So what are we seeking to do now?
Blame others for engineering our loss, like the Democrats mewled and puked about Ralph Nader?
NEWSFLASH!: People who are not Republicans, like, say, registered Liberatarians, or Independents (registered or unregistered) don't owe us Republicans ONE DAMNED THING.
They have not joined us. They do not belong to us. We have no right to expect their vote. We have, in fact, no right to expect anything other than that, as members of opposing parties (or individual opponents) they will try to undermine and defeat us. That is their RIGHT.
If we want to win, we have to PERSUADE them that we're the better option. We failed to do that last night, completely. That's why we lost. If we don't persuade them next time, we'll lose again. And we'll keep repeating the lesson of getting ourselves "Thumped" (to use a Bushism) until we DO learn it.
Conservatives are the Republican core, but they are by no means enough to win Congress or the White House. The margin of victory lies in persuading others - people who are NOT registered Republicans - people who are suspicious of us, our party and our agenda - to come out and vote for us anyway, perhaps as the lesser of two evils, perhaps because we actually manage to inspire them to trust us.
Either way, it is pathetic of us to spend one moment whining, crying, mewling and puking about people who are A DIFFERENT PARTY "stabbing us in the back". they didn't stab us in the back; they stabbed us in the chest, in a sword fight, which they had the RIGHT to fight, because they're NOT Republicans and they owe us NOTHING.
To win, we have to persuade them not to fight us.
Just like the Dems had to persuade the Greens to come home.
You hit it right on the head. Bravo!
Well said!
Well put.
I would add that the best way to pursuade the voters is to do what you say you will do. If you run as a "conservative," you had better act like one once in office.
well said!
Thank you!