Posted on 05/14/2008 9:31:24 PM PDT by The_Republican
Tuesday's election results highlighted challenges for both Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans received a hard shot in Mississippi. Greg Davis (for whom I campaigned and who was a well-qualified candidate) narrowly lost a special congressional election in a district President George W. Bush carried four years ago with 62% of the vote. Democrats pulled off the win by smartly nominating a conservative, Travis Childers, from a rural swing part of the district who disavowed Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and hit Mr. Davis from the right.
This blow to the GOP came after two other special congressional election losses in recent months. Republicans lost former House Speaker Denny Hastert's Illinois seat and Rep. Richard Baker's Louisiana seat.
Both of those losses can be attributed to bad candidates. But that only shows the GOP can't take "safe" seats for granted when Democrats run conservatives who distance themselves from their national party leaders. The string of defeats should cure Republicans of the habit of simply shouting "liberal! liberal! liberal!" in hopes of winning an election. They need to press a reform agenda full of sharp contrasts with the Democrats.
Why is it tough sledding for Republicans? Public revulsion at GOP scandals was a large factor in the party's 2006 congressional defeat. Some brand damage remains, as does the downward pull of the president's approval ratings. But the principal elements are the Iraq war and a struggling economy.
Gallup's 2007 report found that fewer voters identify themselves as Republicans now than at any point in the past 20 years – despite the fact that less than a fifth of Americans agree with Mr. Obama's call to rapidly withdraw from Iraq. And while many Americans are concerned about the economy, most are satisfied with their own finances.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
bump for tomorrow
How about three day old pizza Karl?
His architecture this last election looked like the Tacoma Narrows bridge.
Rove is missing one big thing. The GOP in congress are addicted to pork and have become no better than the Dems on spending. Why is the Department of Education still a cabinet level department? Because small government reformers like Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich have gone away and no charismatic leader has taken charge? Jeff Flake? They just shove him aside and continue spending our tax money on their pet projects. This GOP is not the GOP of 1994.
Rove’s right...sounds like the Democrats are up a creek without a paddle...and so are the Pubs. I liked the comment on Pelosi/Reid’s rapid downhill slide.
How did we get to such a dismal selection?
Yup, and Queeg is doing just that with his Global Warming tour..../s
I know it’s way out of fashion in the GOP establishment these days, but try limited gov’t, individual rights, and personal responsibility on for size.
Are they likely voters?
Are they legal likely voters?
And one day it will again, (eco-political "gear" excluded)
Bush’s Brain did not mention immigration and fiscal restraint. Those are two issues this conservative cares PASSIONATELY about.
Well we did Karl and the guy that said that he stood for what we stood for suddenly.......didn’t. Over and over again. There is not major differences between the 2 parties their is just varying degrees of difference. None of which I stand for.
If I were the GOP, I’d worry more about attracting their base than attracting youths, and Hispanics.
maybe karl will follow newt and make a global warming commercial with dictator pelosi
For anyone who hasn’t witnessed that. (a few seconds)
http://www.zippyvideos.com/3887709015479086/tacoma_narrows_bridge/
Reading the excerpt, Karl’s apparently in denial about a lot of the damage he and Bush did to the Republican base, from failing to protect the country from illegal parasites, and not standing up for judicial nominees.
I swear it’s the New World Order daddy spoke of.
Under Rove tutelage the GOP stood for open borders and unlimited spending.
Having wrecked the GOP, he’s now making a pretty penny surveying the debris.
Do us all a favor, Karl: join the Democrats, and do for them what you did for us.
What kind of strategy identifies that the 'rats win by hitting us from the right, and then saying we need a "reform" agenda?
And how did the GOP let the 'rats get to their right to begin with? Karl? Dubya? Anybody home? Hello?
Crap. Lights are on but nobody's home.
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