GOP: The Party of YES

by Dr. Ellen Brandt

 
While the Other Side settles for an "anointed" candidate and the same old stale ideas, Republicans have embraced a wide range of perspectives and possibilities.

 
Welcome to the Party of YES.

This new blog, which may evolve into a major new publication as we gain adherents and influence, is meant to accompany the formation of a new membership Group of Republican activists at LinkedIn.

Our mission is two-fold:

First, we wish to provide a friendly, non-judgmental forum for GOP candidates, officeholders, theorists, and opinion makers at all levels - local, statewide, and national - as we head into the all-important election year of 2016, a year we believe will herald a new GOP era for the United States as important as any in our history.

We will present original essays, candidate interviews, and news pieces. We will sponsor moderated opinion threads, seeking feedback from a wide range of concerned and intelligent Republicans. And we'll provide links to interesting small blogsites and other publications, demonstrating the vibrant ferment of ideas which now distinguishes our Party from the stagnant and "politically correct" Opposition.

We believe this effort is needed at LinkedIn and other social media sites, since several other Groups labeling themselves as "Republican" have, in fact, presented only the narrowest possible range of viewpoints. They've been uncomfortably dominated by the sort of negative and strident rants - all attack and all NO! - which are unfortunately familiar to television and radio "opinion show" listeners, poisoning the flow of thoughtful, generous, and divergent commentary which both major Parties desperately need right now.

The Party of YES will welcome and encourage the widest range of perspectives possible.

As the Opposition becomes more and more "politically correct," we will become more accepting and open to new ideas and solutions. We welcome Republicans from all parts of the political spectrum, Conservatives, Moderates, Populists, and Progressives alike. We welcome those with interests in specific issues and those whose GOP commitment is broader-based. We welcome those (perhaps few) satisfied with our nation's status quo and those who are striving avidly to change that status quo into something more stable and more hopeful and more inclusive.

 
Goal Two: Changing the Political Media

 
Our second goal, which we will talk much more about in future blogs, is dear to my own heart as a lifelong journalist.

Do even the most rudimentary of Internet searches with the keywords Republican or GOP - or election or voters or economy or other politically-charged keywords of your choosing - and you'll immediately grasp how bad things are and why we need to work to change them now.

The Internet - much more than "conventional" media (which is bad enough) - is now dominated by a mere handful of powerful news and opinion outlets, overwhelmingly controlled by and biased towards the Other Side.

The distortions of issues, of candidate stances, of polling and demographic data, of what rank-and-file Republicans and prospective GOP voters are concerned about and excited about - all such distortions are lately so incessant and so extreme, committed GOP activists of all stripes need to be truly concerned and truly motivated to foment major changes in how we are presented, how we are viewed, and how we are understood by Internet readers and viewers nationally and internationally.

Already, some distinguished and popular GOP journalists have joined our new Group, and I hope many more will join with us soon. We need to discuss and then implement a coherent and aggressive strategy for correcting the media imbalances and distortions and assuring that voters understand what our candidates, intellectuals, and theorists are saying and proposing on a daily basis.

I am hopeful we can meet both of the above goals efficiently and quickly.

Please join with us.

 
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Link to the Party of YES Group at LinkedIn:


https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Party-YES-7472991/about

Link to Group manager Ellen Brandt's LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbbrandtphd