I'm just curious... What kind of republican candidates do you believe can win in blue states?
Just a guess, but how about GOP candidates who also appeal to Independents and centrist democrats? Might be helpful to review who lost.
You see, up until last year, I lived in CA all my life and I would have happily swapped the Maine girls for Boxer and Feinstein.
Republican Incumbents Who Lost in the House:
Jim Ryun (KS) - ACU rating 98
J.D. Hayworth (AZ) - ACU rating 98
Richard Pombo (CA) - ACU rating 97
Chris Chocola (IN) - ACU rating 95
Gil Gutknecht (MN) - ACU rating 94
Charles Taylor (NC) - ACU rating 92
Mike Sodrel (IN) - ACU rating 92
Melissa Hart (PA) - ACU rating 91
John Hostettler (IN) - ACU rating 90
Don Sherwood (PA) - ACU rating 87
Anne Northup (KY) - ACU rating 86
Clay Shaw (FL) ACU rating 82
John Sweeney (NY) ACU rating 77
Jeb Bradley (NH) ACU rating 71
Charles Bass (NH) ACU rating 71
Curt Weldon (PA) ACU rating 70
Sue Kelly (NY) ACU rating 65
Mike Fitzpatrick (PA) ACU rating 60
Nancy Johnson (CT) ACU rating 47
Jim Leach (IA) ACU rating 43
Vacated Republican seats lost
DeLay (TX) ACU rating 95
Beuprez (COL) ACU rating 93
Green (WI) ACU rating 88
Nussle (IA) ACU rating 86
Ney (OH) ACU rating 86
Foley (FLA) ACU rating 78
Koly (AZ) ACU rating 74
Boelert (NY) ACU rating 40
Democrat Incumbent seats lost
None.
+++
Republican Incumbents Who Lost in the Senate:
Burns (MT) - ACU rating 91
Allen (VA) - ACU rating 92
Santorum (PA) - ACU rating 88
Talent (MO) - ACU rating 93
DeWine (OH) - ACU rating 80
Chafee (RI) - ACU rating 37
Democrat Incumbent seats lost
None.
IMHO a real conservative who can articulate the position of a conservative in such a way so as to concretely show a benefit to the "traditional" democrat voter. A conservative who talks the talk and walks the walk in all areas of life. Also someone who is unafraid of tackling the real threat to our way of life: Illegal Immigration. I promise you that there are millions of anxious liberals who greatly fear this very thing and are in a near panic mode AND who know that in the privacy of the voting booth lies potential salvation. But they won't vote that way if the GOP candidate offers nothing materially different from their own party. This is the reason that Sean Hannity said that Tom Tancredo could win the White House. Although I think Tancredo has a startling proclivity to alienate core constituents of the GOP like Cubans. You don't win many hispanic votes when you call Miami a third world country...no matter how true it might be! Still, not all legitimate hispanic citizens will be favorable to an open border policy when they see the negative impact on their own lives. This is already becoming apparent in the wages earned by folks in construction. A decade ago a carpenter could demand $14 an hour. Today (largely because of illegal immigrants) the wage is more like $7 per hour. You can't live on $7 an hour, but you could on $14. Most illegal imigrants aren't in the fields a migrant workers. They're in the skyscrapers doing construction!