When you get pounded this badly in an election there are usually multiple issues that need addressing. One of the main issues, though certainly not the only fly in the ointment, is that the GOP seems to insist on running candidates that can’t communicate the basic ideas of the GOP platform to the voters.

I was going to write a more indepth post on this boneheaded strategy when I came across Optimistic Patriot’s post at New England Republican (and you’d better be an optimist if you are a Republican patriot living in New England). His bottom line is this: Run candidates that can communicate. Sounds simple right?

What do I think the GOP really needs? They need candidates that can communicate. When President Bush first hit the scene, I didn’t see his tendency to mangle the English language as a real impediment or reflection on his intelligence. I’m still not convinced that he’s “dumb”, but his communication skills caused considerable harm to his presidency and the conservative cause.

Bush simply didn’t have the skills required to rally people from the bully pulpit of the presidency. The few conservative programs he pushed, like privatizing a portion of your Social Security tax, went down in flames. His inability to communicate meant he was forever at the mercy of the MSM where all things Republican wither and die.

The next Republican standard bearer doesn’t have to be Reagan, but he does need those kind of communication skills. Reagan faced the same MSM bias in an era before talk radio and blogs. However, he overcame them and is now widely regarded as a very successful president. Even liberal academicians, a redundancy I know, consistently rank him in the top 10 for everything he got accomplished.

It goes on and it gets better. The MSM has been gunning for us for decades now, the ability to effectively communicate your ideas through the media noise is a skill the GOP will acquire or it will stagnate.