Advice to GOP Zombies: Show Empathy??

Disillusionment with the Republican Party is profound, as Eleanor Clift of Newsweek wrote last week.  Retiring GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia recently advised party leaders that the Republican brand was so damaged by war, corruption and incompetence, if it were a dog food it would be taken off the shelves. Even the GOP's talking points queen Karen Hanretty acknowledged on Thursday it's such a difficult year that "there are no safe Republican seats in this election."

And I can't say I have ever agreed with Robert Novak before, but you have got to give him his due on this one.  In his column on June 26th about Republican defections to Obama, Novak cited this quote from Larry Hunter, a Jack Kemp ghostwriter and former chief economist for the (conservative)  U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of 'Weekend With Bernie,' handcuffed to a corpse.

On the very same day, the  Associated Press reported an internal report provided to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) details how badly the GOP brand has been damaged.  While not referring to Republicans as the undead, the report did declare that voters are exasperated with the economy, the Iraq war and President Bush and that Republicans need to steer clear of traditional national GOP arguments in their campaigns (How's that for a vote of confidence, John McCain?)

The NRCC commissioned the report to figure out why the GOP unexpectedly lost in special (heavily red) Congressional elections in Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi early this year.  The review found that the losing Republicans failed to successfully establish “themselves and their local brand in contrast to the negative perception of the national GOP. Traditional Republican messages essentially did not work in these campaigns,” the analysis says. The GOP must “encourage Republican candidates to establish themselves in a personal manner emphasizing local issues whenever possible,” the report said.

And then astonishingly, the report concluded by urging all Republican candidates this election to "show deep empathy with the voters."

So, let me get this correct; for the Republicans to avoid further losses this election season, they have to unchain their hearts, get in touch with their softer sides and try to understand the needs of the people?  Do the Republicans not recognize that if their consultants have to tell them to be empathetic with the citizens they hope to represent there's already a fundamental problem?  They must be zombies, indeed.