One Neighborhood at a Time

Our party has lost ground all across our country and there are too many neighborhoods where you’re more likely to find a unicorn than a Republican.

If we are a party of that can speak to Utah, South Carolina and Kansas, but can’t reach voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan – we will be a losing party.  We must adopt a strategy that carries our message to EVERY state. And invests energy and resources in EVERY state.

When we return to our party’s core principles, we can reach the white coal miners in Pittsburgh, the black autoworkers in Detroit, the Latino service worker in San Diego. In fact, our message has meaning to Americans of every ethnic background, every income level, and every age group in every town in America. It’s a message of personal responsibility, hope and opportunity to experience the American dream. As someone who was raised in working class Detroit, among union members and was inspired to become a Republican by Ronald Reagan, I refuse to accept the idea that there is any neighborhood that is out of reach.

We need to recruit candidates that come from these neighborhoods. There is no denying what it means for young African American children to see President Elect Obama and to identify with him. Our best opportunities to reach the many ethnic cultures in our country will come through candidates and leaders that emerge from within those cultures.

We must communicate our message without communicating anger, exclusion or disdain. The best leaders in our history have been those that welcomed all to join our mission, not those that said, “You are not welcome here.” We must look for common ground where it can be found and expand our party to include those who agree on our core principles even if they don’t subscribe to every piece of our party platform.