The Republican party might have lost the 2012 election battle, but Rep. Paul Ryan thinks it can still win the war. And, more importantly, that war needs to be fought.
“Our country is worth the fight,” he said on Saturday.
The Wisconsin Congressman spoke at the National Review Institute Summit in Washington, touting the power of the conservatives position and the strategy required to defeat Democrats in the future. Ryan argued that conservatives need to make their message more clear.
“The way I see it, our defeat is all the more reason to lay out our vision with even more specifics,” he said.
He added that it was important to focus not only on mitigating bad policy but also on promoting an alternative — especially in light of the 2012 losses.
“We have to show that if given the chance, we can govern, that we have better ideas,” the Congressman said.
The former GOP Vice Presidential candidate said that Republicans could only argue against President Obama’s big government theories during his first term, but could argue against real results — or lack thereof — in the second term. Ryan said the POTUS wants to perpetuate progressive policies for at least another generation and delegitimatize the Republican party. Conservatives can’t back down from the debate, however.
“Sometimes we will have to reject the President’s proposals,” he said, and chuckled before adding, “That time might come more than once.”
Ryan also stressed the need for fiscal prudence, a budget and spending cuts. He called for a balanced budget and said that Democrats continually harm the country with their spending practices, despite their past failures.
“We can’t leave the Democrats to their own devices, because they seem to have a pretty short memory,” he joked.
