2010 Republican Election Message: Clear, Practical and Limited

The Scott Brown triumph heralds an enormous opportunity for Republicans this fall. As I posited in Part 2 of this series, The Top 4 Things Congressional Republicans Must Do in 2010, in order to make the most of the 2010 elections, Republicans must run on a defined Agenda for the Fall Elections. That Agenda needs to be Clear, Practical and Limited. Here is what I mean:

Clear. In the wake of the Brown election, the Democrats most certainly will have a messy 2010. The Pelosi wing of the Democrats, driven in part by Moveon.org, Emily’s List and others, will continue to push their views and legislation on issues like Health Care, Cap and Trade, Taxes, Afghanistan and more. The Evan Bayh wing of the party, located in swing districts and states and fearful of the message of the Brown election – in order to survive – will have to push back on those Left Wing plans. At worst, that inter-party warfare will be politically very ugly. At best it will portray a Democrat Party with no clear vision for the future. Similar to the fate that befell the warring and splintered Democrat Party in 1968, the Democrat infighting in 2010 will hamstring their election efforts.

That lack of clarity on the Democrats part must be contrasted by a clear governing vision on the part of Republicans. The beauty of the Contract With America, beyond its content, was that it provided a concise and clear Agenda. It told the voters exactly what Republicans intended to do if they won. This Fall, Republicans, in a unified fashion, must do no less than that if they want to take back the House.

Practical. Part of the Brown election lesson – and the Tea Parties in general – is that voters are angry because government is out-of-control. Congressional bills are thousands of pages, unread and even less understandable. Already upset over Republican spending from 2004 to 2008, the Democrat Congress is spending without even a semblance of restraint and the deficit has tripled. All of that and more has and will continue to produce anxiety among the voters.

If the Democrats in Congress are viewed as out of control, the Republicans should counter that image with controlled, practical solutions. The Republican Agenda, call it the Republican Recovery Plan for America, should not only offer tax cuts and regulatory relief, it should offer common sense solutions like (1) No bills longer in length than the Constitution, (2) No votes on a bill until it has been posted on the Internet for 96 hours, and (3) No added spending unless spending is cut somewhere else – not to mention a general cut in spending. All of those are common sense offerings that everyone can understand and contrast nicely with the current image of the out-of-control Pelosi Congress.

Limited. There are two aspects to this issue of a message that is limited. First, the Agenda must be concise. Much like a speech by the hour that is forgotten by the minute, a laundry list of legislation is also not remembered. The Republican Recovery Plan for America should contain no more than 6 or 7 items. Enough to be substantive but not so much that voters cannot remember them.

The second aspect of a message that is limited relates to a governing philosophy. The Republican Recovery Plan for America should clearly espouse a limited government philosophy. Republicans will have an easy time this Fall stating that Obama and Pelosi tried the Big Government way and it failed. They should counter that failure and image with a vision of practical, limited government solutions.

All in all, the Republicans have been handed a golden opportunity to take back the House. But it remains only an opportunity. It will not be realized in full unless the Republican Congress demonstrates strong leadership with a concise, practical and limited government agenda.