The gift that keeps on giving, aka Barack Obama, has given the Republican Party some ammunition to use as the 2010 mid-term elections draw near. There is a governor’s race in Virginia, one in New Jersey and on a lesser scale – although no less important – is a Congressional seat up for grabs in the 23rd District of New York state.

In Virginia, Bob McDonnell is up against Democrat Creigh Deeds while Chris Christie is battling  incumbent governor Jon Corzine in a tight New Jersey race. Meanwhile, it’s two people – Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party (presumably third-party) candidate Bill Hoffman.

Currently, it appears thast McDonnell has breathing room against Deeds, Christie and Corzine are neck-and-neck while the Owens-Hoffman contest is too close to call. At first glance, it appears that this would be good news for the GOP, right? Not so fast.

While chances are good that McDonnell will unseat Deeds at election time, thing sare tenuous both in New Jersey and in New York’s 23rd District. And by tenuous, I mean in terms of support on the GOP side.

The Christie-Corzine battle is predicated on appearances by President Obama on Corzine’s behalf while Christie continues his statewide tour; on the other hand, the Hoffman-Owens battle bears watching only because of their support base. Notsomuch Owens but Hoffman as he is getting support from a pair of Republican heavyweights – Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

Because Hoffman is an independent and is getting support by the two aforementioned people, that has the makings of possibly making the GOP reevaluate their priorities as they look to reclaim seats within the House and hopefully retake the White House in 2012. Hoffman is a true conservative, whose values obviously resonate with both Pawlenty and Palin. I would suspect that is causing some hand-wringing within the GOP camp.

The fact that both support Hoffman lends credence to the argument that the GOP needs to have a common message for the Party to accomplish anything both in 2010 and 2012; I think we all that the Republicans are about family values, fiscal responsibility and some other virtues. Hoffman, while he espouses what the GOP believes in, also is a constitutionalist, meaning he adheres to what the Constitution states in all of the amendments that are on the document.

That’s where the GOP can gain ground by simply adopting tenets that are within the U.S. Constitution, along with their core values. And this isn’t rocket science, folks. any of you who have looked at or listened to anything that Palin has said know exactly what I am talking about. There’s a reason why she is so popular with the American public. Her ideals tend to resonate with the Amercian public, hence her popularity. And Governor Pawlenty isn’t much different than Palin.

One thing is for certain. The GOP needs to get rid of their splinter groups (moderate Republicans aka RINOs), otherwise, it is a given that Obama will get reelected as will a bunch of incumbent Democrats who are up for reelction in 2010. It is a fact that moderate Republicans more likely than not will “reach across the aisle” when legislation is up for debate and/or a vote within Congress.

And that has gotten us where? Absolutely nowhere, as John McCain is probably a prime example of what happens when you try to “make nice” with the Democrats. Come to think of it, you can probably throw Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (both from Maine) into the mix, as well.

People, the bottom line is this: the Republican Party from the beginning, had a core value base predicated on the U.S. Constitution; over time, they for whatever lost their way. Small wonder as they drank a good deal of the Democratic koolaid; of course, we all know what happens when you drink that bitter liquid: your ideals get compromised, as a result.

The GOP simply needs to reprioritize, have a common message and theme while at the same time remain inclusive – to a degree. The party should adopt what Hoffman has been doing all along. It will benefit them both short- and long-term. And for the better. The meter is running, so they need to take action ASAP.