GREAT! – AT 7:32 A.M. ET:  Just as the Dems seem to be embroiled in civil war, testing whether that party, or any party so conceived and so dedicated can long endure, the GOP is coming alive with, finally, a coherent plan for governing.  From ABC News:

House Republican leaders are beginning the process of crafting a 2010 version of the "Contract with America " that proved so successful for the party in the 1990s. GOP leaders hope that the election-year agenda will help the party shed the "party of no" moniker that Democrats have sought to pin on them during President Obama's administration. They kick off the effort at a Tuesday press conference in Washington, D.C.

"There are a number of seats that you get just by being 'no,'" Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican spearheading the effort, told ABC News. "But you don't get a majority by just being 'no.' You've got to say what you're for."

Absolutely correct.  Applause and whistles.

The GOP's effort to craft an election-year agenda, which has been dubbed "America Speaking Out," was inspired by the way in which former House Speaker Newt Gingrich , R-Georgia, used a 10-point "Contract with America" to fuel the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress . Although polls indicated that the 1994 vote was motivated more by animus towards President Clinton than by familiarity with the Contract's provisions, Republican leaders found the document to be a useful governing tool as they led the first GOP House majority in 40 years.

There will be voter input as well, another good idea.

COMMENT:  It's critical that whatever emerges place proper emphasis on foreign policy.  Americans often don't list that as high on their priorities, but it's one of those silent issues that can wreck a party if handled poorly.  Americans expect the country to be properly defended, and the Dem policy of weakness and indifference is political fodder.

May 26, 2010