Going as far back as the primaries, I have been convinced that this election would give Republicans an opportunity to set the definition for the future of the party.  John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and even Rudi Guiliani stood out as serious contenders for the Republican ticket and each one offered something decidedly different in terms of the party’s future.  The party’s most notable also-ran, Ron Paul, was able to generate a lot of excitement because of his ideas on bringing about a major reformation of government.  In the end, it was the strength of the Republican Independents that brought out a victory for John McCain, much to the frustration of those seated further to the right.  With Obama having now won handily in the general election, and with the Democrats having extended their dominance of Congress, it seems apparent that the McCain Republican is unlikely to be the party’s future.  With the party still at a crossroads, I think it’s well past time for conservatives to take a step back and reflect on what it is we really stand for.

Looking back over the past election, I saw a number of things that seemed to attract a lot of attention.  Abortion, religion, healthcare, Bush, and more all brought out conservative ire at various points as the party faithful chafed at the thought of electing a man who is not a True Believer.  Meanwhile, the excitement over Sarah Palin was matched only by the excitement people had about Ron Paul.  On the other side of the aisle, Obama was able to portray himself as the helpful candidate, promising cheap healthcare and free money to a large chunk of the population.

Out of these admittedly unscientific observations, I’ve put together a short list of three guiding principles which I believe it is essential for the Republican Party to adopt.  These principles will not please everyone and following them will necessarily require that compromises be made on particular issues which are sure to alienate some of the conservative base.  At this point, though, the most important thing is that the ship needs to set sail in some direction again, rather than being bogged down by a thorny web of issues.

These three points are the direction we should choose:

• Small government.
• Personal responsibility.
• Limited charity.

I plan to discuss each one, in turn, in the coming days.