A lot has been said regarding what happened last week, and in particular the demographic shunt that has been furtively occurring for the last decade and a half and is only being noticed now (by all and sundry).
My 2 cents, as a conservative who just happens to be Black, are as follows.
The GOP faces several major challenges, key among them being the slow shift to the Left over at least three decades (I've always maintained that a Democrat from the JFK era would be considered 'too conservative' for the current GOP). As the Left has been shifting further to the left, the Right has, in tandem, followed them to the extent that while the Right is still conservative (when compared to the current Left), the Right has become Liberal (when compared to the JFK era Democrat and Republican parties). This is a trend that has continued to proliferate, and it is only in the last 12 years that it has accelerated. One might even say it goes all the way back to the George H.W Bush era, with Reagan being an aberration that was rectified when his Vice President took the top seat. I've have said a couple of times that the term RINO, as applied on FR, is obsolete - and for that matter, incorrect. The GOP-e are not RINOs ...they are Republicans. It is Conservatives who are 'Republicans in Name Only,' because the GOP-e is the GOP. FReepers, and other Conservative groupings, are actually a large minority in the GOP. This is one reason why in 2016 the Republican nominee will be another RINO ...erm, Republican. Another member of the GOP-e.
Another failing point in the Republican Party is their (in)ability to fashion together a viable persuasive narrative. They simply do not craft coherent narratives, and to make matters worse they allow the Left and the media to distil anti-conservative angles and approaches without doing anything to stem their flow. For instance - George Bush had several failings as a president, but he had many more positives. However, looking at how his story has been fleshed out by the media and popular thought one can think he was a veritable sot without an iota of intelligent thought nor positive action. Look at how they made Romney out to be. Even more damaging than the passiveness of the Right to character assassinations is the fact that the Right is simply unable to format a narrative that explains conservative positions in a comprehensible and logical manner that is, also, emotionally charged. One of the key advantages President Ronald Reagan had was his ability to talk to the people in a way that they could understand and could accept. Most of the politicians in the Right, instead, have messages that are solely crafted for the choir. Outside the core they are weak and/or silly. For instance, claiming that the body of a woman would automatically refuse to get impregnated if a rape was a 'real' rape. How do you think such a statement sounded? People here are saying young women refused to vote GOP because they wanted free things, when the truth is that such statements were skewed by the media to make the GOP look like oafs out of some 1660s serf village!
Conservatism has a wealth of ideas that should be able to sell themselves, but even the best of concepts require a mouth piece that is able to cogently explain and elaborate them. It doesn't matter how 'good someone would be in a debate' (preaching to the choir), or what 'nice children the person has' (again, preaching to the choir). It is about the ability to disseminate conservative precepts in a manner that is comprehensible to the masses, and apart from Ronald Reagan I cannot think of someone in the last few decades who could do it on our side (the Left, on the other hand, has a good number of demagogues ...not to mention the media constantly percolating liberal views on everything from sex to finances).
If you look at several minority groups - for instance the Blacks (many over 35 have strong social conservative leanings), Hispanics (strong social conservative leanings), and Asians (strong fiscal and social conservative leanings). What is the penetration of the GOP in these groups? Shallow and falling. Now, I've seen several FReepers say that approaching them is a waste of time, and they have their reasons for that (with some of those reasons being quite real, unfortunately).
So, what is the alternative? To do nothing?
Please!
Even if we could eek out an additional 10-15% of those voters we could guarantee that the Democrats would never win an election again. That would cripple them. The youth vote is not coming to the GOP, but above 35s can be acquired. But people have to try. Oh, and it CAN BE DONE. Think about it. Blacks used to vote en masse for the GOP for decades (even MLK Jr was Republican), and then a shift occurred where many of the racists that used to be in the Democrat party (the party of the Klu Klax Klan) started associating themselves with the GOP. Ask an Asian American why they are suspicious of the GOP. You really think it is because Asian Americans want free-stuff? Look at the crowds that were attending Romney meetings. Look at the member rolls of the NRA, where some rapper called Killer Mike had to come out and try to convince people to join the NRA (it is ridiculous that he should be doing it, but when no one else is then every single person available is the right person available. Which is one of the reasons why, even though I know MLK Jr had MANY faults from infidelity to all sorts of allegations, my answer to that is that there were many more 'perfect' people who did nothing. It's kind of the Samaritan story ...he is called a 'good Samaritan' for a reason, because they tended to be considered to be not so good. However, he was the THIRD person to pass the injured traveler. The first two were very holy men - who walked by. The third was the 'bad guy,' who stopped, helped the person, took him to a place where his wounds would be tended, and paid for it out of his own pocket. I will take a 'bad person' who does something over the millions of perfect people who are too busy/tired/afraid/weak to do something). But I digress.
