Andy Palmer named Director of House Campaigns

TALLAHASSEE – Chairman Dean Cannon released the following statement today regarding the new director of House Campaigns for the Republican Party of Florida:
“Despite a challenging national environment for Republicans, Floridians once again elected 76 Republicans to the Florida House of Representatives. We are grateful for their trust and we will honor that trust by fighting to make our state safer, healthier and more prosperous. I commend Speaker Sansom for his tremendous work in carrying our House Republican message to the voters and for a fantastic result.
As we move forward, House Campaigns must evolve to meet the challenges of a new cycle. We must bring to our political organization the characteristics that mark our most successful Florida businesses: a strong work ethic, a willingness to innovate and a disciplined and responsible approach to managing our resources.
We must also find the most talented and qualified people to join our organization. To that end, I have asked Andy Palmer to serve as the next Director of House Campaigns. An experienced manager who understands Florida politics, Andy has the integrity, professionalism and skill to successfully manage our 2010 reelection campaign efforts.”
Andy is a former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Florida. In 2004, he served as the 72 Hour Director for the Republican National Committee overseeing Florida’s hugely successful get-out-the-vote effort. Most recently, Andy served as a senior consultant to Congressman-elect Tom Rooney and helped him win a hotly contested primary election and go on to unseat incumbent Democrat Congressman Tim Mahoney. Andy also has extensive experience working on House campaigns in Florida.
House Campaigns is the division of the Republican Party of Florida focused on the election of State House candidates. The House member chosen by the House Republican Conference as the next Speaker-designate oversees the operation of House Campaigns. Representative Dean Cannon (R- Winter Park) will assume responsibility for House Campaigns in January 2009.

Belinda Ortiz named RPOF Deputy Director of Outreach

Tallahassee–Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer today announced his appointment of Belinda Ortiz to serve as Director of Hispanic Outreach and Deputy Director of the Minority Outreach and Coalitions Department for the Republican Party of Florida.

“Hispanic voters in Florida are an important part of our party’s future success and the appointment of Belinda Ortiz demonstrates that gaining the confidence and ultimately the Hispanic vote is a top priority,” said Chairman Greer. “Our emphasis over the last two years in promoting minority outreach has provided great benefit, and I am honored that Belinda is committed to serving our party as we continue this vital mission.”

Belinda Ortiz most recently served as president and chief executive officer for Zitro of Orlando, Inc., a public relations and business development firm in Central Florida. She previously served as director of public policy for the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association (CFHLA) – the world’s largest regional hotel association. At CFHLA, Ortiz was responsible for all public relations functions related to the association, including work with the CFHLA Political Action Committee that required her to coordinate the logistics of hotel voter registration drives and voter absentee ballot request campaigns.

Ortiz also worked as a senior contract administrator for the Orange County Business Development Division. In this position, she participated in extensive community outreach and business networking functions to further the organization’s visibility.

“Belinda has a tremendous amount of experience in community outreach and organization within the Hispanic Community and throughout Florida. I am looking forward to working with her to better spread the Republican message to the Hispanic Community and to demonstrate that as Republicans, we aren’t going to expect their vote – we are going to earn it,” continued Greer.

“This appointment is part of the Republican Party of Florida’s strategic plan to build the party with energy and new ideas, a focus on minority outreach and technology advancement, and an unwavering commitment to our Party’s long standing values and principles of less government, less taxes and more freedom,” concluded Greer.

Ortiz earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Central Florida and a Masters in Public Administration from Troy State University. Additionally, Ortiz is a nationally certified Economic Development Finance Professional.She has served on the Orange County School Superintendent’s Hispanic Advisory Council, the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund, Metro Orlando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Professional Women’s Association.

RPOF Chairman Jim Greer created the Republican Party of Florida’s Minority Outreach Department shortly after his election in January 2007. John Davis serves as the director of minority outreach, overseeing the operations of the RPOF’s African American, Hispanic, Jewish and Women’s Leadership Councils. As the deputy director of minority outreach, Ortiz will work with Davis and the RPOF Leadership Councils to provide a continuing presence in communities across the state.

