Republicans Cast About for Answers
Future of GOP: Reach out to new voters or consolidate base?

.com

Excerpts

[...] The national ticket of [John] McCain and Sarah Palin may be getting most of the blame for Republicans losses, but at the local and state levels, Republicans say their problems run deeper.

Top Republicans echoed the assessment of the National Review, a leading organ of conservative Republicanism, which thundered in a post-election editorial that “the public has … clearly rejected the Republican Party in its present configuration.

“Sometimes, I think weve forgotten what we stand for, said Stewart Iverson, who resigned Thursday as chairman of the Republican Party in Iowa, where Barack Obama easily won the presidential vote, Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin was re-elected by an even bigger margin and Democrats consolidated control of the Legislature.

“Were going to have to look at rebuilding the Republican Party, Iverson said.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., likewise called for his party to “embrace a bold new direction.

“We have got to clean up, reform and rebuild the Republican Party before we can ask Americans to trust us again, he said. …

Difficult days ahead for GOP

Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator from Rhode Island who endorsed Obama, predicted a bloody struggle for the soul of the party.

The election results demonstrated that the party had hit rock bottom, Chafee said, but he feared that socially conservative party activists – “the Rush Limbaughs, the Bill OReillys, the Sean Hannitys – were incapable of changing course.

Chafee said adherents of “the Karl Rove strategy, if you will, had been “great at winning elections by dividing the country and energizing the base, but then they have been an utter failure at governing, because once you divide the country, its so difficult to govern. 

“Now they cant even win elections, he said. “So they are bankrupt on both cases.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., who comfortably won re-election Tuesday, said Republicans should accept that “the American people have given [Obama] a huge victory.

Mack, who described herself as a moderate Republican, said she felt a responsibility to “support and work with Barack Obama when he becomes president in January.

Young, minority voters to be a priority

Republicans of all stripes said their biggest challenge was the partys perceived identification as predominantly catering to the white middle class.

Alex Triantifilou, chairman of the Republican Party in Hamilton County, Ohio, said his party was at a turning point after Democrats won a majority on the county commission Tuesday.

“We need to take a deep breath and look to the future, said Triantifilou. There was “just no question that Obama was succeeding at luring new, young and previously disaffected voters to the Democratic side with a message of optimism and change, he said.

After reliably Republican Houston and surrounding Harris County elected a Democratic sheriff and turned out 23 Republican judges, Texas state Sen. Dan Patrick agreed that Republicans urgently needed to expand their base. …

Is the GOP broken? (MSNBC, Nov. 5, 2008) — Former Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I., says Republicans are being held hostage by social conservatives, telling MSNBCs Rachel Maddow his party was “bankrupt.” (4:05) 

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IRAQ UPDATE

Security Developments in Iraq

Following are security developments in Iraq on Nov. 6, 2008, as reported by Reuters.

HAWIJA – U.S. soldiers killed one man in an operation targeting al Qaeda near Hawija, 130 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD – Two roadside bombs exploding in quick succession killed two people and wounded five in central Baghdad, police said. The bombs apparently targeted a U.S. backed neighborhood patrol but did not hurt any patrol members.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb wounded nine people, including five employees of Baghdad Municipality, near al-Hamza square in Sadr City district of northeastern Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL – Police found the body of a woman shot in neck and chest in eastern Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, police said.

MOSUL – A U.S. helicopter killed two suspected al-Qaeda militants as their aircraft come under fire in an area northwest of Mosul on Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.