Good for the GOP

The Republican congressional leadership, including Virginia's Rep. Eric Cantor, has created a forum for finding and promoting principled, pragmatic policies to address America's many challenges. The National Council for a New America will focus on dialogue and solutions. The press release announcing its formation was light on ideology and stressed that it welcomes those who do not call themselves Republicans.

This is the right way to take a stand. It is a welcome development and, not coincidentally, a positive first step in reviving the GOP. The country needs a dynamic loyal opposition, especially when the media offer so little hard scrutiny of the president and the Democratic Congress. One-party states rarely prosper.

"We have a positive platform and it's important to begin a vehicle that will allow us to reach the American people," Cantor told us shortly after the council was announced. "We want to engage in a two-way conversation outside of Washington with the American people."

The House minority whip acknowledged that Republicans have suffered in recent elections in part because the voters didn't always believe the GOP was talking about issues relevant to their lives.

"We've taken our licks in the past couple of election cycles," said Cantor, whose wife, Diana, serves on the board of Media General, The Times-Dispatch's parent company. In recent years, he added, the GOP has sometimes "had trouble relating to independents."

But Cantor believes the party's core principles, including a commitment "to freedom and opportunity, to free markets . . . not only appeal to Republicans, but appeal to a broad swath of America." We agree.

And we're delighted to hear a Republican congressional leader call for "wide-open policy discussions." The council's first townhall forum is tomorrow in Arlington, where Cantor will be joined by Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and other leaders with records of accomplishment based on sound conservative philosophy -- and prudent actions. The revival begins.