In the House of Representatives Roy Blunt is stepping down. Patrick McIlheran has a column on the future of Paul Ryan who advises Republicans to go for the big ideas.
Various writers are already joined in the debate in different forums. Ramesh Ponnuru has an Op-ed in the New York Times about appealing to the middle class.
Republicans, as the party in the White House for the last eight years, were bound to take most of the blame for the financial crisis. But Mr. McCain would have been better prepared for it if middle-class voters already trusted him to look out for them. By the end of the campaign, 60 percent of voters did not think that he was “in touch with people like them” — and 79 percent of them voted against him. They thought other Republicans were out of touch, too. To recover, the party will have to prove them wrong, not just return to the conservative program of yesteryear.
Slate Magazine is hosting a dialogue on the future of Conservativism. National Review has an interview with Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president and chairman of the board of the Susan B. Anthony List, regarding the future of the pro-life movement.
I know it's hard to picture for some, but this is an exciting time to be a conservative. The three most likely GOP candidates for president in 2012 are all conservatives. We're seeing new leadership and a new agenda being born right now.
