.Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich published a letter to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan on his website that denounced a recent video by the RNC which attempts to link president elect Obama to the soon to be impeached Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Gingrich said Republicans need to focus on solutions, not negative attacks.

Here is the RNC video titled Questions Remain:

Gingrich wrote in his letter to Duncan, “The recent web advertisement, “Questions Remain,” is a destructive distraction. Clearly, we should insist that all taped communications regarding the Senate seat should be made public. However, that should be a matter of public policy, not an excuse for political attack. In a time when America is facing real challenges, Republicans should be working to help the incoming President succeed in meeting them, regardless of his Party.

He continued, “From now until the inaugural, Republicans should be offering to help the President-elect prepare to take office. Furthermore, once President Obama takes office, Republicans should be eager to work with him when he is right, and, when he is wrong, offer a better solution, instead of just opposing him. This is the only way the Republican Party will become known as the “better solutions” party, not just an opposition party. And this is the only way Republicans will ever regain the trust of the voters to return to the majority. “

Gingrich also called for the ad to be taken down, “This ad is a terrible signal to be sending about both the goals of the Republican Party in the midst of the nation’s troubled economic times and about whether we have actually learned anything from the defeats of 2006 and 2008. The RNC should pull the ad down immediately.” He is right. The Republican Party has not learned anything from their losses in 2006 and 2008. Instead of using their defeats to reinvent themselves, the Republican leadership is continuing as if they are ignoring the recent landslide loss.

I believe that as long as our political structure is going to exclude viable third parties, in order for the system to work, we must have two strong parties. No matter which party is in control, one party rule is not good for our democracy. The Republican Party could benefit from working with Obama on issues that they agree with him on, but this doesn’t look like the direction that they are going to choose.

Instead it seems that they will be content to play the role of the obstructionist minority, to the determent of the national interest. The recent Republican Senate opposition to the automaker bailout was a fine example of this. Senate Republicans would rather try to maintain their anti-union ideology and bust the UAW, then do what’s best for the economy. With each move the Republican Party is falling further out of step with the rest of America, and the worst part about it is that they don’t seem to care. How many elections will they have to lose before they finally get it?