I think not.
Charles Johnson seems to be conveniently forgetting the Judeo-Christian principles that founded this country and made it to be the country it is today where anyone can become their own squawk box.
I see Palin as more libertarian than anything. The GOP can probably retain many social conservatives while making room for social libertarians by placing an emphasis on the government letting us alone to live our lives as we see fit. The way the GOP wins back college educated voters making good money is to be steadfast economic and fiscal conservatives while advocating the rights of all to live and pray as they wish. In general, the GOP is already there. But it’s done a piss poor job of communicating this.
The country may well have been founded with those principles, but that isn’t the USA today.
Any attempt to return to those virtues and principles will translate into real blood-spilling.
The cause? What schools are teaching. The curriculum.
We conservatives have been asleep or hypnotized for almost two generations.
They hate Sarah because she is a christian.
If this guy is right about social issues, explain why California went for marriage ban?
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We should return to the basics of individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. Couple that with social conservatism.
Where is this bus exactly, and how soon can we throw David Frum underneath it?
But there are two key policies that conservatives must instantly embrace. The first is systematic isolationism in foreign policy and the use of force. No support for anything hawkish in any way, while any Dem is in the white house. They refused even to be still when be bled and died to keep them safe. I refuse to watch a single patriot so much as shed a tear, let alone a drop of blood, to serve these cowards.
Second, the dems were insufferable bores in opposition --- just wait and see what they will be in power. The winning line is the libertarian leave us alone strand of conservatism. Get these busy-bodies and scolds out of my face, that is the winning line next time. Be on message about it, hyper-alert, never go along with them on the slightest measure that could irk anyone. Let the Dems run 2 years from now on the platform of toilets that don't work.
Every mandate, every cloying sentiment, every regulation, every restriction on development, on speech, on health, on any personal choice to live as one pleases --- defy them and ridicule them and laugh at them. Compromise on nothing, go along with nothing. Demand that the people be left free to do whatever they want on any and every issue the Dems raise. Don't counter with some other proposals, your own way, don't touch content at all. "On that subject, the Republican party stands for completely free choice for every individual American". Repeat it endlessly.
Because they will be utterly insufferable and the American people will notice it, very rapidly.
Charles Johnson has practically wrecked the Anti-Jihad movement, by delinking from Robert Spencer (Jihadwatch) and now he wants to give advice to the Republican party?
This man is dangerous. But don’t believe me. Join LGF and try posting a contrarian view, even a mild one, nothing trollish, but well-behaved, reasoned, doubtful and wondering... about - say - Robert Spencer or Fjordman and see how long it takes to be booted out. Faster than even Democratic Underground. And that is not the American way! In fact it’s not the way anywhere that still appreciates considered thought.
Naturally after this defeat, the Republicans will have to find their soul, their core values and their painful compromises, but advice from Charles Johnson and his adoring echo chamber lizaroids?
No grazie.
The guy has lost it.
>>>and Republicans have become more conservative on social issues.
I’ve not seen that.
>>>Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs is advocating the social fundamentalists like Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal need to be thrown underneath the bus.
I think they need to go find their own party. Leave our party alone. People like Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal and Duncan Hunter need to be elevated in the party.
Bye Bye, Republican Party! To try to bring the party up to what it used to be, the corrupt people at the top must go. That won’t happen, so , should another election ever be held, why bother to vote anyway? Absolutely nothing that I stand for, or would vote for passed this time in the country, and many people and issues I would never vote for did, so I guess I am no longer relevant in my country.
Frum is not only wrong but he is bad wrong. McCain, unlike Obama came with a past and many remembered his past.
Huckabee would have set up a network that would have put Obama to shame. The Broken Glass Republicans would have turned out in droves. When I last frequented LGF it had become “Evolution Headquarters” so I give no credence to anything coming from there. Any candidate seen in a secular light like McCain, Thompson and Guiliani aren’t going to have a chance in the General.
You have to get out the vote and Huckabee with the help of Evangelicals did just that in short order and with little money. It is the Country Club Republicans if any who lost us this election. Many of them like Powell supported Obama. We selected our candidate based on “who could beat Hitlery” or who “Democrats might support”. We had great conservatives running who were underfunded and under reported. Until we get our head out of our a$$es and quit playing “American Idol” with the Rats we will continue to lose.
The path to success for the GOP will be not to be more libertarian, but more Federalist, let the states decide how their people will live.If libertinism (I don't mean libertarianism) and low taxes work for Connecticut and Puritanism and low taxes work for Utah, I can live with that.
Chuck also seem to not understand that a generation ago, conservatism still had a voice on campus and many, if not most, boomers were raised with conservative values. Further, CA wasn’t flooded with illegals and communists. So, if the Pubbies are to chase after those golden memories, they will only be able to make headway by becoming second rate socialists and secular on values (i.e.: value-less).
No, conservatism and traditional values were our nation’s foundation and must, the nation survives, be the center of it’s revival. Anything less is counterfeit of the genuinely treasonous left. If we fail, the nation dies - so be it.
Stupid me, I thought we just tried that and got our asses kicked from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Well it seems that while Republicans lost, there is no evidence it was because of conservatism. Steve Pearce didn’t lose because he was too conservative, he lost because he didn’t have a tenth of the money needed to win. The same can be said about so many of our conservative Senate candidates. They had no money to counter the media as well as their opponents millions. So many of our candidates were relative unknowns and their biggest challenge was being unknown.
McCain faced a similar task, he was expected to fight the war with a peashooter while Obama had a bazooka plus a band of media mercenaries and Republican turncoats when McCain had a band of semi-committed conservative radio talk show hosts and his sometimes fellow traveler Fox News. McCain’s situation where money was concerned was voluntary, he kept his word and he suffered for it. We brought this on ourselves though and by we I don’t necessarily mean those of us here at Freerepublic. I think we more than did our part but many of our churches didn’t do their part. Many of our Radio Talk show hosts did nothing to help raise the profile of Senate and House races. Locally in my state the local conservative radio barely discussed the Senate race outside of the polls. It didn’t used to be this way.
I remember 1994. I remember how Newt Gingrich put together a platform and united the party in conservative principles.
We won that year. We came close to seeing this same level of commitment when House Republicans led a House protest on energy and actually achieved their goal but unlike Democrats I don’t remember them declaring victory in a big press conference. That is what the Democrats do but instead we took our victory against the offshore drilling band and quietly let the issue fall to the background. The Republican brand improved to that point. Then the economic crises hit and at first it looked like House Republicans were going to win again and they defeated the first bailout bill to cheers of the common man and then many of them went back on their own plan and voted for that same bill. Instead of presenting the alternative to the American people who were eager for it they decided against being heroes in the eyes of the people and instead voted with The President, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. McCain suspended his campaign rode to Washington looked around and rode home and then threw away his chance to differentiate himself in the eyes of the people and voted for the bailout. He wasn’t being bipartisan he was rebuking the fates which laid in his lap an opportunity. Instead he squandered it and while I know politics is not simple but playing it safe when you are behind can only guarantee your ultimate loss.
McCain could have won this election and I think in the last few weeks after the third debate he really wanted it and found his voice but he only had an empty paper towel roll to project it through and Obama had a megaphone. We now have a responsibility not to capitulate to President Obama but to hold his feet to the fire and learn again how to be not just an opposition party but the party of the people.
The American people proved with their rejection of gay marriage again the power of social conservatism. Yet even tough the American people are clear on this issue we heard very little about it during this election. Obama opposed Prop 8 yet not one ad tried to call him out on this issue. We also heard very little about school choice which is particularly relevant to Hispanics. No effort was made to use these powerful wedge issues to improve the numbers in the Hispanic community. The reason McCain lost was largely because of lost margins among Hispanics and religious conservatives.
McCain could have won Virginia and Ohio if he’d gotten bigger margins among churchgoers than Bush. Instead he didn’t. He could have won New Mexico if he’d gotten bigger margins among Hispanics. He didn’t. He could have won Florida if he’d gotten more of both groups. He didn’t.
This is election is more about what wasn’t done than the mistakes that were made.
Pure BS. This was about a self-described maverick who campaigned against his own party. Loyalty begets loyalty.