Some think the GOP should abandon its social conservative stance. It should relinquish its opposition to abortion and gay marriage. I am one of those, and there are many who tolerate the social conservative wing to form a coalition so that economic liberty interests can get elected. It didn’t work this time.

The coalition of economic libertarians and social conservatives got Reagan elected but that was thirty years ago. The demographics have changed and the GOP has not kept up.

But even if the GOP copied every element of the Democrats on the social issues and immigration, it wouldn’t change much. Such a change would make the GOP suspect. It reminds me of the Jews who converted to Christianity under the threat of torture during the Spanish Inquisition. Their faith was always suspect and they were eventually expelled anyway.

Adopting the social liberalism of the opposition eliminates a differentiation. You may gain a few from the other side, but you will also lose some of your current supporters. Who wants to change when the results are the same?

While some fault Romney’s campaign management, I think he was definitely the best of those that ran. But Romney cam across as a technocrat who defaulted to competence instead of principles.

As in marketing, first is often more important than better. It would be impossible to improve upon the Democratic appeal to women and Hispanics, even if the GOP had technically better proposals; they are just too late to the game.The Democrats may have locked in the Hispanic vote the same way they have a lock on the black vote. If Obama passes serious immigration reform, whatever that means, they will always be the party of the immigrants even if every Republican member of Congress also votes for it. If even a minority of Republicans oppose it then the entire GOP will be branded by their actions.

So what can the GOP do? They cannot just be the ‘me too’ party, and they cannot afford to let the opposition define them.

The way to defeat the new Democratic Party is to adapt the principles of the old Democratic Party, the Jacksonian position of “opportunity for all, special privileges for none.” Big government and higher taxes should be addressed as opportunity killers for everyone and not just burdens on producers. The special privileges doled out to high paid bureaucrats and crony capitalists should be highlighted. This will not be easy and will cost a lot of money because they surely will not be getting any help from the media. And they sure as hell better not be standing in a glass house when they start throwing stones

The path to redemption is not adapting positions of the opposition, nor does it lie in ignoring painful compromises the party must make to reach the modern voters. It lies in creating new paths. Instead of letting the Democrats define the GOP as the party of old white men, the GOP should redefine the Democrats as the party of crony capitalists, special interests, and opportunity stifling bureaucracy.

It has the benefit of at least appearing to be true.

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