Rebranding Will Not Be Enough For These Republicans

The post-Bush Republican Party is not unpopular simply because they are viewed by many as too old, too white, too male or too out of touch with 21st century America, although all those perceptions do not exactly help the party. They are unpopular because they are associated with a failed administration and, due to having become captured by the right wing fringe, are unable to contribute serious, remotely popular ideas to the debate. Rebranding may help a little, but it will not resolve these fundamental problems.
What is most striking about the Republican Party's rebranding campaign, as presented thus far, is that they seem to have taken much of the current leadership of the party and simply given them a new name, suggesting that they think that all Barbour, McCain, Bush et. al. need to win back lost support is a new website and clever title. If the Republican Party wants to become a relevant force in American politics once again, they should think less about branding and more about substance. A post-Bush Republican Party needs to be defined, but this will not be easy in this period of the Obama ascendancy. Simply attacking the popular and politically deft president has done nothing to broaden the Republican base. Instead this approach has mobilized, and empowered, those segments of the Republican coalition who can most effectively push independent and moderate voters away from the Republican Party. LinkHere