Bouncing Back In order to be poised for the next cycle of elections, the Republican Party must gather its resources and come up with a new plan of action. John Elliot, Kerr County chair for Texas Republican County Chairmen’s Association, said one must for the Republican Party at every level is to find qualified and strong candidates and streamline the selection process. “By the time we had a national Republican candidate, they all had been demonized by one another,” he said. “Locally, we are developing a resolution to better choose candidates, and I hope that makes its way up to the higher ranks.” According to Dr. Steve Ellers, associate professor of political science, and a backer of the Republican Party, it comes down to the media and the message. “The Republicans have a serious public relations problem,” he said. “The press is largely pro-liberal. They need to get a cohesive, coherent message out into the world about their core ideology and principals. They need to readjust.”
Tradition In a Modern World The Republican Party often is referred to as “too white and too male” by those outside the party lines. According to www.politico.com, in 2004, George W. Bush won 44 percent of Hispanics. Four years later, John McCain, the author of an immigration reform bill, took 31 percent of Hispanics. And this year, Mitt Romney captured only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. Those numbers might come as a shock to the Republican Party since Latin Americans often are a more traditional culture. How can Republicans gain access to the Latino culture? Schreiner University senior, Maggie Rios, a business administration management major and a Hispanic
supporter of the Libertarian Party, believes if the Republican Party doesn’t do anything about immigration that they will fail again in the 2016 election. “The Republican Party needs to appeal to the minority groups,” she said. “The way to go about that is to work on immigration reform policies. They should provide a path to amnesty and citizenship.” Congressman Smith states that Republican policies are good for all Americans, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. “We are for jobs, economic growth and national security,” he said. “We oppose tax hikes on the middle class, excessive government spending and federal government intrusion into our lives.”
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“One would have concluded the Republican Party was doomed at this point,” he said. “But then the 2010 congressional elections arrived and the Democrats were stunned into silence at the election results. I think the Republican Party and American Conservatism are poised for resurgence and renewal with many new players in the game.” The resurgence Woodhull speaks of is deeply-rooted in traditional conservative American values, particularly within the economy. Congressman Smith believes those traditional values are a winning formula for all Americans and Republicans. “Republicans are strongly united on our core values of hard work, personal responsibility and individual liberty,” he said. “We believe that lower taxes, less government debt and fewer government regulations will spur the economy, increase pay and create more jobs in the next few years.”
Outside Looking In Dr. William Woods, dean of the school of liberal arts, said at one time he believed the Republican Party was the party of fiscal responsibility and small government, but lost its way right about the time they started courting the vote of extremists and the evangelical right. He notes the party is struggling to find an identity in a changing 21st century demographic. “To stay potent as a political force, the Republican Party must be willing to compromise on, what I feel, are their badly outdated core values,” he said. Woods said he and others were stunned to hear a presidential candidate speak so disparagingly of 47 percent of the population, but believes that kind of thinking represents a majority of the current Republican party’s view. “If the current Republican party has any chance of surviving as more than a reference in a history book, then it must become, once more, the party of fiscal conservatism, stay out of people’s very personal business and not be what Colin Powell—a Republican, and a military hero of mine, whom I greatly admire—recently called the political party with a ‘distinctly dark vein of intolerance,’” Woods said.
Staying Involved Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you’re on, Bell believes the most important aspect of politics is involvement. He said he understands a large portion of college students either are registered to vote and fail to cast a ballot or are not registered. Bell wanted to change that on the Schreiner campus, and said the best way to accomplish that is to spread the message and engage with people. “If you know someone who doesn’t have a ride to the ballot box, tell them you’ll give them a ride,” he said. “If you know someone who thinks their single vote doesn’t matter, tell them otherwise.” www.schreiner.edu Spring 2013 19