I would agree that the PUMA movement was probably McCain campaign astroturfing. Only 18% of Hillary supporter voted McCain, which is about 9% of dems overall. Roughly the same percentage of Reps (RINOs and Retards) voted Obama.
I think one MAJOR CHANGE that needs to be made to the Republican primary system is proportional awarding of convention delegates. The winner take all system has failed us because the “institutional” pick wins with 32% of the vote in 4 states. Letting a bunch of Proletarian Iowa farmers and New Hampshire crossover Dems pick our candidate has really screwed us since Reagan. Think about it, we really are allowing blue states to pick our candidate. Perhaps we need regional primaries. That way, the strongest candidates is/are building campaign infrastructure in each state. Why don’t republicans win in New England or in the west, but at the same time a gay marriage ban passes in CA. I am tired of this bullshit writing off of states. We have conservatives who are stuck in the closet because they think their state is totally liberal and loves welfare and taxes. The Republican Party has let these citizens down by ignoring their states. When we only fight on our turf, the enemy also only fights on our turf, AND THEY JUST WON. We need a campaign that fights for even the bluest state of Vermont. Did anyone else notice that Obama only got 6.2 million votes in CA and 4.3 million votes in New York?
Screw the conventional wisdom that we can’t win these states. There are citizens there who believe in the same conservative principles that we do. I realize the dem institutional machines are in place, but they are old and established, and I believe they can be beaten with some effort, organization, a clear conservative message, and some creativity.
Or on the other hand, we can just keep writing those states off and just try to win every future election with 270-290 electoral votes. IT IS ABSURD THAT THERE ARE NO HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN NEW ENGLAND. But if conservatives never go there, never run for office, never try to spread the message and win people over it will NEVER happen.
This loss is about bad ideas and bad organization. If we had slightly better message with much better organization, we would’ve won.
“I am tired of this bullshit writing off of states. We have conservatives who are stuck in the closet because they think their state is totally liberal and loves welfare and taxes. The Republican Party has let these citizens down by ignoring their states”
Exactly. Here in NJ, we are always written off. It has to change. Why even bother to set up an organization in a state that they are conceding? Waste of time and money.