It should not have come as a surprise to anyone that even remotely follows American politics that Michael Steele recently said that the GOP lost its way after former President Ronald Reagan left office in 1989. Steele has been a somewhat flamboyant figurehead for the GOP, but it's nice to see the GOP admitting that they have flaws. His criticism of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush seems valid, but it's still hard to take it seriously.
While I agree that both the elder and junior Bush strayed from traditional conservative values in the form tax hikes and deficit spending (among other things), where does this leave us? Criticizing past presidencies does nothing for the future of the party. Yes, it's great that you realize the leaders of your party haven't held up to the standards and values that you claim you represent, but what are you doing to change that? Where are the ideas that are actually going to hold traction with voters? How are you really different from your competition (i.e. the Democratic party)? These are questions that voters should be seeking answers to when they go to the polls in 2010. It's one thing to admit that you have a broken party with broken ideals, but it's another thing to actually do something about it an fix it. The current trend we are seeing in Congress is positive in the sense that Republicans are finally standing up for fiscal conservatism and voting down excessive spending bills that Democrats are cramming through while President Obama still has some goodwill left. But there are a couple of things worth pointing out here: would Republicans be so against these bills if John McCain had won the 2008 election and what are you bringing to the table that's different than what the Democrats are bringing to the table?
It's nice to see the GOP admit they have strayed from their core values and what made them a power in this country for a long period of time. But it's another thing to see them do something about it and present ideas that actually promote change from the status quo. While I hope this is the first step towards that, I'm pessimistic we will see the GOP actually embrace fiscal conservatism any time soon.
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