This is an excerpt from Peggy Noonan’s most recent column for The Wall Street Journal. Noonan, by all means a conservative commentator (albeit one with a proven reputation for criticizing the GOP from time to time), appears to be fed up with the image of the Republican Party and its most recognizable leaders in Congress — John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and the like. Weaving in her endlessly soothing prose, she hasn’t been afraid to call out the Republicans in office for their collective lack of creativity, uninspiring rhetoric, and stubborn reluctance to reach the American electorate with not only new, refreshing policy prescriptions, but broader messages as well.

 

But, unlike those squarely in her cross-hairs, Noonan has undoubtedly reached me with her aversion to hyper-partisan politics and commitment to suggesting lasting repairs for those flaws that afflict the modern GOP, not to mention her uncanny writing skills. The same old “trust us, we know what we’re doing” excuses don’t resonate anymore with Noonan. And, the same goes with me. 

 

“Minority parties can’t act like this, in such a slobby, un-unified way,” she writes. 

 

How do Republicans expect to effectively counter President Obama’s vision for this country, however flawed it may be, when they can’t even agree on the proper course of action amongst themselves? There are few unifying themes at play here, as Noonan routinely points out. And, they really aren’t much of anything. Yes, lower taxes. Lower taxes. Lower taxes. Lower taxes. But, shouldn’t there be more for the American people to grasp?

 

What does the Republican Party stand for overall, in a nutshell?  The dysfunction points to lacking leadership. Nonexistent transcendence within a political party. Not only a limited supply of unifying factors, but a unifying presence in general. 

 

Let’s not dismiss Peggy Noonan’s critiques of her beloved party. We need that unifying presence — a transcendent leader capable of rounding up the clamoring voices and steering them into the light. Hopefully, for the stability of the Republican Party moving forward, one such presence waits patiently for that pivotal moment in the national spotlight, biding time until it’s finally time to act. Marco Rubio. Paul Ryan. Chris Christie. Bobby Jindal. Eric Cantor. If not them, then surely somebody else worthy of ascending to the forefront of America’s psyche. Someone must take the reins, rally the masses, and lead.

 

That time is now. The GOP must be reinvented from the top, before it’s far too late to do anything about it.