How the GOP and conservatives can move forward after an Obama win

On the verge of giving up not only the White House but giving Democrats a majority in both houses of Congress, Republicans unfortunately remain tone-deaf when it comes to the electoral strategies and rhetoric that unites instead of dividing, excites instead of depresses, and most importantly, wins, not loses elections.

Senator Obama launched into a classic example of such rhetoric last week with his "Closing Argument" speech delivered in Ohio:

Because despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country. There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else - we are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America...A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders. You have every right to be. But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history.  I ask you to believe - not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.

Now I haven't jumped on the O-Bandwagon here, but the tenor of Senator Obama's campaign and the language and rhetoric used throughout this election cycle have set America - and particularly its youth - abuzz.  When looking at youth voters specifically, our generation is unique. Voters 18-29 are widely seen as politically apathetic, which makes them quite similar to the generations before them, but at the same time this generation is one of the most community service-minded generations in a century.

Today's youth aren't against politics; we're against politics-as-practiced today. We're for pragmatic solutions, not ideology. Today's youth do not take well to lock-step politics or top-down message control; we organize on our own. A classic example: although Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were prominently featured during the Jena 6 demonstrations last September, the real movement to publicize the case of the accused was a youth movement facilitated by social networks such as Facebook and Myspace.

Senator Obama and his campaign have not only understood our generation, but done well to utilize new media to harness our electoral power. Not only has the McCain campaign failed to engage younger voters by reliance on the old (yet, yes, tried-and-true) class warfare/wedge issue campaign tactics but the campaign put forth a too-little-too-late effort to use new media (McCainSpace anyone?) and is now paying the price.

It's time for a changing of the guard within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. And Governor Palin is not the leader we need. Maybe former Governor Huckabee, or Governor Jindal, but not Governor Palin. Republicans can talk about our history as the Party of Lincoln until we're blue in the face, but it won't help. We can deliver as many Spanish-language commercials as possible, but it won't help either. For the Republican Party to really make inroads into young, urban, and minority communities we'll have to move beyond God, gays, guns, taxes and terrorism and we'll have to talk about education reform, job creation, housing, and the environment.

The timing couldn't be better; or for movement conservatives such as me, the forecast couldn't be gloomier. The media is salivating at the thought of the Republican Party's looming civil war.  Even conservatives are questioning the relevance of the Reagan/Goldwater paradigm (see David Brooks calling for an American version of British Conservative rhetoric and politics). With President Bush highly unpopular and Senator McCain and Governor Palin on the verge of an epic landslide loss, the party and the movement are prime for a regime change.

The conservative movement would do well to make a strong play for young people - especially those in urban city centers - by refashioning our rhetoric and ideology. We need to appeal to young people's disgust with politics-as-usual and their propensity and desire to serve by emphasizing community over state. An urban conservative agenda that aims to strengthen neighborhoods, communities, and families through measures that facilitate a stronger civil society would do much to place the movement and the party in the fight for young people. It enables Republicans to continue their fight against expanded government and the all-but-inevitable return of the all-powerful New Deal state that a President Obama will bring by stressing the import of free and voluntary associations between young people, community organizations, and local government.

From a policy perspective, this makes sense. Throwing money at schools makes no impact unless our social and tax policies encourage stronger families - as our kids' learning capabilities are a function of their home and community environments. Individuals with strong family and community ties also prove to be healthier and to recover from injuries and sickness quicker. 

For the Republican Party to remain relevant following Senator Obama's coming victory there must be a regime change. We need to eschew the Rove model of electoral politics and campaigning and adopt a more hopeful and inspirational rhetoric. And we must engage young people through a skilled utilization of new media and a rhetoric and policy agenda of substance, one that speaks to more than just wedge issues and class.