Thunder Pig

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it's time for the Republican Party to give up its "nostalgia" for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the winning strategy deployed by Democrats in the 2008 election.

"You can't beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don't like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that," Mr. Bush said.

The former president's brother, often mentioned as a potential candidate in 2012, said President Obama's message of hope and change during the 2008 campaign clearly resonated with Americans.

"So our ideas need to be forward looking and relevant. I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia and the good old days in the [Republican] messaging. I mean, it's great, but it doesn't draw people toward your cause," Mr. Bush said.

"From the conservative side, it's time for us to listen first, to learn a little bit, to upgrade our message a little bit, to not be nostalgic about the past because, you know, things do ebb and flow."

Mr. Bush was the most forthright of the panel, repeatedly returning to the notion of looking forward, of the need to first and foremost "create a consensus around 21st-century ideas that truly matter for American families."

"We have principles, we have values. They are the values that are shared by the majority of Americans, there's no question about it. But we have to now take those principles and values and apply them to the challenges that our country faces today and in the future. ...

"And then, hopefully - God willing - [we] embrace our conservative principles and take these new ideas and present them to the American people," he said.

The message resonated with many of those who turned out at the Pie-Tanza restaurant, right in the heart of a firmly liberal community.