BE CAREFUL not to mistake them for Democrats. It'd be an easy mistake to make. The speeches and interviews from the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia have sounded more like the words of progressive politicians than the conservative core of the Grand Old Party.
The changes the Republicans have undergone are refreshing -- it's nice to see something from the GOP besides pleas for increased military spending and whining about the moral decay of the American family. But those changes also indicate that the Republicans have given up, at least for now, on the way they've been playing the game. Now, they're taking cues from Democrats about how to appeal to the American people.
This conscious effort to give the Republican Party a makeover has been going on throughout the campaign season. Gov. George W. Bush has been pitching his "compassionate conservative" image for months. Republicans finally realized that the face of a stonefaced Christian conservative yelling angrily at the top of his lungs about the corruption of family values isn't the most appealing image for voters.
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The Republican platform still retains many of the proposals Republicans have always favored. They've just learned to focus public attention on things that create a positive image instead of on things that make them come across as inflexible, heartless representatives of society's elite upper crust.
A few years ago, Republicans proposed getting rid of the Department of Education. That wasn't because they didn't care about education, but rather because they thought education should be a state and local issue, that bureaucrats in Washington aren't the best people to tell a schoolteacher or principal how to do his or her job. Their priorities for national politics centered on tax policy and defense.
Now, not only are Republicans comfortable talking about education policy at the federal level, education is the centerpiece of the convention, themed "Leave no child behind." George W. Bush addressed the delegates Monday night via satellite from a high school classroom in Ohio, surrounded by students. Seven of the 10 opening night primetime speakers focused on education issues. A presentation by the leaders of a Texas charter school even assembled a mock classroom on stage.
Moral conservatism used to be the centerpiece of the Republican agenda. Christian conservatives used to monopolize the attention the party received from the media and voters. But talk of family values, morality, and religious faith have been replaced by attention to education, health care, Social Security, the environment and minority and women's issues.
This conversion of the Republican party image has involved a facelift too. More than ever before, the GOP is shoving minority and women members into the spotlight as proof that it isn't a party of only rich, old, white men. A majority of the primetime convention speakers were women or members of minorities.
On Tuesday, the party showed signs of its old self as the convention moved to a traditionally Republican area -- the theme was "Strength and security with a purpose: Safe in our homes and in the world." But even then, Republicans heard from speakers who addressed aspects of security that don't usually draw Republican attention. While a few speeches focused on the military, many touched on subjects like the environment, AIDS and HIV, and community safety.
The substance of the Republican agenda isn't changing as much as the public presentation of that agenda. The party platform still includes support for tax cuts, increased military spending and recognition of English as America's official language. It still denies a woman's right to choose to have an abortion and still opposes stronger gun control laws.
But the issues Republicans have chosen to highlight have changed dramatically. An outline of the Republican convention looks like that of a Democratic event -- it consists mainly of women and minorities talking about relatively liberal social policies.
The last a Republican convention produced a winning presidential candidate, it was George Bush the Elder. The rallying cry then was "Read my lips: No new taxes." That slogan has changed for his son's convention to "Leave no child behind."
This is more than a shift in the GOP from ultra-conservative to conservative. It suggests movement even further -- to the middle, even to left of center on some social issues. In many cases, they're treading on ground that historically has been solidly liberal.
How moderate Republicans will turn out to be after the elections is uncertain. But they've at least figured out that the way to win a presidential election is to come across as compassionate and progressive.
(Bryan Maxwell is the Cavalier Daily Opinion editor.)
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