Posted on 01/19/2013 11:33:37 AM PST by Armaggedon
Laura Hollis
November 8, 2012
Laura Hollis is:
Current: Associate Professional Specialist and Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at University of Notre Dame.
Past: Director at Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Associate Director and Clinical Professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Education: University of Notre Dame Law School, University of Notre Dame.
Summary: She has 20+ years’ experience in curriculum and other program
development and delivery.
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I am already reading so many pundits and other talking heads analyzing the disaster that was this year’s elections. I am adding my own ten cents. Here goes:
1. We are outnumbered.
We accurately foresaw the enthusiasm, the passion, the commitment, the determination, and the turnout. Married women, men, independents, Catholics, evangelicals - they all went for Romney in percentages as high or higher than the groups which voted for McCain in 2008. It wasn’t enough. What we saw in the election in November was a tipping point: we are now at a place where there are legitimately fewer Americans who desire a free republic with a free people than there are those who think the government should give them stuff. There are fewer of us who believe in the value of free exchange and free enterprise. There are fewer of us who do not wish to demonize successful people in order to justify taking from them. We are outnumbered. For the moment. It’s just that simple.
2. It wasn’t the candidate(s).
Some are already saying, “Romney was the wrong guy”; “He should have picked Marco Rubio to get Florida / Rob Portman to get Ohio / Chris Christie to get [someplace else].” With all due respect, these assessments are incorrect. Romney ran a strategic and well-organized campaign. Yes, he could have hit harder on Benghazi. But for those who would have loved that, there are those who would have found it distasteful. No matter what tactic you could point to that Romney could have done better, it would have been spun in a way that was detrimental to his chances. Romney would have been an excellent president, and Ryan was an inspired choice. No matter who we ran this year, they would have lost. (See #1, above.)
3. It’s the culture, stupid!
We have been trying to fight this battle every four years at the voting booth. It is long past time we admit that is not where the battle really is. We abdicated control of the culture - starting back in the 1960s. And now our largest primary social institutions - education, the media, Hollywood (entertainment) have become really nothing more than an assembly line for cranking out reliable little Leftists. Furthermore, we have allowed the government to undermine the institutions that instill good character - marriage, the family, communities, schools, our churches. So, here we are, at least two full generations later - we are reaping what we have sown. It took nearly fifty years to get here; it will take another fifty years to get back. But it starts with the determination to reclaim education, the media, and the entertainment business. If we fail to do that, we can kiss every election goodbye from here on out. And much more.
4. America has become a nation of adolescents.
The real loser in this election was adulthood: Maturity. Responsibility. The understanding that liberty must be accompanied by self-restraint. Obama is a spoiled child, and the behavior and language of his followers and their advertisements throughout the campaign makes it clear how many of them are, as well. Romney is a grown-up. Romney should have won. Those of us who expected him to win assumed that voters would act like grownups. Because if we were a nation of grownups, he would have won.
But what did win? Sex. Drugs. Bad language. Bad manners. Vulgarity. Lies. Cheating. Name-calling. Finger-pointing. Blaming. And irresponsible spending. This does not bode well. People grow up one of two ways: either they choose to, or circumstances force them to. The warnings are all there, whether it is the looming economic disaster, or the inability of the government to respond to crises like Hurricane Sandy, or the growing strength and brazenness of our enemies. American voters stick their fingers in their ears and say, “Lalalalalala, I can’t hear you. “It is unpleasant to think about the circumstances it will take to force Americans to grow up. It is even more unpleasant to think about Obama at the helm when those circumstances arrive.
5. Yes, there is apparently a Vagina Vote.
It’s the subject matter of another column in its entirety to point out, one by one, all of the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the Democrats this year. Suffice it to say that the only “war on women” was the one waged by the Obama campaign, which sexualized and objectified women, featuring them dressed up like vulvas at the Democrat National Convention, appealing to their “lady parts,” comparing voting to losing your virginity with Obama, trumpeting the thrills of destroying our children in the womb (and using our daughters in commercials to do so), and making Catholics pay for their birth control. For a significant number of women, this was appealing. It might call into question the wisdom of the Nineteenth Amendment, but for the fact that large numbers of women (largely married) used their “lady smarts” instead. Either way, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are rolling over in their graves.
6. It’s not about giving up on “social issues.”
No Republican candidate should participate in a debate or go out on the stump without thorough debate prep and a complete set of talking points that they stick to. This should start with a good grounding in biology and a reluctance to purport to know the will of God. (Thank you, Todd and Richard.)
That said, we do not hold the values we do because they garner votes. We hold the values we do because we believe that they are time-tested principles without which a civilized, free and prosperous society is not possible.
