In article <
XnsA122C2CFF7C39We...@88.198.244.100>, Gray
A Year without Rightards would mean that liberals would establish a
communist governement. We are already headed in that direction. America is
slowly but surely becoming an entitlement society. What happens when
America becomes a total establishment society? America will go belly
up--because they will totally run out of money.
http://www.conservativeredpolitics.com/2012/11/why-gop-lost.html
Before looking at how the GOP can win again, I think we need to really
assess why we lost in the first place. My colleague Josh wrote an
excellent piece on the path forward for the GOP just the other day. I also
have some perspectives on this topic, but I would really like to dig deep
into what we did wrong first.
First, let's take ourselves back to election night. Hopefully enough time
has passed that we can look back on it without having to relive the
emotions of that dreadful night. I've heard some good spinning from Fox
News and Karl Rove that may dispute with my assessment, but let's forget
that and call a spade a spade - the GOP got their butts handed to them.
There are a few reasons, in my opinion, why that is.
America is Becoming an Entitlement Society
Let's face it - winning an election in America (or any country composed
primarily of human beings) is, at least to an extent, about who can
promise the voters more free stuff. And of course, the President was able
to convince undecided voters that he would give them more free stuff than
Romney was. This hasn't always been the case. Why do you think Bush won
re-election in spite of unpopular wars? He promised more free stuff! The
Bush-era GOP promised us all big entitlements, big government programs,
and huge tax cuts. Well that's just too good to resist! Especially because
stingy old John Kerry and the Democrats were only willing to give us the
first two. In 2012, Republicans were promising the tax cuts (though the
perception is that they only help the rich, which is not true), but they
wanted to reduce the other things. Democrats want to let you keep
everything (except for those at the very top, but hey - they're not a big
share of the electorate). There's a reason entitlements are the third rail
of American politics. We should be somewhat optimistic though. it's hard
to imagine any ticket so deeply connected to the Ryan budget proposal
could have ever done so well electorally in years past. Perhaps Americans
are waking up. But entitlement reform, while the single most important
issue facing this nation by far, is still not a popular platform item.
Our Candidates were Not the Best
Republicans have a greater burden on them to find good candidates than
Democrats do. Why? See above. If we're going to sell this whole
entitlement reform thing, we need the right salesman. So let's take a
memorable look back at the candidates of 2012, starting with none other
than Mitt Romney. First let me be clear: I love Mitt Romney. I have
supported him enthusiastically since the very start. I was excited when he
announced his candidacy and couldn't wait to work to get him elected. His
record as governor is not the purest, but you can tell from his policy
positions even in 1994 up through today that the man has a truly
conservative mindset wrapped in a pragmatic exterior. He understands
business and economics like so few candidates before him. He is one of the
most charitable people to ever run for president and, by all accounts
(except the media), a truly loving man. I'm a proud Romney super-fan,
maybe the only one there is. But let's face it - he's a great candidate,
but terrible at being a candidate. I mean absolutely awful. He came off as
a man from another time. It's almost like he and his devout Mormon family
came right out of the 1950's to run in this election and didn't have time
to learn how the world has changed. I kind of like that personally, but
most people just can't relate to it. Then, of course, the man's loaded and
tried too hard to relate. It's okay to be rich, but it's not okay to be
rich and pretend you're just an average joe. In spite of all this, he
still came within 3 points of winning the popular vote in this country.
Imagine if we had a candidate that could actually inspire people other
than me and convince them that all these huge reforms would lead us to a
new tomorrow with a brighter future? It could've been a landslide. If we
can find the right candidates, my first point about an entitlement society
can be overcome. That's my view on Romney. Josh has already discussed the
problems with some of our other candidates, as have all the pundits on
both sides, and I think the problems with many of our Senate candidates go
without saying. So I won't beat a dead horse there.
We Lost on Social Issues
This election should have never been about social issues. And who on earth
would have thought it would be the Democrats that would be the ones that
made it about social issues? Certainly the country has moved to the left
on gay marriage. But that was an issue that was barely even discussed on a
national level. The Democrats know they can't usually win on these issues,
especially considering America is more pro-life than ever. So they decided
to take a step back. What's one social issue that's behind us? Something
that everyone pretty much agrees on? Contraception! And they got the
perfect opening the minute the Republicans opposed the HHS mandate.
Obviously the Republican opposition was to protect religious liberty, but
it's easy to make it look like Republicans hate contraception. And women.
And you know what - it worked.
The Conservative Media Bubble
Why were so many Republicans so shocked last Tuesday night when Romney
lost the election? All the polls were predicting it. It wasn't much of a
shock to anyone following the RCP average. I knew it was coming. I still
held out hopes that somehow Gallup and Rasmussen had better voter turnout
models, but I wasn't expecting it. It's one thing to be disappointed that
Romney lost. It's quite another to actually be surprised. The problem is
conservatives are increasingly living in a media bubble with a
self-confirming bias. This is what has lead to so may Republican voters
thinking far-right candidates are electable. We hear it on Limbaugh or
Fox. We become convinced that everyone thinks like us. Then we see
pollsters like Gallup show these turnout models that reflect 2004
demographics and we assume that's what's going to happen. Perhaps the
average person doesn't watch any cable news station - just their local
network affiliate or local newspaper, etc. But Republican primary voters
are constantly surrounded by the perspectives of Glenn Beck, Rush
Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. I like Fox, I think it offers a much needed
perspective that is absent from the mainstream media, but it can't be the
sole universe I live in. We need to go back to reality and promote
responsible conservative principles and stop thinking that everyone else
in America thinks like we do. The truth is, most Americans are naturally
somewhat conservative, but we drive them away from our party by allowing
the Conservative Media Complex t drive us to the rhetorical extreme.
These are some of my initial thoughts on the matter. I still haven't quite
decided how to go about fixing the problem yet. Notice, I didn't once
mention Latinos. If we had more broad appeal in general, we still could've
won this election. But the Latino issue is one we need to address to be
relevant in future elections.