Republicans, did you get our message?

Tuesday's elections gave the Republican Party a much-needed shot in the arm, though not as much through its own doing as I am sure it would like to claim. The real test will be whether it has learned anything.

When it last held the legislative majority, the GOP was foolish enough to put two controversial issues on the ballot at the same time: an anti-gay marriage amendment and voter identification. Predictably, that brought out every social liberal in the state to vote against both.

While I hope this state will never again attempt to eliminate gay marriage (or women's reproductive choice, which is another target of the Minnesota Republican Party), I stand solidly behind the need for voter ID.

Those positions — and several others — put me solidly in the middle of the road: I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative. There are a lot of us out here.

When the Minnesota GOP went so far right, it lost independents like me. I, and many others like me, do not believe those social issues belong in politics or in the public debate; they are personal and individual rights, not questions to be decided by lawmakers or elections. To be blunt, those topics are no one else's business. And here is the lesson for the Republican Party: If it continues to insist on having these private issues a part of its platform, it will continue to lose independents like me.

In this week's election, it was obvious that the economy is the No. 1 issue. No one who won Tuesday did so by flaunting their far-right beliefs — quite the contrary.

So let's get back to politics and running the country. Republicans, we independents will be watching you. And voting.