Panel Analyzes Election, Future Of GOP

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will likely be a key player in the reinvention of the Republican Party. That was the consensus of a panel of experts at the monthly Louisville Forum Wednesday.The group said last week’s election was in part a referendum on Republican governance. U of L professor and writer Ricky Jones said Republicans have lost sway with voters because of their focus on social, instead of economic issues.“Right now I think we are out of step with a serious shift in ideology in this country and I think it is a good shift and I do not think we are going to go back," he says. "Americans are not going to go back to Republicans; the Republicans need to catch up to America.”The panel agreed that Senator McConnell will be able to use his position as minority leader to refocus the Republican platform.Also speaking were Democratic consultant Danny Briscoe, former McConnell chief of staff Hunter Bates and political writer Al Cross.