  We need to go back to the basics of the Grand Ol' Party.

That said, I highly encourage you to visit Rebuildtheparty.com.  Moreover, I sincerely hope whoever we do end up electing as the new leader for the RNC grasps these simple ideas as well.