New BCREC Officers elected

Here is your new Bay County Republican Executive Committee board joining our State Committeeman Johnathan Hayes and State Committeewoman Melissa Hagan:

Chairman John Salak

Vice-Chairman Dennis Dillenschneider

Secretary Eric Wall

Treasurer Janice Grant(re-elected)

Sen. Martinez won’t run for re-election in 2010

By Aaron Blake, The Hill

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in 2010, passing on what looked to be one of the most difficult reelection battles in the country.

Martinez, 62, has been saying for weeks that he intended to run again but would wait until January to make an announcement. Instead, he announced less than a month after the 2008 elections that he is passing on another term.

Martinez did not indicate whether he will serve out his term in Congress, but said that the early announcement came so that candidates would have ample time to rally support for their campaigns.

The senator stated that he never wanted to be in public office throughout his career, adding that he thought during his campaign for Orange County mayor in 1998 that he would spend four-to-eight years in politics.

During his Senate tenure, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary had a brief and unsuccessful stint as co-chairman of the Republican National Committee – a position he vacated after less than a year.

“The next eight years would have been two of candidacy and six of serving – I just wanted to go a different direction with my life,” Martinez said.

Democrats are searching for a candidate in the race. Among those being mentioned at this early stage are Reps. Allen Boyd, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ron Klein, Robert Wexler and Kathy Castor, as well as state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

from the Palm Beach Post:

Gov. Charlie Crist released this statement on U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez’ decision to not seek re-election in 2010.

“I am of course very disappointed that my good friend Mel Martinez has decided not to run for re-election. The state of Florida is losing a great advocate in the U.S. Senate. Mel has fought tirelessly on Florida’s behalf to protect our tourism economy, promote free trade, restore our nation’s Everglades, keep taxes low for Florida’s families and ensure Florida’s fair share of federal resources.

“While I would have loved for Mel to be making a different announcement today, I know that he has to be looking forward to spending more time in the Sunshine State with his family. I know that they have sacrificed having their husband and dad in Washington for the last several years, and Florida thanks them for allowing Mel to represent our great state so ably in the United States Senate.

“I’m proud to call Mel Martinez my friend and look forward to continuing to work together on behalf of the people of our state.”

John Fund reviews the Mike Huckabee book

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who won the Iowa presidential caucuses and became a mini-media sensation earlier this year, has a popular new book out (it's ranked No. 5 on next week's New York Times bestseller list) laying out his philosophy and settling some scores from the campaign.

As for philosophy, Mr. Huckabee was clearly stung by attacks on him as being insufficiently conservative during his ten years running the Arkansas state government from 1996 to 2006. He declares he was the genuine conservative in this year's presidential race and warns about coming economic hard times. He bitterly recalls "getting laughed at by the Wall Street Journal and pilloried by the National Review. They were just dicin' and slicin' me for not following the company line."

Mr. Huckabee thinks the "company line" is a combination of rigid fiscal conservatism and a refusal to use government to help people in times of distress. His book includes a chapter called "Faux-Cons: Worse than Liberalism" In it, he says the "real threat" to the Republican Party is a hidden "libertarianism masked as conservatism....[I]t threatens to not only split the Republican Party, but render it as irrelevant as the Whig Party."

Of course, Mr. Huckabee ignores exit polls from both the 2006 and 2008 elections that show many Republicans stayed home because the party had strayed from its fiscally conservative roots.

He also neglects to mention that the great hero of Republicans, Ronald Reagan, explicitly called for all wings of the Republican Party to stay united and raise "a banner of bold colors, rather than pale pastels." In a famous interview with Reason magazine, the Gipper noted: "If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism....The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. . . . I think that libertarianism and conservatism are traveling the same path."

Mr. Huckabee takes other shots in his book, including one that dismisses a Mitt Romney proposal to encourage more investment in the stock market as a Marie Antoinette approach to the economy: "Let them eat stocks!"

In interviews promoting his book, Mr. Huckabee also admits to some puzzlement about the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running-mate, a job he thought himself in line for. "She's wonderful, but the only difference was she looks better in stilettos than I do, and she has better hair," he told the New Yorker magazine. "It wasn't so much a gender issue, but it was like they suddenly decided that everything they disliked about me was O.K....She was given a pass by some of the very people who said I wasn't prepared."