We defend the unborn because we understand that a society which views some lives as expendable is capable of viewing all lives as expendable. We defend family - mothers, fathers, marriage, children - because history makes it quite clear that societies without intact families quickly descend into anarchy and barbarism, and we have plenty of proof of that in our inner
cities where marriage is infrequent and unwed motherhood approaches 80 percent. When Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, many thought that the abortion cause was lost. Forty years later, ultrasound technology has demonstrated the inevitable connection between science and morality. More Americans than ever define themselves as “pro-life.” What is tragic is that tens of millions of children have lost their lives while Americans figure out what should have been obvious before. There is no “giving up” on social issues. There is only the realization that we have to fight the battle on other fronts. The truth will win out in the end.
7. Obama does not have a mandate. And he does not need one.
I have to laugh - bitterly - when I read conservative pundits trying to assure us that Obama “has to know” that he does not have a mandate, and so he will have to govern from the middle. I don’t know what they’re smoking. Obama does not care that he does not have a mandate. He does not view himself as being elected (much less re-elected) to represent individuals. He views himself as having been re-elected to complete the “fundamental transformation” of America, the basic structure of which he despises. Expect much more of the same - largely the complete disregard of the will of half the American public, his willingness to rule by executive order, and the utter inability of another divided Congress to rein him in. Stanley Kurtz has it all laid out here.
8. The Corrupt Media is the enemy.
Too strong? I don’t think so. I have been watching the media try to throw elections since at least the early 1990s. In 2008 and again this year, we saw the media cravenly cover up for the incompetence and deceit of this President, while demonizing a good, honorable and decent man with lies and smears. This is on top of the daily barrage of insults that conservatives (and by hat I mean the electorate, not the politicians) must endure at the hands of this arrogant bunch of elitist snobs. Bias is one thing. What we observed with Benghazi was professional malpractice and fraud. They need to go. Republicans, Libertarians and other conservatives need to be prepared to play hardball with the Pravda press from here on out. And while we are at it, to defend those journalists of whatever political stripe (Jake Tapper, Sharyl Atkisson, Eli Lake) who actually do their jobs. As well as Fox News and talk radio. Because you can fully expect re-elected Obama to try to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in term 2.
9. Small business and entrepreneurs will be hurt the worst.
For all the blather about “Wall Street versus Main Street ,” Obama’s statist agenda will unquestionably benefit the biggest corporations which - as with the public sector unions - are in the best position to make campaign donations, hire lobbyists, and get special exemptions carved out from Obama’s health care laws, his environmental regulations, his labor laws. It will be the small business, the entrepreneur, and the first-time innovators who will be crushed by their inability to compete on a level playing field.
10. America is more polarized than ever; and this time it’s personal.
I’ve been following politics for a long time, and it feels different this time. Not just for me. I’ve received messages from other conservatives who are saying the same thing: there is little to no tolerance left out there for those who are bringing this country to its knees - even when they have been our friends. It isn’t just about “my guy” versus “your guy.” It is my view of America versus your view of America - a crippled, hemorrhaging, debt-laden, weakened and dependent America that I want no part of and resent being foisted on me. I no longer have any patience for stupidity, blindness, or vulgarity, so with each dumb “tweet” or FB post by one of my happily
lefty comrades, another one bites the dust, for me. Delete. What does this portend for a divided Congress? I expect that Republicans will be demoralized and chastened for a short time. But I see them in a bad position. Americans in general want Congress to work together. But many do not want Obama’s policies, and so Republicans who support them will be toast. Good luck, guys.
11. It’s possible that America just has to hit rock bottom.
I truly believe that most Americans who voted for Obama have no idea what they are in for. Most simply believe him when he says that all he really wants is for the rich to pay “a little bit more.” So reasonable! Who could argue with that except a greedy racist?
America is on a horrific bender. Has been for some time now. The warning signs of our fiscal profligacy and culture of lack of personal responsibility are everywhere - too many to mention. We need only look at other countries which have gone the route we are walking now to see what is in store.
For the past four years - but certainly within the past campaign season - we have tried to warn Americans. Too many refuse to listen, even when all of the events that have transpired during Obama’s presidency - unemployment, economic stagnation, skyrocketing prices, the depression of the dollar, the collapse of foreign policy, Benghazi, hopelessly inept responses o natural disasters - can be tied directly to Obama’s statist philosophies, and his decisions.
What that means, I fear, is that they will not see what is coming until the whole thing collapses. That is what makes me so sad today. I see the country I love headed toward its own “rock bottom,” and I cannot seem to reach those who are taking it there.
Hate is no good. Getting mad at Romney gave us four muore years of Obamo. Go figure. Let us unite and stop the self destruction.
Very true. The GOP was born being the Liberal party. Up until the early 1900's the Democratic Party was the Conservative Party. FDR, Truman, LBJ would completely change the direction of the party. It was with Ike, in part with Nixon and much more with Reagan that the GOP became Conservative.
