Rebuild the Party - A Plan for the Future

Bobby Jindal can be to the Republican Party what Barack Obama was to the Democrats. He is a true conservative, and, more importantly, he represents a new, young, competent phase of the Republican Party. Compare his response to Gustav with the response to Katrina. Look at how he has turned Louisiana around.

Jindal is also a strong social conservative and has a nuanced understanding of foreign policy, having studied at Oxford. Most importantly, he is an economic wizard, having worked at McKinnon Consulting. Like Romney, he is a turnaround artist, and knows what it takes to get businesses and economies running again.

Jindal is a fresh face, and most importantly, we won't have to worry about Bush or Palin-esque gaffes. Jindal will represent the Republican Party as the party of competence and excellence, which is his slogan. Efficiency, reform, innovation; these are the words Republicans must wrap themselves in.

Furthermore, we do not need to take planks off our platform, but add planks to it. We have social, fiscal, and defense conservatives. How about adding kitchen table conservatives by presenting innovative ideas for using the power of the free market to reform health care, energy, and education? How about proposing a restructuring of our education program and appealing to the middle class?

We need to look forward and come up with ways in which our principles can apply in new times. The old Reagan formula was great for Reagan's times, but the issues of the day have changed, and we must now apply our principles to deal with new issues. That's what Newt did in 1994, and it's what we have to do in 2012 to rebuild the party.