The Asian community should be perfect GOP voters ...fiscally and socially conservative, small business owners facing taxation pressures, with a strong belief in family. Ask one of them why they do not vote GOP. Oh, and they can afford to buy their own iPhones so I doubt it was 'free stuff.'
What does the GOP need? In a nutshell, they need three things. In my view (which may be worth a bucket of warm spit, but it is still a view) they need (i) cogent crafting of The Conservative Narrative; (ii) leadership that is able to communicate The Conservative Narrative to the masses, and I am not just talking about preaching to the choir - Sarah Palin is AMAZING when it comes to mobilizing the conservative vote, but we need someone who will mobilize the conservative vote AND bring others in as well ....I am not necessarily talking about the return of the 'Reagan Democrats,' but that is close to what I mean. Someone who can be able to fire up the base like pressurized magma, and at the same time invigorate those outside the campfire and have them join our side. President Ronald Reagan was a natural at that. Having people like Romney is a joke, with McCain being a sad joke. And what is the third thing? (iii) Realization that the future of the GOP/Conservatism is not just in the leadership I described, and not in 'talk radio' (which is, truth be told, preaching to the choir) or idiots like Dick Morris and Karl Rove, but in all of us. Kind of similar to the Christian message that the best evangelist is the flock ...how we are, how we act, us. The churches that grow tend to be the ones that have a congregation that is not just a 'Sunday-crowd,' but rather one that walks the talk, and not just walking the talk but takes active measures to talk to friends and neighbors. Authenticity. Without that we are just an old boys club that will die out with age.
Anyways, my thoughts. They may be crap to some ...maybe to all ...but I know they are better than simply saying (a) do nothing; (b) the Left won solely because of voter fraud (yes, there was fraud, but that is like blaming a car crash due to drunk driving on worn tires - yes, the tires could have been newer, but had you not been drunk ....); or (c) Romney (yes, Romney was a RINO ...I mean, Republican; but if Romney had never been born the GOP-e would just have pushed forth another like him who would have had problems energizing the base AND found it impossible to invigorate those outside the base).
Oh, and the worst advice is to become more like the Democrats. In the same way a Hyundai with a Ferrari bodykit will never outperform a real Ferrari, a Democrat-lite will never beat the real thing. Furthermore, it will just continue the decades-old slow-progression to the Left (were JFK alive he would probably have voted for Virgil Goode because he would have thought the Democrat party veritably demonic, and the Republican party too liberal)!
Nice Essay. I agree with you.
But the progressives of the GOP RINOplasts
cling desperately to their stations.They believe that
they must imitate the Dems ( huge mistake.) Bobby Jindal even thinks so......HUGE PROBLEM.
We have nothing to be ashamed of as conservatives. We need to stop watering down our positions, for they are based on the continuity of civilized society, not some Utopian mish mash involving class warfare ( distinctly unAmerican.)We need to communicate who we are and what we stand for more effectively, and we need to communicate with the various communities of the so called new demographic.
I love Allen West BTW and had followed his political path from its inception 6 years ago.. I hope he manages to prevail, for it is in men like him that the future of the GOP resides.
I think this is brilliant.
This is my 2 cents, as a conservative who happens to be pissed:
This post is written in anger and frustration.
Angry that we continue to follow the Republican Party’s elite ignorance. A party that continues to pull defeat from the jaws of victory characterized by pompous fools who fulfill the sterotype built by the left.
