This is some very good news to hear…
Via the Politico:
Two days after next week’s election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement’s most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.
The meeting will include a “who’s who of conservative leaders — economic, national security and social,” said one attendee, who shared initial word of the secret session only on the basis of anonymity and with some details about the host and location redacted.
The decision to waste no time in plotting their moves in the post-Bush era reflects the widely-held view among many on the right, and elsewhere, that the GOP is heading toward major losses next week.
One of the topics of discussion will be how to fashion a “national grassroots political and policy coalition similar to the out Reagan years,” said the attendee, a reference to the development of the so-called New Right apparatus following Jimmy Carter’s 1976 victory and Reagan’s election four years later.
“There’s a sense that the Republican Party is broken, but the conservative movement is not,” said this source, suggesting that it was the betrayal of some conservative principles by Bush and congressional leaders that led to the party’s decline.
But, this source emphasized, the meeting will be held regardless of the outcome of the presidential race. “This is going on if McCain wins, loses or has a recount — we’re not planning for the loss of John McCain.”
Either way, Sarah Palin will be a central part of discussion.
If the Arizona senator wins, the discussion will feature much talk of, “How do we work with this administration?” said the attendee, an acknowledgement that conservatives won’t always have a reliable ally in the Oval Office.
Under this scenario, Palin would be seen as their conduit to power. “She would be the conservative in the White House,” is how the source put it.
Should McCain lose next Tuesday, the conversation will include who to groom as the next generation of conservative leaders – a list that will feature Palin at or near the top.
Individuals aside, the broader aim of the session is to assess where the party and movement stand after what is virtually certain to be the second consecutive election in which Democrats make gains. The post-mortem will then lead way to a focus on what role conservatives play going forward both in the GOP and the political system ahead of the 2010 midterms
Few believe that the Republican party will respond to another brutal election by following a path of moderation, but conservatives are deeply dispirited and anxious to reassert the core values they believe have not always been followed by Bush, congressional leaders and their party’s presidential nominee . Many on the right, both elites and the rank-and-file, see a rudderless party that is in dire need of new blood and old principles: small government, a robust national security and unapologetic social conservatism.
All I can say is that it is about time. I am glad to see that the minds of Conservatism have finally decided to start thinking about their future and their party. I hope that something good becomes of this.
I just do not understand why it took so long for someone to finally come to a realization that something with the Conservative movement was horribly wrong.
Someone also needs to remind some of them that there is more to Conservatism and the Republican Party than John McCain and Sarah Palin.
I just hope that it is not too late.