Perhaps one reason why Mr. Huckabee's critics weren't enthusiastic about him joining the GOP ticket was his attitude. Rather than attack free-market groups like the Club for Growth as "the Club for Greed," Mrs. Palin assembled a broad coalition to win the Alaska governor's race in 2008 and maintained warm relations with both free-marketers and social conservatives. That's a page from the Reagan playbook that Mr. Huckabee seems not to have mastered, and indeed seems intent on ripping up.

BCREC Election Update

I am sure everyone has read Ted's letter regarding the BCREC Election tomorrow. I have received several phone calls regarding the content of the letter and I want to add a couple of clarifying thoughts regarding the situation and future BC REC operations.

For those who are questioning what is going on, the RPOF rules require candidates for State Chairman of RPOF to be a voting officer of a county REC. That means the Chairman, State Committeeman, or State Committeewoman. Traditionally, State Chairman candidates who are not REC members typically ask one of those officers in their registered county's REC to step down to allow them to run in the interest of the state party. My understanding is that most RECs are accommodating in those efforts. In Mr. Harrison's case, the only two options are to be elected State Committeeman or Chairman if he is going to run for State Chairman. The broad consensus is that being as Jonathan Hayes just won a contested election to State Committeeman, it would not be right to ask him to step down. That leaves the BCREC Chairman as the only position open to make a run for State Chairman.

The issue for tomorrow's election is that Mr. Harrison is not eligible to run for the BCREC Chairman. To become eligible, he has to be voted on to the REC as a committeeman first, and that cannot happen until the new board is elected. If you wish more detail on the specific RPOF Rules of Procedure and County Model Constitution articles that apply, they will be available at the 1 Dec meeting. Ted has proposed that we essentially vote to temporarily continue the current board until the REC makes a decision on supporting Mr. Harrison's effort to run for State Chairman. As Ted stated, he will run for Chairman and I will support his effort. Hopefully, he will be unopposed and we can move on with a unanimous election for Chairman. Likewise, I will seek election to the position of Vice-Chairman, with the intention of resigning when Ted does for the next election. This should give all BCREC members ample time to consider what is going on and for a plan to be presented to the members regarding BCREC operations should Mr. Harrison be elected State Chairman.

Please be assured that Ted, myself, and the entire BCREC board are primarily interested in protecting the BCREC. All of you have put a lot of work in over the years, and especially in the past two years, to make the REC into an effective political operation. Given the success we had in 2008, and our goal for 2010, we want to make sure there is a strong leadership team in place to support your efforts.

Respectfully,
John Salak

Chairman's Update regarding the December 1st elections

Fellow REC Members:
The events of, and discussions before and after last Monday night’s meeting have produced a lot of confusion leading up to the important election that will be held Monday night. William
Harrison announced his intention of running against Jim Greer for the Chair of RPOF, and was elected as a Precinct Committeeman for his precinct, a first step to meeting the requirements to make that run. Because William is not otherwise eligible to run for BCREC Chairman at the 1 Dec election, a series of elections and resignations would have to follow, with the final result being to elect William as Chair of the BCREC prior to the Annual Meeting on January 10.

William’s reasons for mounting such an ambitious undertaking are based on his desire to see RPOF act as a strong influence to return Florida’s politics, which are controlled by our Party, to conservative principles of governing.
In discussions with William yesterday, he confirmed that the decision to seek the RPOF Chair is not firm at this time. He also confirmed his desire to be elected as Chair of the BCREC, regardless of the decision to run for Chair of RPOF. I am very concerned that the election Monday night might lead to misunderstandings and conflict within our ranks, since most of our members aren’t aware of what the issues are, and that’s not the way we do things. The election should be a time of celebration for what we’ve accomplished during the past cycle, and choosing
new leadership to go forward.

That’s a lot of verbiage to let you know that I will run for the Chair of the REC on Monday night, to serve for a short period. I have discussed this decision with John Salak and Dan Estes, who have announced their candidacy for Chair, as well as William. My purpose is to make sure that the election of the Chair of the BCREC will be held in the next couple of months, with every member being fully aware of the candidates and issues involved. There’s not time before Monday’s election to accomplish that goal.

