Portman right about GOP future

I know it is Friday evening in late June, and the political buzz is all about Cap and Trade, but I wanted to make note of this excellent article on Rob Portman from WaPo’s The Fix.  I think Portman is right about Ohio voters.  Ohio has a history of going for established politicians so I don’t think just because he worked for Bush he is toast.  His experience makes him more than just someone with money wanting to make a splash.  And I think he is right that the race will be about jobs:

Portman treads carefully when asked about the burden of Bush. He calls his time in the Administration “valuable” but quickly notes that “I was working for the Administration [and] what I now want to do is to go back to what I was doing before which is to be my own boss.”

Portman added that he doesn’t hear about his time spent in the Bush Administration as he moves around the state meeting voters, insisting that the lone issue on Ohioans’ minds is putting someone in the Senate who can help create jobs and work across the aisle to get things down.

“People aren’t looking back,” said Portman. “They’re looking forward and they’re worried.”

And I think he is right about the GOP:

Portman did offer three ways in which the Republican party nationally could — and should — heal itself.

First, the party must do more outreach to moderates, minorities and, well, just about anyone who will listen. “You don’t lose an election and purge your ranks,” said Portman. “You lose an election and you try to expand your ranks.”

Second, Republicans need to find a way to communicate their own vision for the country better than they have to date. Portman cited the disconnect between President Barack Obama‘s personal popularity, which remains sky high, and the popularity of his policies, which are marginally lower, as a sign that opportunity exists for the GOP. “There is great potential for us to benefit if we are smarter about saying not only the reasons we don’t like what Democrats are doing but that there is a better way,” said Portman.

Finally, Republicans need to not only hone their message but also find messengers who can carry that message in an effective way, according to Portman. He said that Obama’s genius during the 2008 campaign was that “even people who didn’t agree with him on the issues voted for him because they liked him” — an idea that Republicans need to find a way to replicate.

I hope to flesh out this argument in more detail later, but I think it is accurate and important.  We need to find ways to connect with voters in a new way both with good candidates and with a fresh message.  This doesn’t mean tilting left on policy but find fresh ways of letting voters know that we have better policy ideas.

The beauty of this is that the Democrats seem insisten on craming big government down our throats at such a precarious time.  When these policies don’t bring change the environment is going to be ripe for an alternative.  What Portman is saying is that we have to be better at convincing voters we are that credible and competent alternative.

And Portman is well placed to be an example.