The GOP, in its heyday, was the smug party of family values, white ones. Those of us who wrote speeches and opinion-editorials for them sometimes wondered how they could get away with stances which were so out of touch with where America was. The 2012 election showed that they no longer could.
During this week, reports Jack Sherman at POLITICO, high level members of the GOP had pow-wows to determine strategies and tactics how they could prevent becoming irrelevant. In communications, we call that mission "rebranding." The odds are against that, though.
The GOP, because of the wealth of its leaders and followers, had been so isolated from the mainstream. In that political ghetto of the like-minded they continually drifted from self awareness. Humility? That was a character trait they might not had the need to develop, even early in the education and later in their careers.
To save their careers or to develop them, conservatives might have to break off from the traditional GOP. Instead of forming another group as the Tea Party had done they might simply fly solo, talking up values which resonate with their constituencies. If they are adept with media relations they could find themselves in the catbird seat of a new conservative movement.
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