Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn on whether and why the Republican party has drifted from its most basic tenets of governance, compassion and how to combine the two:

Compassionate conservatism’s next step – its implicit claim that charity or compassion translates into a particular style of activist government involving massive spending increases and entitlement expansion – was its undoing. Common sense and the Scriptures show that true giving and compassion require sacrifice by the giver. This is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, not his neighbor’s possessions. Spending other people’s money is not compassionate.

With a nice simple note on effective branding strategy thrown in:

Regaining our brand is not about “messaging.” It’s about action. It’s about courage. It’s about priorities.

Full piece in the WSJ …