Fixing The Damage

Outgoing RNC chairman Ken Mehlman warned Republicans that it was time to fix the problems that led to the election defeat. If not, it will be a long time in the wilderness.

 MIAMI, Nov. 30 — Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman warned a somber and diminished gathering of GOP governors that the party will face years in the political wilderness unless it corrects the mistakes that led to last month's election losses.

"If we shrug our shoulders and say, 'It was just a fluke, a perfect storm of factors out of our control,' then we will lose again in 2008," Mehlman told the Republican Governors Association at its annual meeting, as he prepares to step down from the RNC at the end of the year.

"If that is the approach we take, then we are destined to spend far more than one term in the minority," Mehlman added. "And we as a party will deserve it."

On Nov. 7, Democrats captured a majority of governorships, as well as control of the House and the Senate, for the first time since the Republican revolution of 1994. The remaining GOP governors will assume a higher national profile while their party is out of power in Washington and may find themselves having to help lead the way for Republican initiatives and a political comeback.

"You're the greatest and most innovative think tank in politics," Mehlman told the governors. "And now, more than ever, our party and our nation need you to do what you do best . . . to change government for changing times."

This is not new stuff. A number of people (myself included) have been calling on the Republicans to clean up their act. The idea that ideas come in from the governors are not at all new, either. I've pointed out that a strong set of core beliefs coupled with an ability to give way on other matters was Reagan's genius. Nice to see some others understand that, too.