Giddy from the mess called Obamacare, the Republican Party is looking for more ways to bolster the party image and grab back the White House.
One idea: Pick Detroit as the host city for the 2016 Republican Convention.
Yes, that’s right, what was good for Reagan in 1980 is good for the party of today, or so some think.
Republican Strategist Mike Murphy writes in Time magazine:
Ronald Reagan launched his campaign to make America great again in Detroit in 1980. Let's go back to the Motor City and hold our 2016 national nomination convention in Detroit.
Certainly the party of Reagan was far different than the one of today. Today, for all we know, Reagan would have been considered a moderate Republican. That’s how much things have changed.
Whatever the case, Murphy suggests the Republicans revert to the same old tired rhetoric of the past.
He writes in Time:
What didn't work in Detroit was decades of big Democratic government fueled by public-employee unions. What is working now is a comeback in the central city fueled by young entrepreneurs and free enterprise. Detroit is going to be a comeback story, and it will be done on GOP principles. What better place to show the country that we offer a way forward with room for everyone?
Murphy should be prepared for a pushback if he insists on blaming the same old bogeymen: Unions and big Democratic programs. That will be harder to pull off now, thanks to some good journalism.
Ever since the city faced the prospect of bankruptcy, there have been some rather thoughtful articles that have analyzed the decline of Detroit, including one by Deadline Detroit's Bill McGraw. The articles point to an exodus over the many decades of industry, jobs and people.
Murphy also talks about good old GOP principles contributing to greatness. He makes it sounds like the GOP is willing to take credit for anything good in Detroit.
But let's face it. Things weren’t great in Detroit under 12 years of Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and suddenly terrible under Clinton. Or for that matter, just great under George W. Bush and suddenly abysmal under Obama. The decline has crossed party lines.
Just how the Republicans --as Murphy suggests -- can take credit for the “young entrepreneurs and free enterprise” in Detroit is beyond me.
If the Republicans really care about Detroit, and want to hold the convention here, they’ll need come to town with a lot more than smoke and mirrors and a few poisonous words about unions and Democratic programs.
They'll need to come up with solutions to help the working class, underemployed and unemployed, and not just the young entrepreneurs.