Now the GOP is trying again it seems to be the Liberal Party abandoning Reagan Policies which brought about radical changes and restored trust in the White House again. The DEMs and the GOP are dangerously way too close now politically and the prevailing attitude in both parties is Socialist.
Hey folks, make Jessie Huff go viral. Believe me, young women want to be her. We need to use the people we have to chamge things.
Who cares about birth control pills. Jessie Huff ain’t havin’ no baby she don’t want, it would never get that far! Make this woman go viral!
Bless yiou friend. Obama is judging himself and will pay the price of his hate and lies. We must not share in his mental and emotional pit. Thank God we can love one another.
As long as Republicans continue to cave and give Obama everything he asks for, I will continue to bash them. They have had control of the House for two years now, yet there is not a single example of anything they have stopped Obama from doing in that span. Spending has increased. Funding for Obamacare has remained intact. Taxes have gone up. And the debt ceiling has increased. I'm not seeing an upside here to having Republicans control the House.
O-THUG is never going to be held accountable for his crimes.
BUT there is a huge caveat....
The Rebpublican party lost the election. Not Romney’s religion.
If the Rebpublican party and its quasi beliefs were worth the effort to rally around...we should have not only won the presidency...we should have been able to sweep all the democrats out of the seats of power.
The reality is we could not win the Senate and hell...we’re now talking about LOSING the House in 2014. The Republican Party has a very serious issue here. And it is an issue they continue to move away from...leaving many of their party members in the dust under their elitist feet.
Why should anyone vote for any candidate the you know will harm the country, not uphold the constitution, and in fact work to “negotiate” our freedoms away?
Romney was just a symptom of what is wrong with the party. It has been wrong for decades and if they keep betraying their oaths of office with every breath 0bama takes...?
It is insanity to rally around your precious republicans.
A good start is to not capitalize "he" when referring to Obama.
He hasn't quite achieved Godhood yet, as much as he might think he has.
Leni
No, he lost because he wasn’t a conservative and Republicans wanted a conservative not someone who held the same positions as obama on the majority of issues.
The Republicans will lose again if they run another liberal.
“The Election was the biggest Fraud in my lifetime, and the Votes were counted SOMEWHERE, but it sure seemed strange and the outcome was a fore-drawn conclusion.
There is NO WAY that voting today is being done honestly, and the Major Cities and deep-blue states control the outcome, period. “
Amen...Amen! failure to impose or enforce voter ID requirements, allowing illegals to become voters, having limited oversight at voting places, having no surveillance of the software loaded on voting machines, having a foreign country [Spain] control the vote count, and you have the recipe for much change and no hope for the America that once was.
Although that is part of the reason why Romney lost, demographics cannot be ignored.
If the populace had of voted in the same proportions they did in 1980, Romney would have won.
Single women, for instance, vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Single women today outnumber married women for the first time in US history.
Romney is a flipping liberal and this woman (or any that I know) does/do NOT vote for liberals and those that promote and celebrate abortion or homosexuals as the norm or believes that success should be punished or that America needs to apologize or........you know just like obama.
(Wait maybe you really don’t know, which would explain much)
How do you propose to do that when Republicans are falling all over themselves to cave to Obama? They have no principles and no guts. So just how do you think joining with quislings and moderates is going to "take back" our country? Republicans are concerned with one thing only---their own power.
Oh come on.He was a flip flopping northeast LIBERAL (GET IT?)just like the national party.No wonder he lost.
Time to grow up.
He lost cuz he's a GOP-e middle of the road liberal. With I might add....not a fire in his belly.
Period.
Buck up and get get over it.
8. The Corrupt Media is the enemy.
Too strong? I don’t think so. I have been watching the media try to throw elections since at least the early 1990s. In 2008 and again this year, we saw the media cravenly cover up for the incompetence and deceit of this President, while demonizing a good, honorable and decent man with lies and smears. This is on top of the daily barrage of insults that conservatives (and by hat I mean the electorate, not the politicians) must endure at the hands of this arrogant bunch of elitist snobs. Bias is one thing. What we observed with Benghazi was professional malpractice and fraud. They need to go. Republicans, Libertarians and other conservatives need to be prepared to play hardball with the Pravda press from here on out. And while we are at it, to defend those journalists of whatever political stripe (Jake Tapper, Sharyl Atkisson, Eli Lake) who actually do their jobs. As well as Fox News and talk radio. Because you can fully expect re-elected Obama to try to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in term 2.
Ouch. Bussed them in eh? Geez. At this point I’ll take the purple ink on the finger.
I concur, however, regaining control of academia is just as important. We need to be addressing all these bullet points. Yes, pun intended!
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