“You can’t beat something with nothing, and the other side has something.  I don’t like it but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that,” said Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida in Arlington for the inaugural event of the National Council for a New America (NCNA). It was planned to be a brilliant statement to make sense out of the losses of 2008, to help launch yet another group aiming to repair the Republican Party.   

The NCNA had a town hall-style meeting with a national panel of experts.  Included was Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Sen. John McCain, Former Governor Bush, Former Gov. Mitt Romney and House Republican Majority Whip Eric Cantor.  The purpose was to begin a conversation with the American people and to explain Republican principles to willing listeners.

Call me cynical, but after decades of Wars on Poverty and Drugs and the “Listening Tours” of Hillary Clinton and Caroline Kennedy, I’m a bit wary of anything that implies that a bunch of elected or formerly elected officials getting together are going to listen to anything but each other. It’s clear the “something” that Gov. Bush said the other side has is a message.  They co-opted the message of tax cuts and fiscal responsibility from the Republicans and even with mounting evidence that the Democrats are not tax cutters or responsible fiscal stewards; elected Republicans can’t seem to get their message straight.

Republicans lost in 2006 and 2008 because they weren’t conservatives.  They were big government Republicans.  And when the public was offered the McCain-Obama choice -- between an inside-the-Beltway establishment Republican and the unknown but slickly-packaged young “changeling” Democrat -- they decided to go with the new guy over the old guy.

So what should Republicans do?

Number one, don’t apologize for being conservatives.  Next, when talking about reaching out to minorities, it is not necessary to change the message. Conservative values work in America and the value of the individual has to replace the group think of the Obama administration. These values work for everyone, no matter what racial or ethnic group you belong to.

Take a look at Florida, a consistent battle ground state. They seem to elect Republican apologist governors who are afraid to say they are conservative.  Former Gov. Bush wants to be a “sort-of” conservative and Governor Crist sees himself as the next senator from Florida -- chasing an open seat next year -- while he supports the wasteful stimulus bill and is praised by President Obama. That public support was countered by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launching a new attack ad focusing on Gov. Crist and his budget crisis in Florida. That’s the kind of loyalty you get when you compromise your values to support the president. What Floridians want, what Americans want, is a consistent message and actions that match it.

Crist may be straight from central casting with a great tan and a silver tongue, but he won’t make it on the national stage unless he embraces the values of average Americans. Which means he needs to be a conservative, not the “green” liberal he seems to be making of himself.

One point former Gov. Bush got right on Saturday was when he said, “We have principles, we have values. They are the values that are shared by the majority of Americans, there’s no question about it. But we have to now take those principles and values and apply them to the challenges that our country faces today and in the future.” But does he really believe what he says? Crist and Bush both want to distance themselves from conservatives in the party and they are embarrassed by what they see as the overly religious wing of the party.

This battle is not going away.  The grassroots of the party know why they lost in 2006 and 2008, but the leadership hasn’t caught up. They tried to be “sort-of” conservative and that’s a failed strategy. In that sense, “listening” to the electorate is the right thing to do. Rounding up a panel of people who like to hear each other talk is not listening.

Tell the National Council for a New America the old America of individual rights, conservative values and a Reagan economy is just fine with you. And urge them to mingle with the folks at the tea parties around the country during the 4 of July weekend and in Washington later this year.  If you want to know what real Americans are thinking, that’s the place to be.