I think the liberals are going to try to blame - and they already are - this entire mess on the right and on President [George W.] Bush. I think Republicans dropped the ball on actually articulating why we got into this economic mess, but it's not too late.

Andrea Tantaros

Maybe Republicans should get nukes and the president [Barack Obama] will talk to them.

Andrea Tantaros

nukes republican president

George Washington said, "All I am, I owe to my mother." That's so true. My mom pushed me to get in politics. She pushed me to learn a bunch of languages. She pushed me and inspired me. She is the reason why I'm in politics.

Andrea Tantaros

mom mother reason-why

I would prefer the teacher to focus on teaching and have a security officer worry about keeping the kids safe.

Andrea Tantaros

teaching teacher kids

Republicans also have to start to look at talent recruitment. Eight years ago Barack Obama was a no-name state senator. So I think we need to look outside the Beltway and start to look at a younger, more diverse pool of people and tap them to run for office instead of continuously tapping the same type of self-funder individual that Republicans seem to go after every time.

Andrea Tantaros

eight running thinking

Republicans and conservatives have to figure out that Democrats have plenty of rope to hang themselves on their own. But you have to give voters a reason to vote for you as well.

Andrea Tantaros

rope voters giving

Play small ball. Get back to basics. I would say that you need to be a conservative, but you need to maintain your independent streak.

Andrea Tantaros

independent play needs

Conservatives need to figure out a way to motivate by reason and persuade through emotion. Meaning that when they talk about our issues, it can't come from a selfish place - "Give me a tax cut. Where's my tax cut." We have to get back to that "shining city on the hill."

Andrea Tantaros

selfish cutting cities

I think Republicans forgot how to communicate with the American people.

Andrea Tantaros

republican people thinking

Hollywood's thinking is very typical. And it's just really predictable too. And I think at Hollywood, these box office movies are flopping. I mean, there hasn't been an original thought coming out of Hollywood since the '80s.

Andrea Tantaros

office mean thinking

All these stuff she's done before - the rosary, the deep thoughts, the faux British accent. It's the same thing over and over. She's be so much better if she just retired, and I like Madonna.

Andrea Tantaros

rosary deep-thought done

I'm OK with guns in schools, if it's a security, trained security personnel. But every teacher having a gun, I don't know if I can jump up and down on that one and fully get behind it.

Andrea Tantaros

gun teacher school

I also think the party needs to work on a couple different fronts. There are so many fault lines within the party: conservative vs. moderate, the more fiscally minded Republicans vs. the more socially minded Republicans, the Old Guard - the sort of Newt Gingrich-Karl Rove Republican - vs. the New Guard - the Michael Steele-Sarah Palin sort of emerging sect of the party. And the party has to decide what direction it's going to go in.

Andrea Tantaros

party couple thinking

We focused so much on saying, "Don't vote for them and here's why" and we didn't tell the American people "Vote for us and here's why."

Andrea Tantaros

focused vote people

You also need to show a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to impropriety. That's one of the things, again, that Republicans left on the table as a missed opportunity.

Andrea Tantaros

tolerance zero opportunity

I think a New Guard-type of Republican - Eric Cantor is a rising star in the party.

Andrea Tantaros

party stars thinking

Usually step one in a recovery is admitting that you have a problem. I think that's an important thing for the Republican Party to do.

Andrea Tantaros

recovery party thinking

Medical malpractice - that's a great issue for Republicans and you didn't hear anyone talk about it.

Andrea Tantaros

medical issues republican

We need to tap into new issues. There's a way to resurrect the sound policies of our party, but also to look toward new issues - kitchen-table issues like the rising cost of education. I think that's a winning issue for Republicans.

Andrea Tantaros

party winning thinking

Can I give a little advice to the old man on Capitol Hill? Stop saying teabagger. Ask your younger staffers what it means.

Andrea Tantaros

giving men mean

I hate to say it, but she's trying to copy Miley [Cyrus] and Miley's trying to copy her. The era of Madonna is over.

Andrea Tantaros

eras hate trying