I’m grateful for the trust you’ve given me in allowing me to serve you for the past two years. It’s time for new leadership, and my desire is that we make that decision based on full knowledge of the candidates and the circumstances. If William decides not to pursue the RPOF Chair, I’ll attend the RPOF Annual Meeting January 10 and be part of the delegation (with Jonathan and Melissa) to represent Bay County in the decisions to be made there. I’ll resign shortly after, in an orderly fashion, and announce an election date for the vacancy. If William does decide to run for Chair of RPOF, that decision would have to be made by mid-December. If the REC decides to support his candidacy, a second election will be required prior to the RPOF
meeting to elect him Chairman. As a 10 day meeting notice is required prior to the election, we have a very narrow window for the 2nd election meeting, especially with the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

I hope this decision will clear up any confusion about Monday’s election. The only other option that I could see was to postpone the election, and that creates other problems. My goal for the past two years has been to keep every member informed and run a transparent administration that involves every member. This action is intended to continue that practice.
Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for your service to the REC.

Ted Haney

Chip Saltsman running for RNC Chairman

By Michael Patrick Leahy

Tennessean Chip Saltsman, most recently the manager of Mike Huckabee's remarkably successful "up from nowhere" 2008 Presidential campaign, has thrown his hat in the ring as a candidate for the Republican National Committee Chairmanship position.

At forty, Saltsman is the youngest of the announced candidates and arguably has the most electoral success in his background. He helped the ignoble Don Sundquist win the Governorship in Tennessee back in 1994, and has been involved in several successful Tennessee campaigns, ranging from Bill Frist's Senate election to the glorious defeat of native son and Democrat Presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000. Without a Republican victory in Tennessee in 2000, all of the drama in Florida wouldn't have mattered, and Al Gore would have been elected President.

Saltsman's relationship with Sundquist, the ultimate RINO (Republican in name only) , has been problematic. When elected to his second term in 1998, Sundquist reversed his campaign promise to oppose the imposition of any state income tax in Tennessee and introduced a proposal to do just that.

To his everlasting credit, Saltsman, who by that time had become Chairman of the Tennessee State Republican Party, vigorously opposed his old mentor's proposal, and was an important part of the conservative coalition of Republicans and talk show hosts ( a big tip of the hat to Phil Valentine and Steve Gill for that) whose protests and opposition killed the income tax proposal. Today, Tennessee remains one of the few states that does not have a state income tax. Many would argue that is one of the key reasons why the state continues to grow economically, even in these tough economic times.

The devolution of former Governor Sundquist's conservative principles are perhaps a case study of why Republicans nationwide must stick to truly conservative principles, articulating them well, and building the party by attracting voters to those principles, rather than modifying those principles to accomodate "moderates." When Sundquist, the Republican without principles, slunk off into ignominious obscurity at the end of his second term in 2002, he left behind a sordid record of broken promises and cronyism capitalism so revolting to voters that they readily ushered in his Democratic successor, current Governor Phil Bredesen.

Despite his work against Sundquist on the income tax, one weakness of Saltsman's candidacy may be questions about the degree to which he is firmly committed to conservative principles. He's never worked for a candidate who would be considered a "classic" conservative, for instance, and his public comments of late about reaching out to all groups sounds more like the failed "Big Tent Accomadation" policies of moderate Republicans who brought us the McCain debacle in 2008.

The role of the Party Chairman, however, is not necessarily to "paint the vision and imagery of the future." Instead, it's to build the ground game of technology, networks, communication infrastructure, and tactics, upon which the candidates can build their campaigns.

With a ground game in place, it will then be up to that crowd of ambitious Presidential wannabes to build the imagery, vision, and mythical narrative for the future that will appeal to the critical 18 to 29 year old demographic in whose hands the balance of power lay in 2008. That same demographic group will be even more important in 2010 and 2012. Just as Ronald Reagan did in 1980, and Newt Gingrich did in 1994, one of these pretenders to the throne --Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindahl, or candidates to be named later--will emerge from the pack when and if they are able to build such a vision.

The 2012 horse race is not the race that matters now. Instead, it's the January 2009 horse race for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee that matters.

Saltsman is considered an underdog in the race, but is pursuing the position with great vigor. The "Big Three" announced candidates--former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, current Michigan Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis, and current South Carolina Republican State Chairman Katon Dawson-- have garnered more press, but Saltsman has hired a former Mitt Romney operative to help him communicate with the 168 Republican National Committee members who will select the new chairman in January, 2009.

