Analysis: Is GOP a party of yes, no or maybe so?

[Omaha Steve]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_REPUBLICANS_2012_ANALYSIS?SITE=IADES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

By RON FOURNIER Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Socialist. Secularist. Liar. National security naif. Republican leaders are calling President Barack Obama all that and more as they jockey early for the party's 2012 nomination. But name-calling alone won't beat the Democratic incumbent.

Even a firebrand like Newt Gingrich concedes that the GOP must be more than naysayers to reclaim control of Congress in November and to seize the White House two years later.

"What the left wants to do is say we're the party of 'no,'" Gingrich told the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, a conservative convention that gave several Republican presidential leaders a chance to audition for the 2012 nomination fight. "I think we should decide we're going to be the party of 'yes.'"

"Republicans can say yes to a balanced budget," he said - and yes to more jobs through tax cuts and yes to getting tough on terrorists.

But, it turns out, saying yes is no easy task. The former House speaker and his fellow GOP presidential aspirants struggled at the conference to articulate a winning vision. Theirs is a delicate balance: Offer voters a positive, concrete agenda while defining Obama in a negative light - something conservative voters expect, or even demand, of their candidates.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former lobbyist and strategist who may seek the presidency, said it will take some time for the Republican Party to iron out its two-sided message.

FULL story at link.

[rucky]

1. How do tax cuts create more jobs?

Yes, Newt? Care to explain?

[Cresent City Kid]

2. I'll try

Cut rich guy's taxes, rich guy buys pool, bam! one pool boy job created.