Former Republican candidate for governor of Maryland, Brian Murphy writes in today’s Baltimore Sun on the state of Maryland’s GOP. I tend to agree. There is nothing to be gained from trying to be more like the Democrat party. We need to stop conceding ground and start giving people a real choice in Maryland and educating them on why our principles are better than the other side’s.

The principles of our party are the very principles upon which our nation was built. They represent the best of our shared heritage. I will neither run from them nor apologize for them. I firmly believe that the majority of Marylanders, and the majority of Americans, espouse the core principles of the Republican Party. We must take pride in our ideas, show leadership and stop running from who we are. Its time we speak in bold terms.

via The Maryland GOP can win – baltimoresun.com.

The six principles according to Murphy:

1. Honor and transparency
2. Support for the citizen
3. Respect for family
4. Respect for human life
5. Respect for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
6. Rule of law

In the long run, a moderate Republican squish is no better than a Democrat because the debate will never focus on the real issues that plague our state and our country. Republicans need to start choosing the ground upon which we fight even if it means losing a few initial battles. We need to stop surrendering based on the presumption that conservatives are “unelectable” and start fighting to make them electable.