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An Idea in Every PotCan Marco Rubio's ideas—he has 100 of them!—help revive the Republican Party?

By Christopher BeamPosted Friday, May 22, 2009, at 3:04 PM ET

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The most relevant aspect of the book may be not its contents but its method. "It was as much a process as it is a product," Rubio says. By asking for solutions rather than dictating them, "we were able to identify emerging issues before they made it into the newspapers or to the statehouse."

Republicans seem to be getting the point. Cantor's group is intended to solicit new ideas.

But the question is whether "new ideas" are what the party lacks or whether the problem is deeper. It could be the country's shifting demographics—growing numbers of young people and Hispanics tend to support government solutions. Or maybe it's just a matter of waiting for Obama to screw up.

The analytical frame of the moment describes a split between big-tent Republicans who would compromise and reach out to independents—particularly on social issues—and GOPers who would double down on conservative fundamentals. Rubio rejects that dichotomy. "I don't think that's how the debate is shaping up," he says. "I think it's between leadership and popularity. Between people who want principles, and people who think we should have focus groups and polls and make our policy based on that."

It makes sense that Rubio would reject the big tent/small tent split, since it's not clear which side he'd fall on. Yes, he's more conservative than Charlie Crist. He's pro-life, anti-stimulus, and anti-gay marriage. But he favors reaching out to independents as much as anyone. And as a Hispanic, he represents the GOP's best hope to avoid losing an entire demographic the way it lost African-Americans.

In other words, the Crist-Rubio matchup is not a perfect test for whether the Republican Party should moderate. The lines are not clearly drawn. Sure, one is center-right and one is conservative. But the conservative belongs to a largely moderate/liberal demographic and has carved out a niche for himself as the ideas guy—two qualities that soil an otherwise pure litmus test.

Some say Rubio will hurt Republicans by bruising Crist. (Crist is still far ahead in the polls and won the coveted endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.) But that's in the short term. In the long run, the GOP needs Rubio, both as a charismatic young conservative and as one of the party's rising Hispanics. Putting his face out there will pay dividends in the future, even if it damages Crist now. Republicans might even hear a new idea or two.

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Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter. Follow him on Twitter.

Photograph of Marco Rubio by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

COMMENTS

Back in '64, shortly after I graduated from college, Barry Goldwater and his conservatism took over the Republican Party. But, even though I came from generations of Republicans, it was a little more than I could swallow. After Goldwater was soundly thrashed, his ideas stayed fairly underground until Ronald Reagan took the helm. But having been a former Democrat, he moderated a lot of the more radical viewpoints, and we were not subjected to them until Gingrich and his ilk took our party down the dumpster again. Rubio is staking out the same ground. But there's not much standing room for those positions in 21st century America. Sadly, it's reached the point where the vocal proponents for the Republican Party are the likes of Limbaugh and Cheney, who have the audacity to proclaim themselves the anointed determiners of who may or may not be a Republican. It seems likely that our party is going the way of GM and Chrysler unless we can wrest it out of the radical hands and give it back to the people who made it the proud Party of Lincoln. Yes, this Floridian is supporting Charles Crist.

-- scout2241
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