When it comes to social issues, Republicans don't just need to be more empathetic. They ALSO need to be more emphatic in EXPLAINING to VOTERS what they believe, and why.

I am a LIBERAL and ALWAYS have been - just not the wild-eyed CHARACTER the REPUBLICANS MADE me out to be.

Too many PEOPLE try to PLEASE their PARENTS. My parents were Republicans, which is too bad, but they allowed me to be who I wanted to be.

The harshness and choice of words can cut DEEPLY. Republicans NEED to SHOW compassion and to be reasonable when talking to any ETHNIC group.

I think, as Republicans, we NEED to STICK by what we believe in. And that is fiscal conservatism and INDIVIDUAL freedom.

Electing Democrats MEANS nothing happens. Elect REPUBLICANS, and at least there's a chance.

I STILL believe a MAJORITY of REPUBLICANS are for income tax cuts.

I have often SAID one of the reasons more blacks don't SUPPORT Republicans is because they don't TRUST the GOP establishment.

Many tax EXPERTS SAY a key element to any fundamental overhaul is GETTING rid of certain deductions for businesses - the 'special-interest giveaways that are masked as tax breaks,' as HOUSE Republicans describe many of them in their own proposal.

I made the argument that every GROWING demographic in this country - nonwhite VOTERS, younger PEOPLE - is trending Democratic. It's a ticking time bomb for the GOP. That's why I felt safe in saying that 'Republicans have no hope of making serious inroads into Democratic advantages in 2010 or LIKELY 2012 or 2014 and so on.'

There are many REPUBLICANS who HARDLY EVEN KNOW a DEMOCRAT. And there are just as many, if not more, Democrats who don't know a Republican.

Honestly, I ENJOY nothing more than two REPUBLICANS GOING after each other.

In 2008, Barack Obama did get Democrats hyperventilating, WHIPPED up to a creamy froth, while John McCain creaked ahead like a cranky granddad whom REPUBLICANS let MOVE to the FRONT of the buffet line, deferring to seniority, as they had in 1996, when Bob Dole turtled to the TOP of the ticket.