Send Us Your Ideas on the GOP

What’s next for the Republican Party?

The era of Ronald Reagan and George Bush has passed. And even before a Democrat captured the White House last November, there were signs of restiveness within the GOP at the convention in Houston last summer. At least one free-thinking prominent Republican, Kevin Phillips, suggests that the party risks losing its claim on the middle class, which has been crucial to successful presidential politics in past elections. A new Republican National Committee chairman, Haley Barbour, and his departing predecessor, Rich Bond, have warned their party openly of the dangers of single-issue politics.

Can the Republican Party find unity in the age of Bill Clinton? If so, what should be its themes and its appeal to the American electorate? What should be its program for the nation? Now that President Clinton has called for a combination of new taxes and spending cuts, is there any future for tax cuts and supply-side economics? What is America’s role in the post-Cold War world?

Even as the new President was trying to get his bearings in the first weeks of his Administration, several potential Republican presidential hopefuls already were stirring the early waters in New Hampshire for 1996. Republican critics of the President’s economic plan say it does not go far enough to cut spending.

But the party clearly has its work cut out to find common ground and to articulate a coherent program for the remainder of the 1990s.

Since Orange County is regarded as a symbol for Republicanism nationally, we hope to provide a forum for some of that debate on this page. Today, we present the views of two thoughtful members of the party. We invite our readers’ written comments on the future of the GOP, and plan to publish a representative sample.