When Gov. Bob McDonnell took the oath yesterday, he cemented a reversal of political fortunes for Virginia Republicans after eight years of Democratic control and gave the out-of-power national GOP a cause for celebration. McDonnell’s decisive victory, coupled with a win in New Jersey’s governor’s race, buoyed the spirits of national GOP leaders, who hope for further successes in this week’s special election for a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts and in this fall’s congressional elections.

Political parties are not churches. They have platforms, not creeds. They embody sentiments but lack catechisms. Certain proceedings—conventions, for instance—have attained the status of ritual but without sacramental substance or liturgical depth. As often happens when parties suffer major setbacks, Republicans are engaged in soul searching. “What does it mean to be a Republican?“ Republicans ask. The GOP defeat in a special election for a New York congressional seat intensified an argument that began in 2008, as Kathleen Parker noted in a recent Op/Ed column. When insiders nominated a candidate who seemed more comfortable with Democratic dogma, many high-profile Republicans rallied to the Conservative Party’s nominee. The GOP candidate subsequently withdrew and endorsed the Democrat, who won the race narrowly. The circumstances in New York, and elsewhere, prompted purists to propose measures to promote purity.

Although tomorrow may prove a banner day for Republicans, the GOP still confronts long-term challenges. Trends do not look good. Follow us: In 1980, Ronald Reagan won 55 percent of the white vote and won the presidential election decisively. In 2008, John McCain won 55 percent of the white vote and lost decisively. The different outcomes reflect the changing face of the citizenry and of the electorate. Diversity is not a politically correct word or concept but a reality. Demography translates into destiny.

Two Republican county officials in South Carolina are apologizing after they disparaged Jews in a newspaper op-ed in support of a fiscally conservative U.S. senator.

Although he lost the 1964 presidential election in a rout, Barry Goldwater carried South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana—states that never before had gone Republican. After Richard Nixon won the 1968 election, Kevin Philips wrote The Emerging Republican Majority, which predicted that the South would form the basis of a national GOP ascendency. Nixon pursued the so-called Southern Strategy. He divided to conquer.

Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party are apologizing to Jackson Browne for using one of his songs during last year’s presidential campaign.

National Republican leaders have launched a campaign to improve the party’s image. And little wonder why: The party has been taking a beating in the polls. Americans have been running from the GOP like a herd of gazelles catching wind of a lion. Richmond’s public schools have launched a campaign to improve their image as well. And little wonder why: For years, parents of school-age children have been fleeing the system the first chance they get.

Jack Kemp’s death summons the mists. In years seemingly as distant as Avalon’s, the editor of these Editorial Pages dabbled in New York politics as a factotum for Sen. James L. Buckley (brother of the late WFB). After winning election in 1970 on the Conservative line, Buckley caucused with Senate Republicans. Kemp also won his first election in 1970, with the endorsements of the Republican and Conservative parties. Kemp’s district lay in the Buffalo area and included portions of the immortal Cheektowaga. While reconnoitering the region with another Buckley aide, our greenhorn first encountered the Anchor, a bar that lured regulars with spicy chicken wings dunked in blue cheese dressing and served with celery. Sources said they went well with Genesee.

Jack Kemp inhabited a league of his own. As quarterback, he led the Buffalo Bills to championships and one season won recognition as the most valuable player in the American Football League. During the 1970s and 1980s he proved the GOP’s most valuable congressman. Kemp laid the groundwork for Reaganomics. Before Ronald Reagan’s election to the presidency, Kemp began calling for tax cuts to stimulate the economy, to create opportunity, and to promote equality. Delaware Sen. William Roth co-captained the effort, which many others joined, but Kemp served as the movement’s heart and soul. Reagan’s 1976 campaign for the Republican nomination stressed cuts in government spending. The 1980 race stressed taxes. Kemp shares credit for the shift and for Reagan’s success.

Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced the launch today of a new organization, National Council for a New America, to solicit ideas for dealing with problems facing the nation. In a conference call with reporters, McCain described Cantor as “the driving force” behind the organization.

Veteran Republican’s move will push Democrats closer to total control of the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia says the president’s budget plan doesn’t address the needs of small businesses, and one of President Obama’s economic advisers says she is not ruling out taxing health insurance benefits.

The House Republican leader says the automaker has avoided making tough choices in the past 30 years and needs to demonstrate that the money it receives can be paid back.

Nothing would please Democrats more than to establish Rush Limbaugh as the most visible (and audible) source of Republican “energy,“ as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel zestfully asserts. The attention pleases Limbaugh and delights his claque. A Limbaugh rise to the partisan battlements also would have the potential to consign the GOP to minority status for a generation.

The distribution of a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” by a candidate for chairman of the national Republican Party has created an unnecessary distraction as the party rebuilds, Virginia GOP chairman Jeff Frederick said yesterday.