A New focus for the GOP is Needed

Via RealClearPolitics

Yesterday on Real Clear Politics was a piece called Dem Focus on Unmarried Voters Ducks Their Problem. The lead reads like this

Democrats lost the 2004 presidential election even though they met the party's goal of turning out more of their targeted voters.

Now they have decided to target a new demographic group. But, that group is made up of mostly the same people they have focused on over the years during which they lost their grip on the nation's political power.

Their new target: unmarried people, especially single women.

The story goes on to relate how the Democratic party is spending too much time talking to the same groups over and over again in the vain hope of picking up voters. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, the Democratic party must surely be the most insane group of people on the planet.

Today, in the Washington Post, Democratic pollster Mark Penn, notes that the swing voter still rules the roost on election day. When it comes to pitching to swing voters, the GOP is still the king. In 2002 and 2004 the issue was security and the GOP could capitalize on those concerns. In 2006, the Democrats may have a real shot at this issue, but if the GOP was smart it would turn a corner and start talking about domestic policy. Issues involving morality, abortion, gay marriage, gay adoption, and the next civil rights issue, polygamy are going to play well. Not that morality is the only issue.

Education, or more accurately the continued decline of public education, and the incestuous relationship between the Democratic party and the teacher's unions, whom more and more people are blaming for the current state of education, can do wonders for the GOP. Even though the No Child Left Behind Act has been poorly implemented, at least people are talking about the issue in terms dictated by the GOP, accountibility and results. By pointing to the failed concepts of past Democratic administrations on education, and the near lock step adherence to public education by Democratic leaders, despite growing cries for alternatives, is a winning issue.

Finally, the economy is looking quite positive. Hispanic business ownership is on the rise, wholesale inflation has dropped by its biggest percentage in three years, record numbers of people are working, and my personal favorite, income tax refunds are getting bigger, all of these are positives for the Bush Administration that can be capitalized on by the GOP in November. By focusing so much on the war in Iraq, this economic goods news is being buried in an avalanche of war news.

If the Bush Administration can change its tune, the Democrats will be signing to the political equivalent of Ashlee Simpson on Saturday Night Live. All the rehtoric being foisted upon already saturated targeted ears will get lost in the catchy tune of your lot in life is a bit better than it was five years ago. Perhaps it is not morning in America again, but the sunrise is tainting the night skies.