Bobby Jindal: GOP Must Keep Core Conservative Principles

Politics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 16, 2012   |   2:03PM   |   Washington, DC

In the aftermath of the presidential elections, an opinion column pro-life Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal wrote on CNN’s website has been bandied about the Internet quite a bit.

Jindal makes excellent points about the Republican party sticking to its principles, saying that it doesn’t need to conform to the “values” of the pro-abortion Democratic party in order to win elections. The potential 2016 presidential candidate is right.

Below are some excepts from his column:

In the aftermath of the presidential election, Republicans have been inundated with advice to moderate, equivocate, and even abandon their core principles as a necessary prerequisite for winning future elections.

That is absurd. America already has one liberal political party; there is no need for another one.

Make no mistake: Despite losing an election, conservative ideals still hold true.

The Republican party does have a lot of work to do. But changing our principles is not a winning strategy. We need to modernize, not moderate. Here are seven lessons Republicans should learn in order to move forward.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

Compete for every single vote. The 47% and the 53%. And any other combination of numbers that adds up to 100 percent. President Barack Obama and the Democrats can continue trying to divide America into groups of warring communities with competing interests, but we will have none of it. We are going after every vote as we try to unite all Americans.

Stop being the stupid party. It’s time for a new Republican party that talks like adults. It’s time for us to articulate our plans and visions for America in real terms. We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. Enough of that.

Stop insulting the intelligence of voters. We need to trust the smarts of the American people. We have to stop dumbing down our ideas and stop reducing everything to mindless slogans and tag lines for 30-second ads. We must be willing to provide details in describing our views.

This is a pathway forward for the Republican party, one that honors our principles, the American people, and also, will help us win elections.