Unless the entire science of polling as we know it is completely wrong, it seems pretty clear as of this writing that the Democratic Party is going to win and win big. Let’s not mince words about this, either. The Republican Party deserves to lose and lose big. The past 8 years of the Bush Administration, six of which featured Republican control of Congress, have been disastrous. Government spending has ballooned, the national debt is staggeringly high, we’re fighting two wars–one of which we shouldn’t be–and the Executive branch has increasingly unfettered itself from Constitutional restraint.

Still, history has shown that one-party governance isn’t the ideal setup, so it’s in everyone’s best interest that the Republican Party rebuild itself–and quickly. It’s not going to be an easy task. The conservative movement is already devolving into a bunch of second-guessing, faction fighting, and threatened purges. (There are, of course, some refreshing exceptions, such as the excellent conservative webzine Culture11, particularly their group blog Confabulum, which is well worth your time to read. Other good, reasonable conservative reads include Outside the Beltway–where I regularly blog–Ross Douthat’s blog, and Daniel Larison’s blog.)

Still, if the conservative movement wants to recover itself quickly and start winning some meaningful elections again–not to mention putting some well-needed debate back into American politics–there’s a few things that it needs to do. Here’s three of them:

1. Stop Whining About Media Bias

Do you know what most Americans hate? It’s sports fans who claim that their team would have won “if the refs hadn’t screwed up.” It’s the video game player who loses and exclaims, “my controller doesn’t work!” Americans, in short, don’t like whiners. And that’s exactly what the constant Republican litany against the “media elites” sounds like. Whining. It especially sounds that way because Americans aren’t stupid. When Fox News is the highest rated cable news network, conservatives dominate talk radio, conservatives have a dominant place on every editorial page in the country and anyone with an internet connection can read the Drudge Report, Instapundit, and National Review, it’s really, really hard to buy claims of bias or that the “conservative side of the story” isn’t being told.

Even if there is something to the charge of liberal bias in the media, conservatives should embrace it. Nothing builds character like a challenge, right? If the media is going to be harder on conservatives, then conservatives should demand that the Republican Party run better candidates. Candidates who are articulate, intelligent and (horrors!) well-educated. Candidates who’ve stuck with their first wife. If the media is going to be biased, then Republicans should, to paraphrase Orson Scott Card, “be so good they can’t be ignored.” Bad apples should be eased out of the party and replaced with more appealing candidates.

2. Embrace Dealmaking Over Obstructionism

Let’s give credit where credit is due. Republicans are really, really, really good at being the minority party. They can block legislation with the best of them and use all of the intricacies of parliamentary procedure much more successfully than Democrats. History has shown that time and time again. Here’s the problem: this is exactly the wrong time for that. The thumping that the GOP is getting at the polls is emblematic of a desire for change — and there’s a real danger that the obstuctionism of old could lead to a backlash against the GOP and further losses down the road (see e.g. Tory Party, 1997 - 2007).

So instead of the old game of obstructionism, Republicans should take advantage of the fact that Democrats will likely not have a filibuster-proof majority and use that to make deals to advance their own agenda in line with President Obama’s. The Democrats want to expand S-CHIP? Okay, but make it in conjunction with more federal money for voucher programs. President Obama wants a cap-and-trade program? Not without making it easier to build nuclear plants. By aligning the Democrats objectives with similarly-themed conservative programs, the GOP might actually be able to get some of their positive agenda out there instead of just constantly being in the position of blocking legislation.

3. Ditch the Identity Politics

Compare and contrast:

Sarah Palin:

“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”

Barack Obama:

“The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America–they have served the United States of America.”

The contrast between these two pieces of rhetoric is one of the main reasons why Republicans are losing this election cycle. If the GOP desires to remain a national party rather than a regional one, then it needs to lose the divisive rhetoric. It needs to lose the attacks on “elitism” and “San Francisco values” and embrace the nation as a whole. It needs to make common sense, practical arguments for conservatism rather than snide attacks about “anti-American” liberals. It nees to lose its nasty rhetoric and its trite attempts at a “one of us” folkishness. Otherwise, the Republican Party is going to see more and more people jump ship and keep losing elections.

Conclusion

In the face of the complete control of the government by Democrats, it’s essential that the Republican Party get their act together and regain their voice for limited government and skepticism. But that isn’t going to happen so long as Republicans whine about the media, sneer at anyone from the coasts, and substitute obstruction for legislating. The Republican Party needs to construct a positive, realistic agenda that can be achieved while they’re in the minority, and they need to work with Democrats to get that done. If they’re able to do that, then the two-party system in this country might be salvaged. If not, well, I’m not sure what the future of American politics holds.