Don't Expect GOP to Change

Now that Mitt Romney's out of the game, we're hearing a lot of Republicans say it's time for the party to change its ways. But Alex Pareene, writing for Salon, says we should be wary of that old trick. He points to a recent Politico interview with Bobby Jindal, in which the Louisiana governor says, "We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything." That's all well and good, says Pareene, but if you look closely at the interview, Jindal is "pursuing the same agenda as he was before the election."

Jindal doesn't want policies on social issues like gay rights and abortion to change, he just wants his party to sound smarter while talking about them. Pareene says it's been a quarter-century since the GOP has embraced significant policy change, so for now, we should expect more of the same—just under a different name, much like the rise of "compassionate conservatism" after Republicans failed to oust Bill Clinton in 1996. Read Pareene's full piece. (More Alex Pareene stories.)