Republicans may or may not end up winning the election next November, but I think regardless of that the party needs to have a serious rethinking of some of it’s strategies. The party’s targeted audience is way to small, and becoming ever smaller as the day goes on.

I believe that many Americans appreciate (or could appreciate) the tax relief that comes with Republicans and the smaller government approach (which also seems to be dying out – at least with Republicans currently in Washington). But Republicans (speaking about the 2008 election for president now) seem to be willing to leave out groups of potentially like-minded Americans.

The first and most profound way that this can be seen is by the “Christian-only” attitude on display by many of the Republican candidates. Sure, it’s great that they are Christian, I am as well; but I don’t really care if my President shares the same religious views as I do. I care that they share the same political views. And when you see commercials like the new Mike Huckabee commercial, you don’t really have to wonder who he is targeting. Sure, I don’t care that he is Christian and I don’t that he is saying Merry Christmas – but his exact words are “… and just remember what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ.” Even as he says it a cross made from a bookshelf or a windowpane is in the background. I’ve got news for you Mike, while many, if not most Americans are Christian, there are also many that aren’t. Why should they support somebody who appears to be pushing a religious agenda?

Or what about the question in the youTube/CNN debate? The question I am speaking about was something along the lines of do you believe everything that is in the Bible? What does that have to do with a PRESIDENTIAL election? I couldn’t give a crap if the next President is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or even Atheist. As long as he/she respects people that have different views than they do and have similar stances with me on the issues, I’ll be fine. I don’t want to hear what the candidates think about God or Jesus or whatever, because all that matters to me is what I believe. Why do people even care?

Republicans also don’t do as well as they should with minority audiences. It’s not that I believe them racists, I actually believe that to be the opposite in many instances. But they don’t make an effort to try and win a minority vote. Just because Oprah endorsed Barack doesn’t mean all blacks will want to vote for him. Why do Republicans consistently turn down the chance to speak or debate at Black Universities or Institutions? Lets remember that it was a Republican President (Abraham Lincoln) that caused the slaves to be freed and of course saved the union.

Or what about gays? Republicans don’t necessarily need to change their position on gay marriage to try and reach this voting group. Surely level-minded homosexuals can comprehend that it isn’t good to let the government do things that it can’t afford to do. Of course it’s hard because the stance on marriage turns a lot of gays off, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try and get them interested in Republicans at all – even if it is a mostly futile effort. Perhaps if it was ok for mainstream Republicans to express a view different than that of the Christian Right, more Republicans would have a different stance on the marriage issue to begin with.

The difference between Republican candidates and Democratic candidates is that the Democrats make more of an effort to get people of different backgrounds together. Their efforts are probably why most Democratic contenders say things like “building one America” or “not red America or blue America but the United States of America”. If Republicans did campaigning like that, Democrats would never, ever stand a chance.

Now I know that most Republicans respect people of other faiths, races and lifestyles but it shouldn’t hurt anyone to make more of an effort to get those people into the party, or at least voting for Republicans. Or else the Republican party will just end up being a group of people that all look, act and think the same way – which will lead it into the ground. We will always need new perspectives, new ideas and new faces.