Wanna Know how to fix the GOP…

…take a good long look at Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina.

Besides being one of the most conservative members of congress (second most according to Human Events), being against the bailout, and hating pork barrel spending with a passion, the man also doesn’t bow down to the party elite.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is pushing his party’s leadership to expel Sen. Ted Stevens from the Senate during this month’s “lame duck” session, according to people familiar with his plans.

Yeah, oh by the way, that clown from Alaska Ted Stevens, ya know the convicted felon; he got reelected, thanks Alaska!

Anyway, DeMint is 100% correct, the GOP needs to rid themselves of this guy, they need to force him to resign, he shouldn’t be there.

McConnell called on Stevens to resign last week after the Alaska senator was convicted on seven federal felony counts. McConnell said there was “zero chance” Stevens wouldn’t be expelled from the Senate if he didn’t resign – but he also made it clear that Stevens would have a chance to appeal his conviction first.

Let me expand on my DeMint man-crush for a moment.

I’ve been singing this guys praises for a long time now, as a matter of fact I said he should have been a VP contender on the republican side of the ticket. If we’re going to fix the republicans we’re going to need leaders like DeMint, men who aren’t afraid of their party; men, and women, who are true conservatives.

DeMint is one of the most conservative members of congress and has speaking abilities comparable to Mike Huckabee, plus he’s very intelligent; he’s got the trifecta the republicans need right now.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, in order to fix the GOP we need to get rid of guys like Ted Stevens. Thanks again Alaska!

–jb

How Republicans can get their Mojo Back

It’s being reported by Jonathan Martin at Politico that top republicans will meet after the election to discuss how to revitalize the party.

Two days after next week’s election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement’s most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.

Well it’s your lucky day republican leaders! I’m going to give you some helpful hints at how you can bring your party back to prominence.

1.) Connect with your constituents through New Media
There’s a wonderful world of media on the Internet these days and it’s just screaming to be used in the political process. Here are just some of the ways a congressperson can use new media technology to interact with their constituents
-Host a weekly live chat on ooVoo where five people from your district or state can join in and discuss the state of the country. You could do this for an hour with the same five people or rotate people every 20 or 30 minutes.
-Host a weekly call-in show on Mogulus where constituents can chat with each other and the congressperson and call in to ask questions. Make sure the questions are not screened by campaign staff; that makes it boring and less interactive.
-When there’s a major vote on a bill, open up a live blog and allow people from your state or district to join and give their opinion on the legislation. This is a great way for a congressman or woman to get instant feedback from their constituents about legislation.
-Every member of congress should have a blog, and they should post in it as often as possible. And for those congresspeople who use their blogs as a launch pad for press releases, that doesn’t count. I mean a real blog, like you see here.
-Finally, use any other new media outlet to get in touch with the people that voted you into office. This means twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Skype, whatever; if your constituents are on it, you should be too.

2.) Take the chain off the members’ neck
What I mean by this is, don’t pressure members of the party to vote a certain way. Let them loose, let them vote how they see fit.

3.) Contradicting the last point, put a freeze on republican earmarks
The Republican National Committee should deny campaign money to any congressperson who asks for an earmark. This might sound like an extreme idea but mark my words, the people hate earmark spending and if the republicans force the entire party to stop asking for them it will be fruitful.

4.) Get back to conservative roots
This goes to all the members of the republican party. Obviously each candidate is different and the people of a state or district will vote for whom they see fit, but I still believe this is a traditional-conservative right of center nation and a candidate that is honest and candid can win big with that platform. Ronald Reagan is a perfect example.

5.) Don’t be afraid to break away from the party
This one goes hand-in-hand with number two but this is more for the members of congress. Republicans shouldn’t fear their own party, the only people they should answer to are the American people. If they have a differing opinion than their party on an issue they shouldn’t hold back. They should vote how they see best fit; not how the party sees best fit.

There ya go, my five things the republicans should do to get back on track. I could think of more but five is such a nice number.

Feel free to post your thoughts on how the GOP can get its mojo back!

–jb