Porter County Politics puts forward four points for improving that county’s Republican Party, but it occurs to me that they could be applied almost anywhere.

1.) We should be looking for ways to work with and cooperate together with Lake County Republicans, as well as the surrounding counties Republican chairs. Raise funds together. meet together and get to know each other. Get on Twitter and other social networking sites to communicate better.

2.) We should have a plan of action to take back every single seat up for election. Conservatism is favored by every voter it is explained and exposed to. There is no excuse in the world for having any democrat run for any seat unopposed. Barack Obama has made a career of running for seats unopposed and sliding into office this way. I’ve made a career of voting ‘No Candidate’ rather than vote for an unopposed liberal.

3.) We need to teach conservatism, and show the electorate how Ronald Reagan turned the country around economically in 1982 against all odds. We should teach the abject failure of the Great Depression and the Democrat New Deal. Again, conservatism is favored by every voter it is explained and exposed to. We should make it cool to be Conservative – and I think that goes back to a basic problem with our schools. How many of our schools even teach basic checkbook or bank account management? When people understand the idea of basic budgeting, they begin to understand how Obama and Congress are spending us into oblivion.

When I was stationed in the Army at Fort Campbell Kentucky, I had to go to a mandatory budget counseling class when I arrived (the commander’s idea to keep soldiers from bouncing bad checks.) The classes were sponsored by the local Republican Party, and the instructor (a local accountant) blended simple financial stategy with real-world exoperience – with a Republican slant. This class is the first place I ever heard how the New Deal was a financial disaster that only World War II relieved. It’s one of places my turn away from liberalism was really cemented in my mind.

I’m not saying budget classes are the way to make new Republicans – but it is *one* way. and we need to be thinking along the lines of educating people into conservative lines of thought.

4.) Finally, as I said before, We should make it cool to be Conservative. While the Elephant Ear booth is a time honored tradition at the Porter County Fair, the lines at the booth put off people. We don’t need image problems – we need to reach people and let them see how cool it is to be conservative. Sponsor dances. Sponsor Soap Box Derby racers. Sponsor bigcommunity events, like the Popcorn festival or Oz Fest. Put our name out there and highlight our brand. Surely there are good advertising people who can make this work in the Party. Is there a committee that already exists that does this? (If there is, they’re not doing a good job.)

Some of those things are probably beyond the limited resources of many county party organizations, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways of accomplishing the same points (or trying to do so).

A fix-all? Not in the least. But a good place to start and a good place to begin thinking.