A GOP Problem: "personal freedom" vs. "legislating morality"

As Minnesota's long-winding senatorial race wraps up today, and Democrats look to have the official "filibuster-proof majority" early next week, its worthwhile to take a step back and look at where the GOP is now and what future election contests will look like.

I won't begin to regurgitate the the myriad theories about The Problem with the GOP, or one of my personal favorites, the There Is No Problem with the GOP theory. The GOP is out. How will it try to get back in?

I DON'T believe that the Democrats are in power because the country has suddenly become more liberal. I don't have faith that Republicans and Independents have shifted because suddenly they see the Progressive light.

Many of them, I'm convinced, voted Dem because that was the only other thing to vote. They voted against Bush. Now that Bush is gone, what's to stop them from voting against Obama?

Democrats could answer that question in a way that I think could be devastating to the Republican brand. Its an angle they really haven't tried yet:

How can the Republican party stand for personal freedom (Independent/Libertarian) while trying to legislate people's morality (Christian Conservative)?

In his column last week, MSNBC's Chuck Todd summarized the problem exactly:

...From the legislating of morality (Schiavo as the prime example), to the various conservative-led state bans on gay marriage, the Republicans did very little to expand personal freedoms and if anything looked like the party trying to take freedoms away.

Sure, on certain issues, like guns, the GOP stood by their personal freedom mantras, but there are few other examples.

If Dems hope to solidify their majority generationally as Regan's GOP did in 1980-1984, they cannot rest on their laurels and satisfy themselves with their new "Party of No" slogan. They need to exploit this rift and align the Democratic party with personal freedoms.

The country is at a moment of redefinition, willing to entertain the idea that government has a real, useful role (healthcare, financial regulation), and willing to admit that Christian Coalition values are out of the mainstream. If the Democratic party doesn't stand for something bigger than tired partisan arguments at this critical moment, this hold on power will be fleeting indeed.