Ben Buchwalter

I have to say, Palin has been doing a pretty good job changing her image in the past couple weeks. Today she headlined the Republican Governors’ Convention, she has sat for multiple interviews on FOX News and CNN, and she is even clearing the record about the false accusations about her on the campaign trail. Yes, she is still saying some crazy things (continuing to raise questions about Obama’s associations) but that trait is inextricably tied to her character. All in all, Palin is improving her image.

This article writes about Palin’s long-term goals and the potential for running in 2012. But it also discusses other future major players in the Republican Party. These include young governors like Bobby Jindal (LA) and Tim Pawlenty (MN). Both of these Governors (and Palin too) could be major threats to the Democratic Mandate that was secured in last week’s election.

Since they are young and relatively new to the national scene, they could really stand for change, not just of the Republican Party, but also of the United States Government. Pawlenty from the article linked above:

“We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the Northeast, we are losing our ability to compete in Great Lakes States, we cannot compete on the West Coast, we are increasingly in danger of competing in the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Democrats are now winning some of the Western States,” he said. “That is not a formula for being a majority governing party in this nation.”

“And similarly we cannot compete, and prevail, as a majority governing party if we have a significant deficit, as we do, with women, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African-American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes and modest financial circumstances,” he said. “Those are not factors that make up a formula for success going forward.”

“There will be calls, and voices across the country for Republicans to return to traditional conservative approaches in almost all respects,” he said, adding that there would also be calls to modernize the party.

“The good news is both are true, and both can be harmonized in my view,” Mr. Pawlenty said. “We can be both conservative and we can be modern at the same time.”

He seems like a guy who has taken a hard look at his Party and has some real solutions to make it competitive again. With guys like Pawlenty at the helm of the GOP, I fear that their soul searching might not take as long as I initially expected.