Hail Mary

The Republican Party has reached the lowest favorability ratings it has ever recorded, worse even than during the Nixon administration and Watergate. With its influence at an all time low and as a civil war between party insiders and grassroots activists brews, there is growing talk that the Republican Party is on the verge of extinction, at least as we know it. The party faces increasingly tough re-elections for its leaders and increasingly unfavorable electoral and demographic...
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The Republican Party has reached the lowest favorability ratings it has ever recorded, worse even than during the Nixon administration and Watergate. With its influence at an all time low and as a civil war between party insiders and grassroots activists brews, there is growing talk that the Republican Party is on the verge of extinction, at least as we know it. The party faces increasingly tough re-elections for its leaders and increasingly unfavorable electoral and demographic realities.

As the party drifts toward the abyss, Republicans have been unable to capitalize on the woes of the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, from scandals involving Fast and Furious and Benghazi to the most tepid economic recovery since the Great Depression, widening income inequality and a shrinking middle class. What is needed is a radical reinvention. What is needed are a few Hail Marys.

With wit and wisdom, veteran GOP strategist Ford O'Connell pulls no punches in a new book, offering a 10-step roadmap for revitalizing the Republican Party. To win over millions of independent and undecided voters, and to offer real and compelling contrast to the outdated social agenda of the Political Left, Ford offers straight talk and timely advice to a political movement in desperate need of a new direction.

In Hail Mary, O'Connell takes aim at both wings of today's GOP, urging that its leaders take drastic action to return to relevance before all-but-certain disasters occur in upcoming elections. Among his sure-to-be-controversial advice:

* "Hug the Gays"; embrace them and make them part of the political base.
* Reform the GOP primary process to make it a little more like the Lincoln Douglass debates and less like a deathmatch version of "Survivor".
* Reach out to nontraditional and Leftist media.
* End the Reagan fetish. Come to terms with the fact that Ronald Reagan and the Reagan coalition are dead and not coming back.

His book is a must-read for GOP operatives and leaders trying to revive the party of Lincoln and Reagan.