Blake's Think Tank

I’m taking in an early dose of MSNBC. One of the more interesting topics is the future of the GOP at the national level. Ed O’Keefe of The Washington Post and Eleanor Clift of Newsweek are tossing out a series of names that could emerge in the coming months. O’Keefe believes there a void in the Republican Party. Clift suggests that the party would look to Louisiana gov. Bobby Jindal. As for Sarah Palin? Both declared her the “champion of the culture wars.” But she needs to expand her role in the Republican Governors Association or run for the Senate to have a real shot in 2012.

Here in Arkansas we’re beginning to understand why things happened as they did. Despite Barack Obama’s electoral domination, Arkansas trended red by substantial margins. David Kinkade at The Arkansas Project informs us that Arkansas GOP chair Dennis Milligan will not seek re-election. Names rumored to succeed him? One politico writes to The Think Tank to suggest Little Rock businessman John Parke who ran unsuccessfully against David Johnson a few years back.

UPDATE: Norman Ornstein of The Los Angeles Times writes, “Republicans need to be more than just the only other option on the ballot in four years. They must find a message — be it a more refined compassionate conservativism, the folksy populism of Mike Huckabee or even a fiscally conservative/environmentally conservationist fusion — that speaks to the segments of the electorate that are growing. And then they need a leader to deliver it. At this early date after a dramatic election, there is no sign they have either.”

UPDATE II: Rich Lowry, writing in The Washington Post, observes, “As grim as things now seem for the right, there’s no reason to descend into the slough of despond. Just four years ago, Republicans were hailing the advent of a new Republican majority, remember? One of the wisest baseball cliches is: “You’re never as good as you seem when you’re winning and never as bad as you seem when you’re losing.”"