President Bush asks GOP not to 'sell its soul' in order to save itself

By David Edwards and Andrew McLemore

As President Bush prepares to leave office, he had some words of caution for the Republican Party.

The outgoing president said his party should not "sell its soul" on key issues like a strong military and low taxes in order to save itself from a perceived doom.

"Parties go through cycles," Bush said. "There have been times in our history when the Democrats felt like there was no future for them. I'm optimistic about it."

He added that the GOP needs new leaders and that Republicans should be "open-minded" as they struggle to remake the party.

"It's very important for our party not to narrow its focus, not to become so inward looking that we drive people away from a philosophy that is compassionate and decent," Bush said. "There shouldn't be a litmus test as to whether or not you should be a Republican."

But even some top GOP strategists believe the party must sell new ideas to begin a revival of its former influence.

Haley Barbour, a political-turnaround artist who masterminded the 1994 Republican revolution, said there may be a temptation after a major loss to "purify our party," but that the real focus should be on "figuring out how to multiply."

As with any rehab process, the first step for a Republican comeback, Barbour said, is to "come clean and admit we did a lot of things wrong."

"Now is our chance when we're out of power to build back up from the bottom, to have a participatory, inclusive process for letting people get involved in our party," Barbour said