Don't get me wrong, though.  I still believe in President Reagan's beliefs, platform and ideals.  However, his politicism of the GOP worked for his time.  We are now in a new era.  To focus too much on him now is like those Republicans that focused on Presidents Nixon and Ford when President Carter was elected.  It's not healthy for Conservatives to look backward when we should be looking forward as Gov. Reagan did in 1979.  

Another reason to stop focusing on President Reagan is that it will not work for conservatives to invoke his name.  His name has been stolen by President Obama.  While campaigning Obama loved to grab on to Reagan as an idea without adopting any of his beliefs.  He politicized Reagan.  Now, the natural thought is to fight to get him back but it will do no good to a conservative movement that needs something fresh and unspoiled.  I hate to reference President Reagan in these ways, but it is necessary after the 2008 election.  Even if President Obama didn't intend for this outcome, he got lucky with his tactic of convincing people he was the new  "Reagan" of the Dems, independents and moderate Republicans.    

That does not mean we abandon our ideals and beliefs to mimic and appease some voters that were swaying between Candidates McCain and Obama.  If anything, we harden our resolve while encompassing a variety of people and voters to be included in the party platform.  I know that may seem somewhat contradictory since I'm not outlying any type of platform.  However, it is not.  There needs to be a shift to true conservative politics: less spending, less pork, less taxes, less federal government programs.  

We need to respond to this misnomer of the Republican party being "the party of 'no'" and change it to the "party of less."  Currently, this is what concerns the American people.  If we can advocate the reduction of government control and restriction then the Republican party can make a comeback.  

I know another hotbed issue is abortion.  The article on the blog American Thinker titled GOP Woes and Social Conservatives deals with this issue becoming more of a non-issue since generally the voters are not really pushing for abortions.  Well, maybe I over simplified that a bit. Really, the pro-life stance is not a negative for voters according to the article.  That is a good thing.  I am not for abortion.  I don't think it should be side-lined and considered an issue that means nothing anymore, however I don't think it needs to be a lead issue of the Republican party.  I'm sure I'll take some flak for that comment, but so be it.