The challenge ahead for Republicans

The departure of George W. Bush on Tuesday offers Republicans a chance to begin in earnest rebuilding their national party.

Since the November election, efforts to rethink and retool the GOP have been muddled by Mr. Bush’s continued presence – and by a particularly toxic round of in-fighting.

President Barack Obama made clear in his inauguration speech that he now plans to move the country in a starkly different direction.

Here are the questions Republican leaders have to answer before they can begin to serve as a productive opposition party and chart a return to power.

1. What the hell went wrong? The GOP had almost complete power in Washington DC — and sweeping control of many state capitals. Conservatives — and conservative ideology — defined the era, well beyond the confines of the Oval Office. Still, the country wound up in a ditch. Why?

2. Confront honestly the fact that Americans want low taxes, but they also want big government. Let me say it again: Nearly everybody (including the vast majority of Republicans) wants government to play an enormous role in making their lives better. Call it socialism if you like. Now what are you going to do about it?

3. Wrestle frankly with the reality that life in modern America doesn’t conform to the traditional framework or values that first shaped our society. Half a century after the 1960s, we’re more secular, more diverse in our faiths, and yes more complexly sexual than ever before. Does the Republican movement want to go on holding back that tide? If so, how?

4. Go to the mountain top on race. John McCain – a relative moderate on issues like immigration — still lost by a landslide among every single racial group except whites. It’s time to ask honestly: Why? And can the GOP survive as a national party if that trend continues?

This is painful, difficult stuff. It goes to the very core of post-Goldwater, post-Reagan Republicanism. But the clock is ticking and the 2010 elections are already on the horizon.