GOP Embarks on Listening Tour

The party of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney is changing it's tactics. The struggling Republican Party is launching a new grassroots "listening tour" to polish the party's image. They will hold town hall meetings around the country and look to produce GOP ideas on issues like education and health care. The GOP rebranding effort is being called the "National Council for a New America". House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and former governors Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney kicked off the first "listening tour" in Virginia over the weekend. If they can keep Sarah Palin somewhere in the vicinity of the Russian border, if Dick Cheney stops his media tour defending torture, and the other Republican right-wing nut jobs can keep a low profile, the GOP can start the process of rebuilding. But there's no shutting up Rush Limbaugh. And the party's previous spokesman, Bobby Jindal, can't seem to shake the comparison to Kenneth the Page, that perpetually cheerful southern bumpkin in the TV series "30 Rock". Now, whenever Jindal talks, it's hard not to laugh. However, I'm all for listening, and the Republican Party seems to be taking it's "listening tour" seriously. Last week Sen. Arlen Specter bolted from the Republican Party, and the Democrats are drooling at the mouth waiting for the next big defection. The GOP knows it's time for a change. But you can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a Republican. I'm all for listening, especially from the party with nothing to say. It's time for the Republican Party to become relevant again. Let the listening begin.