They need a spine.
Posted on 11/16/2006 12:45:52 PM PST by Milltownmalbay
For a change it’s the Republicans who have some soul-searching to do after the elections.
There is no doubt that the Republicans failed to control spending, failed to control illegal immigration, and failed to reform social security. Nevertheless, the biggest failure of the Republican Party has been communication with the American people.
Ronald Reagan was the Great Communicator. George Bush can’t connect subject and predicate . Bill Frist looks like a doctor telling his patient that she has cancer and Denny Hastert just looks like he wants directions to the local pub.
In spite of the proverbial six year itch, Republicans should have been able to increase their margins in both the House and the Senate and set the stage for 2008.
The economy is stronger than ever and it’s clearly due to the Bush tax cuts. How many commercials did we see touting the economy during this election cycle?
Terrible blunders on the part of the Clinton Administration culminated in the worst attack on American soil in our history and Bush met the challenge head-on.
Bush successfully struck at the Taliban in Afghanistan and passed the Patriot Act, which repaired many of the flawed policies of previous administrations.
Republicans blamed individual Democrats for voting against the Patriot Act, but Republicans never explained the Patriot Act. Why didn’t the Republicans run a national ad campaign on national security? Why didn’t they explain the parts of the Patriot Act to the American people and show us specifically how the Patriot Act has kept us safe?
Ask a question in a poll about the Patriot Act and you may get a mixed result. Ask people if they favor giving captured terrorists the same rights as American citizens and the result would be quite different. The Republicans never made that case.
The United States has not been attacked since September 11. Was that just a coincidence, or did the new policies of the Bush Administration keep us safer? If they did, the Republicans never told us how.
By simply charging that the Democrats want to cut and run in Iraq, the Republicans allowed them to turn the election into a national referendum on Iraq at a time when the war is unpopular.
Now we get to spend at least two years in the Twilight Zone of Democratic leadership. If we do not find a standard bearer who can communicate for 2008, it might be even longer.
If it's a republican it doesnt matter. If there are none, the media will invent them. :)
Not only THAT.....but Mitt's also a good lookin' and charismatic fellow.
Rush would cause liberal heads to explode. However his chances may be as good as Ollie's were. He got my vote and so would Rush.
Kicking Ass & Taking Names.
Yes, Mitt is also very impressive but I'd give Rudy the yellow jersey on this.
I couldn't agree more with this article, I have been saying the same thing for years. Bush simply has zero charisma, making him an easy target that the MSM has had a hay day with.
Personally, I think we should draft Fred Thompson, who comes across as someone who is authoritative and speaks very well.
Pro-death candidate. I kind of like kids.
Maybe Tony Snow could just run for President then...not now, but he has some cache to run for Senate or something.
Another lose.
All true what you say, but it is what it is. And we can still beat them. Reagan did it, speaking over their heads directly to Americans. And there was no alternative media. Bush had his victories and can not communicate like Reagan.
Until a few months ago I thought this person might be George Allen. Then I got to see him debate the heckler. Scratch George off the list.
Here is some of the ammo I mentioned that would be used against him all over again pulled from Wikipedia:
"Gingrich was accused of hypocrisy and unethical behavior when he accepted a $4.5 million advance as part of a book deal, in light of his previous role in the investigation of Jim Wright. Following the accusations, Gingrich returned the advance."
"Including charges related to the book deal, Democrats filed 84 ethics charges against Speaker Gingrich during his term, including claiming tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes and using the GOPAC political action committee as a slush fund. All charges were eventually dropped following an investigation by the Republican-led House Ethics Committee. However, Gingrich admitted to "unintentionally" giving inaccurate information to the House Ethics Committee during the course of the investigation. The committee did not indict him on charges of intentional perjury.[9] The matter was settled when he agreed to reimburse the Committee $300,000 for the cost of prolonging the investigation. The payment was described as a "cost assessment" and not a fine by the Committee.[10] He also agreed to not "spin" the story in the media, but admit publicly to his transgressions."
Lynne also kicks MSM as. Got my vote on that ticket.
Conversely, Clinton was a good communicator, but his only core value was his own power, and eventually people caught on that he was just spewing nonsense and the Dems declined as a result.
Likewise, the GOP wasted their power as a complete majority over their pursuit of the other white meat. It's hard for people to take you seriously when you say you are for limited government but massively increase spending and raise earmarks to an art form.
And it's even harder to be taken seriously when you re-select Trent Lott for a leadership position after getting spanked into the minority.
Newt is about as smart as any of them until he's in front of a rolling camera. The idiot light comes on and he starts acting like a fool.
Good post
Closely connected with need for a communicator is the failure, in recent times, to understand what leadership even IS in the politcal realm. Instead of trying to 'appeal' to moderates / centrists / independents, we ought to be converting them. State conservative principles over and over again in strong, simple terms. Make people see that they are RIGHT, not that they are merely closer to whatever they already want or think.
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