Oh my

If we didn’t already know that the Republican Party was in bad shape, this confirms it: Former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is a candidate to become RNC chairman?

Column: How to enrage Ohio conservatives

My Nov. 20 print edition column:

“The phone at our headquarters,” Lorain County Republican Party Chairwoman Helen Hurst said, “has been ringing off the hook.”

The callers weren’t looking for souvenir McCain/Palin yard signs or begging to donate money. Rather, they were expressing their outrage at Kevin DeWine, the Ohio Republican Party’s deputy chairman.

DeWine angered social conservatives, who make up much of the state and national GOP’s core base of support, by suggesting two days after the election that the Republican Party was having an “identity crisis.” In listing the party’s problems, he noted the GOP’s “distracting fixation on social issues.”

“We have to exchange a fiscal message and economic message in for a social message that has dominated the messaging of this party for the last decade,” DeWine said.

DeWine’s insertion of his foot into his mouth insulted church-going conservative Republicans. They are Republicans not because of their support for free markets and limited government. They are Republicans because they think abortion is murder and gay people shouldn’t have the right to marry.

These activists dominate the party’s base, and they won’t surrender or downplay their beliefs. On social issues, Hurst said, “We abandon nothing.”

DeWine, a term-limited state representative from the Dayton area, must mend fences with the right because he wants to succeed the outgoing Bob Bennett as state party chairman. So, in a letter written to Republican leaders across the state, he defended his anti-gay and anti-abortion bona fides:

“I spent eight years in the General Assembly advancing pro-family legislation such as the Defense of Marriage Act and at least six major pro-life reform bills. The executive director of Ohio Right to Life recently credited my ‘perfect voting record on abortion issues.’ Since I became deputy chairman of this party, I’ve met with dozens of pro-family leaders to discuss candidate recruitment, outreach and volunteer support.”

DeWine, so long as social conservatives don’t undermine him at the last moment, will in January take over a party in turmoil. He urges the party to craft a message that appeals to a broader range of people.

After the election, prominent Ohio Republicans, such as former U.S. Reps. Rob Portman of Cincinnati and John Kasich of greater Columbus, have suggested that what the party needs, among other things, is better communication.

Kasich, writing after the election at www.TheNextRight.com, said, “We must communicate clearly what we stand for, and make the case for why our ideas are better.”

Portman, writing for the Dallas Morning News, said the party must craft solutions to problems such as pollution and health care costs. The party also “must put more effort and resources into communicating our policies.”

Criticism of messaging is a common one on the right, mostly because Republicans swear that the media are the reason for their failures. DeWine, in his kiss-and-make-up letter to Republican leaders, cited “media bias” as a reason why his party got crushed two weeks ago.

Now there’s a “message” his whole party can get behind: Shoot the messenger.

Bennett, a few days ago, laughably suggested that DeWine’s comments “were presented in news reports without context.” The Columbus Dispatch dismantled Bennett’s claim by posting audio of the interview online. When politicians say something was taken out of context, what they’re really saying is that they wish the stupid thing they said hadn’t been reported.

But as Republicans figure out how they should talk, the question as to what they should talk about remains open.

It’s easy to argue that the Republicans need to tone down their social stances. Gay marriage, thanks to young voters, probably will be widespread nationally in the next few generations. Roe v. Wade, thanks to Democratic President-elect Barack Obama and the liberal justices he will appoint, won’t be overturned any time soon. Social issues aren’t going to save Republicans.

But don’t tell that to the religious conservatives who man phone banks and knock on doors in order to get Republicans elected.

DeWine did. And look what’s happening to him.

The GOP’s future

Three prominent Ohio Republicans — former U.S. Reps. Rob Portman and John Kasich and House Minority Leader John Boehner — offer their thoughts on the future of the Republican Party.

It’s been my long belief that real conservatism — small government and fewer social services — doesn’t win elections. Republicans perfected the art of talking about small government while practicing big government, and the inherent hypocrisy was a factor in their drubbings in the past two national elections.

(Thanks to Naugblog for noting the Kasich and Portman posts.)