Is the GOP post-election conversion a farce?

The stampede of Republican politicians running to the left these days is certainly a comical sight for liberals. The changing positions stated by GOP senators, representatives, party officials and even talk-radio blowhards demonstrate a certain shamelessness.

But I wonder if all of this flip-flopping and attitude adjusting simply makes the whole business of politics look especially sleazy at a time when voters have virtually no respect for government, particularly Congress.

So much of the coverage of this transformation carries the tone of creating a new message, a fresh brand, overhauling the GOP image so that it appeals to independents and Hispanics and single women. This is not a conversion, it’s a marketing makeover.

Some Republicans offering post-election advice sound as if everything Mitt Romney – and George Bush before him – said on the stump was just reading from a script. No principles, just talking points that can undergo a rewrite.

“It’s called the new reality,” former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele said in an interview with media critic Howard Kurtz. “We can no longer afford to marginalize ourselves as a party.” The GOP has gone “off the rails,” he added. “We are becoming increasingly irrelevant to the political conversation.”

Up until Nov. 6, opposition to raising tax rates was a bulwark of the GOP model. Now, it’s optional and the high priest of no-new-taxes, Grover Norquist, is called the emperor with no clothes. Democrats (who are just as shallow and publicity conscious) delight as Republican after Republican backs out of Norquist’s no-tax pledge.

Abortion has routinely held a place near the top of the GOP agenda. In 2004, Bush campaigned for a constitutional amendment banning abortion in all 50 states. In the 2012 campaign, many Republican candidates toned down the rhetoric. And now? The plan is to turn off the volume.

“Leave the issue alone” was the advice that pro-life Sen. John McCain gave a few days ago. “… If someone disagrees with me, I respect your views.”

Contraception? That’s a word that will never come out of Republican mouths again. Defense cuts? Sounds reasonable. Immigration? Let’s pretend we never said any of those nasty things about Mexicans.

The issue of immigration reform is one that particularly raises questions about this GOP farce. Prior to Nov. 6, the plan was to embrace the right wing of the party by calling for mass deportation of illegal immigrants. McCain, who once favored reforms then later said, “just build the dang fence,” now says it’s time to find a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

Those Republicans who found nothing odd when Romney issued his call for “self-deportation” are now scurrying in the other direction. Radio talker Sean Hannity, who has spent years savaging Democrats who would allow any “illegals” to stay here, waited less than 24 hours after Romney’s concession speech to say that his position on immigration reform has evolved. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer went so far as to use the word “amnesty.”

In a piece Kurtz wrote for The Daily Beast about the GOP moderation, he turned to an insider to explain the process.

“Professional politicians at this level are no different from professional athletes at the elite level --professional actors, singers, or artists,” said veteran GOP strategist and Daily Beast contributor Rich Galen. “They looked at what happened on Nov. 6 and recognized that they have to change their position: change their batting stance, take more-commercial roles, sing songs with better melodies, and paint pictures that people want to buy.”

Kurtz asks: “So is this a repositioning, a rebranding, or a revolution?”

No. It’s all about winning.