GOP 2.0 by Geoff Duncan

Author:Geoff Duncan [Duncan, Geoff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-07T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Here’s some good news for Republicans: America remains a center-right nation.

In January 2021, Gallup reported that 36 percent of Americans identified as conservative and 35 percent identified as moderate. Only 25 percent identified as liberal. Conservatives lost a point during 2020, but these numbers still encourage me, and I believe we can increase our conservative numbers with good policy and tone and engage more moderates the same way. The conservative message resonates, but our party’s more recent tone does not.

What I know for sure is that if we only play to hard conservatives, we won’t continue winning elections outside of gerrymandered districts.

In my Peach State, 53.7 percent of voters cast a ballot for a Republican state senator. Across the country the GOP holds 27 governorships and leads 31 state legislatures. We gained one more chamber and one more governorship in the 2020 election; we won 8 of 11 gubernatorial races. In 22 states, voters gave Republicans control of their legislative and executive branches. The 2020 election saw Republicans gain 12 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the U.S. Senate, the GOP reclaimed an Alabama seat but dropped seats in Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia. I’m convinced we could have saved Georgia’s two seats had the party not fixated on the election-fraud storyline.

Look at New Hampshire: The Granite State voted for Joe Biden and reelected two Democratic U.S. representatives and one Democratic U.S. senator. But it overwhelmingly elected local Republicans. Voters reelected a Republican governor and they flipped control of the state’s senate and house from Democratic to Republican.

I believe citizens recognize the value of conservative policies, particularly at the local and state level. National sideshows and flashpoint issues may push them away, but they know our core policies work for real people in their state. Let’s not give them an excuse to vote against us.

Republicans don’t need to look any further than my state of Georgia to see how conservative policies improve life for everyone. Unfortunately, instead of capitalizing on these results and building a winning coalition in Georgia, the party humored sideshows and echoed the divisive tactics of national leaders.

Georgia should have been a lock for Republicans. Instead, we lost the presidential vote and both Senate seats. Nobody took them from us; we lost them.

Sometimes you do only have yourself to blame.

Let’s stick to good policy and governing. That’s where we can win.

In the end, the 2020 election showed us the electorate appreciates our core principles but not our lack of inclusiveness, harsh tones, distractions, and instability. I hope that gives us grounding and courage—and faith—that we can expand our appeal among America’s changing electorate. And to those of you who’ve been silenced or chased out of the party, the GOP needs you back. We can become your party again.

The party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Reagan can again be a party for big ideas, different ideas, vibrant debate, civility, and respect.

A party of hope.

A party rooted in history and traditional principles but shaped by modern times and realities.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.