Mitt Romney did his 2012 prospects no good when he referred to the US as a country of “makers versus takers”. Dismissing the 47 per cent who pay no federal income taxes was neither good politics nor coherent policy. But there are hopeful signs that leading Republicans are starting to rethink the party’s insurrectionary approach. Restoring upward mobility was a big Republican goal in the past. If conservatives such as Mike Lee, the Tea Party senator from Utah, and Paul Ryan, Mr Romney’s running mate, intend to rekindle those ideas, they should be encouraged.
Their first task is to set the right tone. The Republican party must become comfortable with the clash of ideas and a diversity of people. As Mr Lee said last week: “Anger is not an agenda. Successful political movements are about identifying converts, not heretics.” Last month’s government shutdown was spearheaded by Ted Cruz, the incandescent senator from Texas, who has also fuelled witch hunts to oust moderate Republicans. It is important that Mr Lee, and other conservative leaders, win the battle of temperaments. Their common hero, Ronald Reagan, showed conservatism could be sunnily optimistic. It makes no sense for a party to talk about upward mobility with a snarl.
Their second task is to produce fresh ideas. Almost 50m Americans are on food stamps and about the same again have no health insurance. Meanwhile, the middle class continues to suffer from the absence of broad-based growth. Acknowledging these problems is a start. But the party must move beyond its habit of disposing rather than proposing. Instead of repealing Barack Obama’s health reform, Republicans should say what they would replace it with. Rather than pushing for more tax cuts, they should find new ways to reward people who work. Under leaders such as Jack Kemp, Mr Ryan’s mentor, the party used to fizz with ideas. It must do so again.