Over at Hugh Hewitt's site there's a link to something called GOP 2030. GOP 2030 is an effort to gather ideas on how to take action to build [Republican] majorities that last until at least 2030. This sounds like a worthy effort to me and I'd like to suggest an idea.
My idea is this: We need talent scouts to recruit and support people to run for office at every level. When I say support, I'm not even primarily referring to funding. I'm talking about assistance with developing strategy, communicating a compelling vision, researching the opposition and all that goes into successful campaigns. Without someone to scout for talent and bring it to the forefront we'll be faced with the current method of finding candidates used by both parties.
Today, in order to run for office, you either have to have a lot of money or a lot of supporters willing to donate money, or both. If you don't have a lot of money, you begin by running for local office while developing a network of people willing to donate and, if you're lucky and skillful, you'll eventually end up with enough resources to run for a statewide or national office. If you are fortunate enough to have the financial resources, you can get on the fast track and run for a statewide office almost right away. The problem with this is that it doesn't necessarily produce the best candidates and it doesn't produce fresh candidates with new ideas.
Instead it produces the same old faces year after year. Some of them are exceptional while most are mediocre. A look at the names in the last several presidential elections basically reveals the same cast of characters year after year. In my home state of Illinois the pattern continues; just the same politicians with hardly any new faces. Voters get really tired of seeing these guys and I think voter apathy is partly the result of this system.
If this system consistently produced excellent candidates that would be fine, but it doesn't. The ones without their own financial resources become dependent on whoever has the big bucks. They essentially sell their votes on various issues, often regardless of ideology, because they want to be re-elected. The ones who have the finances are able to stick around year after year but this is often regardless of their skill or service to the people. These guys are often egomaniacs who are in politics because they consider it to be like "hollywood for ugly people". They love the attention and they love feeling important.
I believe that the best politicians are those who aren't necessarily career politicians. Unfortunately, there's a real learning curve for anyone trying to enter politics. To make matters worse, the politicians who are currently in elected office aren't real willing to mentor and help someone who could potentially unseat them in the next election. To solve this problem, we need GOP Talent Scouts who can look at the local and statewide elections and provide guidance and support to those with potential.
Recently, I decided to pursue statewide or possibly at some point, even national elected office. To do this I ran for, and was elected, to the lowest elected position I could find; Trustee for the Village of Stillman Valley, IL. I'm honored to serve in that position, but I also see it as an opportunity to pursue other elected office. So, I'll next run for the next level up, and so on, until I get to statewide or national office.
There's nothing wrong with this strategy, but it will take a lot of time and I may be forced to make some compromises along the way if I'm to receive the backing of the GOP and of donors willing to support my campaign. If there was an organization in place to provide guidance and support at each step along the way, I could pursue office much quicker and I wouldn't have to sell my soul for the opportunity to make a difference.
I'm imagining that there are a lot of others out there like me. People who might make great leaders, but need an extra push to get them out there. When it comes right down to it, GOP 2030 is only possible with quality leaders who articulate a vision that allows America to remain great.