The party needs to stop thinking it can never win

Commentary Philadelphia Republicans
The party needs to stop thinking it can never win
By Kevin Kelly
My high school football coach would always tell us, "Gentlemen, losing is a habit." With those sage words in mind, look at the inability of the Philadelphia Republican Party to win a mayoral election over the last half-century and you'll quickly realize that we are, indeed, in the habit of losing.
The last time we were able to hang the banner of victory was in 1947, when Bernard Samuel defeated Democrat Richardson Dilworth, 413,091 votes to 321,469. Since then, city Republicans have been on a losing streak that makes our beloved Eagles look like the New York Yankees (sorry about mixing sports leagues in my metaphor).
Excuses abound: Democratic registration outnumbers Republican 4 to 1; Philly is a union town and always will be; a Republican mayoral candidate could never get the black vote. But here's one I've never heard: We can't win because the Democratic leadership in our city is just too good, too outstanding, too competent.
Until someone convinces me that our city, the birthplace of the greatest nation in history, is being governed in a fashion that would please our Founding Fathers, I refuse to believe that a change in leadership is impossible.
I always liken Philadelphia voters to frogs. If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, he'll leap right out. But if you put a frog in a pot of cool water and slowly turn up the heat, he'll stay there until he boils to death. Philly voters have been slowly boiling in a tub of systemic corruption, patronage, pay-to-play, cronyism, fiscal mismanagement, intolerably high crime, poorly performing schools, and business-killing taxes. Grab a voter from somewhere else and plop him into today's political cauldron. He'd scream bloody murder and jump right out. Not us. We let our political class keep us on slow burn.
On the heels of one of the city's biggest corruption scandals, what name springs to mind as the voice of the loyal opposition?
Who within the GOP is always there with an alternative vision, a better way of doing business?
Who is constantly on watch, pointing out unethical behavior that damages the public good?
When indictments are handed down or when the mayor's brother gets another city contract, what Republican does Channel 6 push a microphone in front of for a retort?
The answer to all of the above is - drum roll, please - I have no idea either! For as long as I can remember, our party has utterly failed to engage Democrats over ideas that would make Philadelphia a first-class city again.
This failure to create an alternative vision - on taxes, budgeting, schools, crime, quality of life, arts funding, social programs, and even something as simple as timing the lights to alleviate traffic jams, for goodness sake - is why every four years we look like Gerry Cooney squaring off against the young Mike Tyson. At the very least, we should learn from our losses and define how we are different from the Democrats, constantly reminding Philadelphians that there is a real and tangible substitute for the political machine that stands for high taxes, low standards, and dubious ethics.
Instead, we continue business as usual. We run a candidate, he gets shellacked and vanishes. Three and a half years later we scramble for a candidate as if we didn't realize there'd be another election.
How about a vision?
A farm team that cultivates prospective leaders?
A deep bench that we can go to when, say, a City Council seat is vacated due to a corruption conviction or when someone leaves for a stab at higher office?
Just as chance favors the prepared mind, it also favors the prepared political party. Quite simply, we have been consistently and woefully unprepared.
I realize there are many good people on both sides of an issue. There are not, however, necessarily good ideas on both sides of an issue. If the city's Republican Party hopes to rise from the ashes of mediocrity, it better get into the business of providing the best ideas on each and every topic, and then finding a vehicle for delivering those ideas. Only a real and substantial shift in our strategy and message will produce meaningful results. It will not be an easy change to make, but hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down. Our party has been lying down for far too long, and many Republicans are tired of it. They want to see a game plan with clear, measurable and achievable objectives. They want to be valued and contributing members of that plan. They want a party that is a force for change in the city we all love, a city that is hungry for and deserving of truly outstanding leadership. Please don't tell me that game plan is the status quo.
Talking Politics
Kevin Kelly will discuss city politics on
"The Michael Smerconish Morning Show" live today at 6:30 a.m. on WPHT-AM (1210). A podcast of the interview will be available later at www.thebigtalker1210.com.
Kevin Kelly (grace522@comcast.net) is chairman of the Philadelphia Federation of Young Republicans, but the views expressed are his, not the organization's.