Frustrated that the reality of politics is this: There will be no third party capable of competing with the coalition constructed by the dems. As a result, true conservatives MUST take steps to eradicate the ignorance of the Republican Party while still adhering to the core values of our forefathers (beliefs that I discovered are considered extreme by over half of my countrymen on Tuesday night, BTW).
I have no solve for exactly how to accomplish this. Only advice based on a long military career in several foreign lands for how to defeat the dems once this is accomplished.
This thought process is based on the concept of irregular warfare with twists thrown in here and there for good measure.
With that, I provide the following advice for the good of the order.
LEADERSHIP: The old crew has proven either incompotent or outdated. McConnell and Boehner must go. They represent a failed plan to defend and resist without clearly explaining their position. They are content with looking like the bad guys and face public scorn when they don’t realize how important it is to manipulate a clearly left leaning MSM. They represent the failure of the last four years to our own and obstructionists to the opposition.
We’ve got to show a new face to the nation. That is the genesis of rebuilding this movement. Ryan or Cantor in the House, Rubio or Demint in the Senate.
We also need a standard bearer and I see no one on the horizon with as much rockstar potential and substance as Rubio. These next four years must put him on the center stage with a unified and consolidated message. It also needs to protect him from the attacks from the left that are guaranteed to come.
Everything the Obamites used to deny, deflect, and difuse will be used against them....including the race card. THAT is what will make Rubio a teflon candidate.
Change is neccesary at the head of the RNC as well. Prebius represents failure and “aw shucks” attitude. A new way to fight requires a true fighter.
I read a headline a few weeks ago that said “100s of Retired Generals Throw Their Support Behind Romney”...It’s time for them to serve again, this time within the RNC.
These men can quickly and efficiently change the organization of a party that seems confused as to what the next step is and what to do now.
Pete Schoomaker, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and long time special operator would be a suggestion. He understands how to traslate what I’m talking about into a living, breathing organization.
These men represent a change in a party that has been beaten soundly in the last two elections by a charlatan and his traveling circus. A fresh choice in leadership represents change you can TRULY beleive in from every angle. It marks a clear start from inside and outside when we actually started taking this enemy seriously.
GROUND GAME: It is IMPERATIVE to develop and foster an intricate ground game. It requires a MICRO-ANALYSIS of every county, every city, and every early and absentee ballot by demographic to find how how, why, and with what method they voted. The dems have built quite the coalition but it’s a house of cards; it’s a fractured coalition of single issue voters held together by a media-invested hollyweird worshipping demagogue. They can be piecemealed away bitby bit without sacrficing principle.
Give it to the dems on their “community organizing” machine. We don’t need to reinvent that model. We MUST develop our own. One that will INSTILL our principles in a language tailored to the audience. They’ve tailored theirs on the community organizer, we can create ours around the military special operator. This the winning of hearts and minds in our own third world backyard dem strongholds.
This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It requires a patient and immediate effort that starts with the post election analysis looking not for what we WANT to find, but for the GROUND TRUTH. GROUND TRUTH is REAL INTELLIGENCE not Rovian number-crunching wishful thinking.
It will require an insurgent effort at the ground level. An infiltration into dem areas that we identify are weak or vulnerable to start cutting in to the blue.
The COIN (insurgeny/counterinsurgency)effort would include the identification of these areas, the inflitration of the areas through churches and charitable organizations AND PARTICULARLY THROUGH EDUCATION.
There ARE like thinkers in these communities. How do we find them? Ask Jesse L. Peterson. Ask JC Watts and Herman Cain. They KNOW how to splinter these vulnerable areas off the blue.
The hispanic issue is RIPE for moving into the red. Catholic, family oriented cultures who beleive in being left alone and naturally distrust the government. And they voted Obama? This is the epitome of the single issue voter. the RNC needs to go toe to toe, issue to issue with “the Race” and counter it in that community, in that language, at THAT LEVEL.
Think it can’t be done? SOF has been doing it since the end of World War II. It CAN be done.
