Mount Virtus

I’ve spent the past several days trying to reach a coherent synthesis from these two poll results taken by Rasmussen:

• 73 percent of Republican voters say Republicans in Congress have lost touch with their base — men and older voters are more likely to share these sentiments; and (unsurprisingly) far more voters obviously are concerned about economic, fiscal, and national security issues than domestic or cultural issues
• General election voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues — with double-digit advantages in national security, Iraq, taxes, economy and abortion

So what should Republican politicians and candidates learn from these results? I mean, besides the fact that it’s hard to make too much sense out of what a wide sample of voters are thinking. Rather than come up with a cogent analysis, I decided to throw out some quick hits:

- Incumbents beware. Take nothing for granted.
- Stand unabashedly against selling out American interests on the international stage.
- Repeat the cry against spending our children into oceans of debt.
- Explain the tough decisions that need to be made on discretionary spending.
- Draw a line in the sand against raising taxes.
- Speak optimistically about the value of limited government.
- Promote life without crushing liberty.
- Go beyond defending the health care status quo. Offer smart and simple market solutions.
- Police the ethical problems within the party quickly, honestly and effectively.
- Do more than just talk about a genuine transparency reform agenda.
- Acknowledge frequently your role as servants of the people.
- Embody personal accountability. Remember who elected you.

Just a few random thoughts. Oh, and how many people expected the Democrats to wear out their welcome quite so soon?