More Americans consider themselves to be politically independent. As such they identify themselves as neither Republican nor Democrats. I too consider myself to be independent politically.

Because I am independent, I can, in good faith, critique both major political parties. In this article I am taking a close look at the National Republican Party.

The state of Georgia seems to be a state in which Republicans are doing well. At the state and local levels, the Georgia GOP is in good shape.

However, this is not the case when you look at the National Republican Party. According to the polls, that party is not looked upon favorably by most Americans. This explains why President Obama beat John McCain so easily.

One national problem for the Republicans concerns Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee. This man is supposed to unite Republicans in their battles against Democrats.

It seems though that Mr. Steele is suffering from foot-in-mouth disease. On one television show he spent his time criticizing Rush Limbaugh, a favorite of Republicans. He later called Rush and vehemently apologized for his comments.

Now Steele has created another controversy over the abortion issue. In a recent interview Steele referred to abortion as an individual choice. When a lot of Republicans got mad about this, Steele once more spent time apologizing for his statements.

As chairman of the Republican National Committee, you expect Steele to have some leadership ability. This so-called leader comes across as a “wimp.” If this is the best Republicans have to offer, they are in sad shape.

In my last article, I said that Rush Limbaugh is the true leader of the party. However, many vocal Republicans say that he could never do well in even a senatorial race. Their rhetoric suggests that Rush is, in their opinion, politically impotent.

Demographics certainly don’t look good for Republicans on a national level. By 2041 most Americans will be people of color. Since the GOP is primarily a party of white people, it must learn to appeal to non-whites.

Many Republicans are searching for a new Ronald Reagan. They look for someone who has the ability to bring some Democrats and many independents into the party. At present I don’t see anyone like that.

If the Republican Party is not careful, it will become the party of the South. Yes, it will do well in the southern states. But you can’t win a presidential election if you only get the electoral votes of the old Confederacy. Ask John McCain.