The Romney move is a smart one for a politico so closely tied to Mike Huckabee. One of the objections to Saltsman is that he is merely a stalking horse for Huckabee's 2012 campaign.

Saltsman has made another smart move, by putting out a 10 page summary of his plan for victory, and publicly endorsing the "goals" of the Rebuild the Party wing of the party. That's a group of young turks headed up by the brilliant thirty year old Patrick Ruffini, which has laid out a very specific plan for reclaiming the internet for the Right.

Saltsman's rival, Saul Anuzis of Michigan, has also endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, and, unlike Saltsman, is also using the social media tools described in the plan (Twitter, Facebook, Ning networks, including the Rebuiild the Party Ning Social Network to connect with the conservative base of internet activists.

Surprisingly, neither Steele nor Dawson have endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, leaving both of them currently exposed to charges that they represent the old "Brain Dead Luddite" faction of the Republican Party that let Howard Dean, Barack Obama, and a legion of inspired left wing netizens completely pummel the party in 2008.

Anuzis, in particular, has made great efforts to demonstrate that he is not a Brain Dead Luddite. He has been extraordinarily accessible to the conservative internet activists who make up the Rebuild the Party network. To use the terms of conservative icon Richard Viguerie, he is in practice demonstrating how to "re-engineer" the successful Democratic internet tactics and strategies.

Most observers are probably picking Michael Steele as the front runner for the Chairmanship. While that may be the case today, it would be unwise to count either Saltsman or Anuzis out until after the last vote is cast in January.

As that famous philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over."

Thanksgiving message from Gov. Crist

Dear Friends,

This week we celebrate the many things we as Floridians – and Americans – have to be grateful for. God has bestowed many blessings upon our state, giving us opportunity and hope for the future.

Last week I had the pleasure of announcing $10 million in grants to repair and maintain 19 senior centers around the state, including funds for construction of new senior centers. Senior citizens contribute so much to our state and I am pleased our state is giving back to them by funding the centers that play an essential role in their overall health and community involvement. The grants will help the centers continue to provide the essential services that add to their independence and well-being.

I am proud to have announced this week that our state is continuously increasing the number of children in state care being placed in loving, permanent homes. I am grateful for the hard work and commitment of the adoption agencies and families that continue to make this possible. It is appropriate that during the National Month of Adoption we are observing a holiday that reminds us to be thankful for all that we have.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember we have countless opportunities to give back to our fellow Floridians. We should all work together in service to our communities, never taking for granted the many blessings that we hold dear.

May God bless each and every family and the great state of Florida.

NY Times interview with Karl Rove

Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?
Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.

But what about your great dream of creating a permanent Republican governing majority in Washington?
I never said permanent. Durable.

Do you think John McCain attacked too much or not enough?
Dissecting the campaign that way is not helpful.

Have you met Barack Obama?
Yes, I know him. He was a member of the Senate while I was at the White House and we shared a mutual friend, Ken Mehlman, his law-school classmate. When Obama came to the White House, we would talk about our mutual friend.

Did you have lunch together? Talk in the hall?
We sat in the meeting room and chatted before the meeting. He had a habit of showing up early, which is a good courtesy.

Are you going to send him a little note congratulating him?
I already have. I sent it to his office. I sent him a handwritten note with funny stamps on the outside.

What kind of funny stamps?
Stamps.

Do you have any advice for him? You already criticized Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s new chief of staff, as a sharply partisan choice.
I raised a question as to whether this would be the best use of Rahm Emanuel’s talents. If you’re trying to work through a big legislative priority, it is sort of hard if you have a guy who has a reputation as a tough, hard, take-no-prisoners, head-in-your-face, scream-and-shout, send-them-a-dead-fish partisan.

What about you? You were always seen as very partisan.
I wasn’t the chief of staff. And you’d be surprised by the Democrats I actually met, got to know and worked with.

Do you like Joe Biden?
I think he has an odd combination of longevity and long-windedness that passes for wisdom in Washington.

Do you regret anything that happened in the White House during your tenure?
Sure.

You’ve been booed off stages recently.
No, I haven’t. I’ve been booed on stages. I’m a little bit tougher than to walk off a stage because someone says something ugly.

Do you think the era of negative politics is over?
No.

