Politics | Mike Duncan RNC Chief: GOP Needs Better Ideas Private memo outlines stark assessment of party's current state By Rob Quinn Posted Dec 20, 2008 7:09 AM CST Copied A McCain-Palin supporter carries a balloon at the California Proposition 8 election night party in Newport Beach, Calif., Nov. 4, 2008, (AP Photo/Mark Avery, file) Republican National Committee chief Mike Duncan laments the sorry state of the GOP in a private memo to committee members obtained by TPM Election Central. The memo, written to explain the creation of the new "Center for Republican Renewal" think-tank, acknowledges that the party has too often put politics before policy and needs to find real solutions to people's problems if it is to stay afloat. "Republicans have grown accustomed to having our party recognized as the 'Party of Ideas,' but we must acknowledge that many Americans today believe the party is stale and does not deserve that label," reads the memo. "We have not used our principles to provide solutions to the kitchen table concerns of middle-class America." Read These Next A banquet hall shooting left 4 dead in Stockton, California. Is $136K the new poverty line? An essay goes viral. One mystery is solved around chilling Holocaust photo. Police say a homeowner in Maryland pulled a gun on Christmas carolers. Report an error