That's why it lost and will keep losing until it finally implodes if it does not get back to its Conservative base.
These are the exact same things people said after 1976. The rockefeller republicans had so swamped the party it did not seem as if we could ever win again....and then Ronald Reagan and his great advisors (e.g. Lyn Nofziger) came along. Proud to be who they were. Not afraid to take on the issues.
But then many on this board condemn Reagan as well....
You are on the money. The Republican guiding philosophy today seems to be “Taking you to Socialism a little more slowly than the Democrats.” How do you make a compelling case for someone to vote for you when all you have to offer is “a little less of the same”? The current so-called “leadership” is composed of people who are there to make careers.
They have no cohesive, well thought out philosophy of politics and government that differs from the liberals in any way other than degree, so they are easily put on the defensive when they are challenged. They have to search their memories for the talking points that fit the notion of being a Republican, rather than simply arguing from the strength of their conviction. They are frauds. They don’t believe it, so why should anyone?
Until real, unashamed conservatives who can argue the philosophy and refute socialist garbage show up, we are stuck with the one party rule that the combination of Republicans and Democrats has become. We have to laugh in the face of their stupid questions, call them liars instead of using gentle terms like “misleading”, and call them stupid when they take stupid positions.
For our part as voters, we have to stop “letting the perfect be the enemy of the good”, and understand that we have move the ball in our direction. This means we will “hold our nose” and vote for people we don’t agree with on every issue. But that can get us moving. We then have to continue to hold our candidates feet to the fire and demand results. We also have to understand that, as conservatives, we still have much that we disagree about among ourselves, but the things we agree on are so much broader — we have to stop letting liberals splinter us by turning us into single issue voters.
Single issue voter coalitions can work for liberals, because they ultimately agree on the basic liberal premise: that the United States is evil and must be fundamentally changed. They intimidate people by anointing themselves as “cool”, and claim to be the smartest people on earth. So if you are insecure, don’t have a strong opinion, but want to be accepted as smart and cool, you better be with them. Nothing scares a person who isn’t “cool” more than to be called out on it, or a stupid person to be shown to be stupid.
Liberals practice the methods of cults, welcoming people regardless of any weakness and telling them they are OK, and that their particular weakness is really a strength. It is the classic serpent’s argument. We ask for people to be strong, to accept that you have to do things themselves instead of having it done for you, but the rewards of freedom and liberty are great. We demand strength, liberals welcome weakness. It’s a tough choice for people to make (especially non-Christians, as Christians are already familiar with this sort of choice). We demand people to work, liberals tell people that work and responsibility is slavery, so they will make someone else do it.
It’s going to be a long road. The damage done has been great, and they won’t stop.
I agree entirely with your second sentence above, but I also believe that it is crucial to stop letting the left tell the electorate what we believe. This is very difficult, given that the left controls the MSM, and much of pop culture. It is not, however, impossible. If I were the RNC I'd be looking into getting high-level marketing people involved, and not rely on the usual ‘campaign manager’ types.
I agree totally. The GOP stands back and let’s them cheat but do nothing to stop them. The GOP is too gentlemanly.