Do you see yourself as being associated with it in any way?
Look, in 1800 the sainted Thomas Jefferson arranged to hire a notorious slanderer named James Callender, who worked as a writer at a Republican newspaper in Richmond, Va. Read some of what he wrote about John Adams. This was a personal slander.

What did he say?
He said he lacked the spine of a man and the character of a woman. Negative politics have always been around.

Do you think you’re negative?
No.

You’ve never repudiated President Bush.
No. And I never will. He did the right things.

What about Iraq and the economy?
The world is a better place with Saddam Hussein gone.

Do you have any advice for him at this point?
With all due respect, I don’t need you to transmit what I want to say to my friend of 35 years.

Remember, attack politics are out. It’s a new age of civilized discourse.
You’re the one who hurt my feelings by saying you didn’t trust me.

Did I say that?
Yes, you did. I’ve got it on tape. I’m going to transcribe this and send it to you.

Steele: Reports of GOP death exaggerated

Sure, Republicans have had a hard couple of elections. But you’ll excuse me for suggesting that reports of our death have been more than a little exaggerated.

In fact, the electorate shifted only about 4 points from Republicans to Democrats since 2004. That year, George W. Bush took 48 percent of the vote against Barack Obama’s approximately 52 percent in this election. Now, don’t get me wrong, that 4-point shift produced the best vote tally for a national Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson.

But the admittedly major defeat for the home team that resulted from a mere 4-point shift need not send Republicans to the locker room just yet. The fact is that despite dire predictions to the contrary, turnout in 2008 was about the same as it was in 2004. The real problem was that Republican turn-out pitched down while Democrat turnout surged.

We can get those votes back and then some. But we have both strategic and tactical improvements to make.

Return to timeless Republican principles. And include a positive, optimistic message that envisions a new, stronger, more prosperous American future. Ronald Reagan spoke to our deepest longing as a people. He gave a voice to principles that are true for all people in all times. Retool our message, but base it on those proven conservative principles for which our party has always stood: Our freedom is from God, not government. Our prosperity comes from a free people in a free market, not overtaxing, free-spending bureaucrats. We celebrate and protect life, born and unborn. And our best hope for a brighter future is in the empowerment of individuals and families, not in the constraints imposed by a bloated bureaucracy.

Organize in every state. Our successes are mostly centered in Appalachia, the South and the Great Plains. We’ve been nearly completely shut out in New England, and we’re only slightly better off in the mid-Atlantic. Things don’t look any better in the Rust Belt or the West Coast either. Democrats have done a great job of outworking us in these areas. We need a new approach that assures Republicans play in every state; take nothing for granted. We may not win everywhere we play, but we certainly won’t win if we don’t play everywhere we can.

Appeal to the forgotten middle class. Obama beat us in the cities, suburbs and exurbs. We beat him in the rural areas. Our message of economic growth, lower taxes, more accountability in education, personal responsibility and fiscal restraint will appeal, but we have to refine it and do a lot better job of getting it out.

Build a broader coalition. Obama’s coalition consisted of a broad cross-section of Americans. Young voters went for Obama 68 percent to 30 percent. He beat us among Hispanics by a 2-1 ratio. He won the votes of Asians, women, African-Americans and seniors. This doesn’t have to be the case. We have the message, but we have to improve our credibility with these voters.

Stop the blame game. We have to stop trying to lay blame for our losses. It’s embarrassing to see what unnamed McCain aides are saying about Sarah Palin. Worse, it’s not fair, relevant or productive. Instead, we have to recognize we have all contributed to the problem and it will take us all — working together — to repair it.

Use new communication tools. Not only was our message stale, the means by which we’ve conveyed our message has been lackluster — at best. Television advertising is great, but it’s not enough in this new age of Facebook, YouTube, bloggers and Twitter. In addition to updating our message, we have to update the means by which we communicate it.

The Republican Party needs an overhaul not just an adjustment if we’re to create a new Republican majority. Once again, we need to speak directly to the hopes, concerns and aspirations of Americans. So let’s stop telling Americans what we’re against and instead articulate a compelling vision of what we’re for, how we’ll lead and where we want to go.

And we need to do it in a far more powerful, relevant and credible way. The result of this election gives us the chance to take a step back, reassess, re-engineer and figure out how to do that. And that’s good news.


(Michael Steele served as lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 and is currently a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee.)