WE must get deep into the education system to promote the ideals and values of conservatism that should be selling themselves. I’m not talking about traditional public schools and universities. They are ROTTED with liberals. They also aren’tthe keys to education in the 21st century.
I’m talking about the new way to educate - the online universities, the trade schools and nightschools. Corporate allies need to invest and educate with the ideals of economic and fiscal conservatism.
The RNC needs to lead and develop this effort. A novice like me can see that there is a disconnect between the voting habits of catholic-dominated hispanics and pockets of baptist blacks and their actual stated values. That disconnect can be exploited if it is done slowly, deliberately, and effectively.
INFORMATION WARFARE: We are ATROCIOUS AT THIS. Dems get a simple message out early and often. They poison the well and we are left to change minds rather than get the initial impression right from jump. We constantly play defense and think we are sooooo clever when dems (as they ALWAYS do) do something stupid or illegal and shocked when the media all but ignores it. We must take the offensive in getting up in every Candy Crowley, every George Stepenopolis’ face and call them what they are: democratic hacks posing as the “objective media”
We ABSOLUTELY MUST be proactive. We must attack at EVERY OPPORTUNITY then add each fail of the dems to a trend and theme. These themes must be simple, tailored, and repetitively broadcast to each target demographic.
We must look out beyond the 5 and 10 meter targets. We’ve got to effectively interpret what the dem message is on the horizon and confront it at all levels - from the national MSM level filtering directly down to the target group level. Even I can see what the talking points of the upcoming week are by watching the Sunday talking head programs. Defense is unacceptable. we can’t pretent that the most outrageous comment won’t gain traction then act surprised when weeks later, that theme picks up steam. ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK and don’t give the dems a minute’s relief to reset the media battlefield OR the political discourse.
Alinsky tactics must be turned against their masters. There is GREAT power in ridicule and scorn. They make it too easy to use. It needs to be culturally tailored and consistent. Dennis Miller needs his own show on FNC AND a late night show on Fox. Let him source and promote culturally diverse conserative comedians that vulnerable areas can relate to and remember. Bold Fresh tours aren’t enough.
This is only part of an overall information operation plan that is constant in a simple party message and what it means to each target group.
WE DON’T DO THAT WELL. WHY NOT? I find it unbelievable that Obama has hijacked the reputation and imagery of the Party of Lincoln.
COIN operations involve a very in depth understanding of cultural idocyncracies and how best to exploit them to our advantage. It’s not a “wool-over-the-eyes” approach or a “free shit” approach like the dems sell. THAT ALWAYS COMES UP SHORT.
It’s a sell based on how it effects each target group and what it means to them. If it’s done right, I am CONFIDENT that the tenets of conservatism sell themselves.
In Civil Miltary Operations, assistance in areas that seem unrelated builds trust in the agency. Granted, there’s a fine line between assistance and the giving of free shit but, the special operations forces walk that line well. It can be done. Community outreach in areas that we identify, in ways that we haven’t before can build a larger tent without sacrificing our beliefs.
The military has been doing this in third world countries for years. We’ve been more successful in some areas, less successful in others. In the United States third world strongholds of the Democratic Party,I am confident that it can be done.
Here’s the kicker: There are countless retired special operations planners and operators working overseas as contractors RIGHT NOW. It’s too easy; the RNC needs to hire them as contractors over here.
This is, by far, not the only avenue we’ve got to pursue in order to turn the tide. We must confront and use the power of law, media, technology and the corporate world to form a UNITED MOVEMENT.
WE ARE AT WAR. the RNC must look to the military to rediscover and reorganize. The number-crunching beancounters have their place in the organization but, on their best days, they can only identify who will and won’t vote Republican.
This is a “Hearts and Minds” effort.
It requires a new way to think about the political battlefield.
Rangers Lead the Way.
My point exactly. What did Republicans do to try to head this off? Romney just acted like he would automatically win just for being there and many here followed him off that cliff. Remember this ?
‘Dont believe the polls. The Democrats are over-sampled in them all except that one showing Romney ahead. They are just trying to head-fake us so we give up. Romney will cream Obama.”
See : 'Conservative visionary candidate vs Uninspiring Loser candidate' at #54 here