After a very weak showing in the 2008 election, many Republicans-both authentic and self proclaimed-have begun asking themselves how to rebuild the Grand Old Party. Some “moderate” Republicans claim that the best way to move the GOP forward is to move the party closer to the center; that the party should sacrifice its conservative base in favor of gaining more popularity among minority and independent voters. In order to capture these votes, moderates would like to see the party adopt a far more moderate immigration strategy, relax their moral and ethical stance on divisive issues such as gay marriage and abortion, and tone down the party’s rhetoric regarding government non-intervention in the economy. With the number of minority and independent voters growing rapidly, this strategy of moving to the center would seem like the natural course for a struggling party.

But others in the Republican party are terrified of this new direction. They claim that sacrificing values for political expediency is not only wrong, but it simply wont work. These conservatives want the GOP to remain the advocates of small government, low taxes, laissez faire economics, freedom of the individual, and the protection of life. But how can these conservatives account for the growing numbers of minority and independent voters, who are said to be lost if they stick with their conservative principles? The idea is simple: conservatism works, liberalism fails.

President Obama is the epitome of a liberal Democrat. His ideology, his policies, and his rhetoric are exactly what we have come to expect from the Left, and so far they have and will continue to fail to make America and American’s prosperous and safe. The American people will be painfully reminded of this as President Obama leads our country closer and closer to economic ruin. Through his collectivist polices, President Obama will remind Americans that liberalism does not work, but come election time, it must be the GOP standing on the Right reminding them that conservatism does. The closer to the center the GOP moves, the less powerful their message will be. How can Republicans claim to have the solutions to the country’s woes, when for their entire time in office they have been complicit in the liberal’s destruction of our country?

If the GOP wishes to reclaim power in the coming years, they must remain true to their conservative principles. Doing so will not only win them votes, but make a America a strong, safe, and prosperous country.