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Pete Wehner’s post yesterday on Romney throws into sharp relief the challenge facing Republicans going into next year: is the GOP the party of change, or not?
The best thing about Pete’s post is that it essentially makes the case that those who are too cowardly to pursue real change will ultimately lose. The reformers, those who want the GOP to be the party of change, will be the winners.
Pete cites a statement by Romney’s advisors that they plan to use Perry’s book to scare seniors about what Perry will do to their Medicare and Social Security. They use as their case study the alleged failure of Paul Ryan to move voters in the right direction.
Wehner takes a look at what happened to Ryan.
- [Ryan’s plan] passed in the House and allowed Republicans to point to a concrete and intellectually serious alternative to what the president is doing.
- Ryan became a star within the conservative movement, to the point he was urged by influential figures to run for president in 2012 (he declined).
- When Newt Gingrich foolishly attacked [Ryan’s plan], his campaign for president effectively ended. Gingrich spent a week on the conservative talk radio circuit backtracking from his attacks.
- Four months after Ryan’s plan was introduced, it is nothing like the political liability many people thought it would be. In fact, the public’s attention remains focused on the debt and the deficit as well as job creation.
- “Mediscare” tactics haven’t gained any traction at all (but not for lack of trying by liberals).
The point here is that a reformer-at-heart, Paul Ryan, has become the face of the Republican Party. Despite misgivings about the public on entitlement reform, he has succeeded in moving the needle on the discussion. More Americans understand, and believe in, entitlement reform as a result.
Ryan is an example of how a reformer who challenges the expectations of the public can actually become favored by the public.
Romney’s aides don’t seem to grasp this. If Romney follows their lead, he'll undo his political fortunes precisely by being too political about the big issues.
He should be trying to be the leader of the Party of Change. If he attacks Perry as his advisors suggest he will, he will become the leader of the Party of the Safe and Status Quo…and voters will pay him back in the spring.
The Republicans have become the Party of Change. The GOP stands against the status quo on just about everything threatening America today. The GOP's path is a path of change - even radical change. Entitlement reform is a big part of that. If Romney plans to play games with this essential fact, he should just drop out now.
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