Republicans --You Can't Say I Didn't Warn You

American Thinker ^ | November 17, 2008 | Alicia Colon

[neverdem]

John McCain is a class act. A good and decent man who loves his country and that is why he lost. What has been made absolutely clear in this election is that the Republican Party has an abundance of class acts when what it really needs are hard core community organizers.

On Tuesday, my Democrat neighborhood was inundated with canvassers leaving posters of Democrat candidates and offering assistance to get to the poll. I have never seen a Republican do the same but then I've always lived in the poorer part of town.

Back in 1999, I was asked to be the keynote speaker at a local Republican Women's club and I thought I spelled out clearly what the GOP always does wrong. I grew up in Spanish Harlem during the 1950's and recall the several Democrat social clubs in the neighborhoods but nary a Republican came to call. Why should they -- many of my neighbors surmised -- when all they cared about was the rich, right?

"What you need to do," I told the gathering, "is hold town hall meetings year round in the community centers where you can spell out the basics of the party and explain how your policies can benefit the neighborhood. Most families support school vouchers, low taxes, and entrepreneurship. Most blacks have no idea that the Republican Party was established to oppose slavery." I mentioned watching an HBO documentary about a black man who sought help from black leaders to investigate the death of his nephew which had been ruled a suicide. They showed no interest. A final shot of the program showed the uncle visiting the Lincoln Memorial and pointing to the statue and saying, "If it wasn't for that man, I wouldn't be here."

We need to be the party leaders that citizens like this man can approach for help and get it because we care. We have to be there.

While many attendees at the function including State Senator John Marchi came up to me applauding my speech as "enlightening," the powers in charge did not change a thing. Although the Richmond County Republicans ran two excellent African Americans candidates a few years later, neither received the support from the state or national party nor did they campaign in the poorer neighborhoods. To this day, no black has ever been elected to office in Richmond County aka Staten Island and the Democrats have never even bothered to run one as a candidate.

Conservatives poopoohed Obama's record as a community organizer without fully understanding that this is a purely political enterprise. The idea behind it is to get party members into office any way possible. The community may believe that the motive is to benefit the community but judging from my experience that's rarely the case. If you're not willing to play clubhouse politics, your chances of getting into office is slim.

Soon after the Election Day debacle, my mailbox was crammed with "This is the worst day of my life" and other depressing missives.  Call me a cockeyed optimist but I refuse to get into that helpless mode when this is a time to gear up one's loins and fight. It's time for conservatives to give Barack Obama a taste of the treatment the liberals gave George Bush but this time we'll do it legally.

We need to remember that people come out in droves to vote for a new president but they tend to ignore the equally important races for the House and the Senate. We need to get those numbers up so that we have sufficient stopping power for the "change" the new president has in store.  Does anyone remember how bad Clinton's first year in office was? The 1993 WTC bombing, Black Hawk down in Somalia, Hillary's disastrous health care proposal, the defense cutbacks that led to training accidents and loss of life- all these eventually led to the Contract With America and a Republican Congress that unwittingly saved Clinton's hide.

We need new mouthpieces, new communicators, people who are masters of marketing-street fighters not patricians. We need more of Michael Steele and not just on Fox News. Get him on BET. Check out the Hip Hop Republican site to recruit new blood.

Most importantly we need to get legislation requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship before one can vote. There should be stiff punishments for voter fraud. People from England came to Ohio to vote illegally for Obama. We're fast turning into a banana republic every four years.

I say, screw bipartisanship. What George Bush should have done as soon as he was elected was oust all the Clintonites in the CIA and the intelligence services. He kept them on and they stabbed him in the back. Let's not be afraid to call treason-treason. What West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller did in 2003 was as close as one could get to being traitorous but the media never blinked an eye. In a leaked memo he urged fellow Democrats on his Intelligence Committee to use its probe into Iraq war planning as a staging ground to beat President Bush.

Democrats only care about getting elected. The GOP should only care about this country and what's best for it.  Let's get ready to rumble.

Alicia Colon blogs at Alicia Unleashed

[neverdem]

Republicans --You Can't Say I Didn't Warn You

The first post didn't do it justice. It was excerpted without an indication that it was an excerpt. Neither was it checked for the editorial sidebar when it's obviously commentary aka an opinion. Argh! The poster and the thread did have interesting comments.

[Rembrandt]

This is a great post, and true. Republicans need to do a lot more of the down and dirty work that Democrats routinely undertake.

[St. Louis Conservative]

Absolutely agree.

The GOP needs hard core grassroots organizers, activists, and DONORS.

For all the harping Dems used to do about rich fat cats in the GOP, it’s the Dems that have zillionaires bankrolling all their campaigns and left-wing 527s.

[Fred]

youtube - How Obama Got Elected

[MplsSteve]

I totally agree.

And I’ve always counted myself as one of those people. While I do detest dorknocking, I have dropped a lot of campaign literature, installed a lot of lawn signs and driven more than a few candidates around Minnesota.

Why?

Because I like to win and I hate to lose! A long time ago, I realized that in politics, the cliche “No pain, no gain” still strongly applies. I’ve sweated my butt off in the middle of July and frozen it off in January while working on a special election in a Twin Cities suburb.

If nothing else comes out of this election, it is that we (the GOP) need to sharpen our ground game.

We need to sharpen our message too - but that’s a subject for another thread.

[St. Louis Conservative]

He may be a polarizing figure, but the GOP desperately needs several Tom Delay’s running the RNC right now. Just a bunch of brass knuckle partisans who know how organize the grassroots and destroy the opposition.

This is f**king war right now.

[Clemenza]

To this day, no black has ever been elected to office in Richmond County aka Staten Island and the Democrats have never even bothered to run one as a candidate.

Maybe because the largest voting block on Staten Island is not historically known for being too fond of those of a darker hue. ;-)

Nevertheless, Obama did do better on Staten Island than I thought he would (45%).

[mo]

the Democrats have spent the better part of 60-70 years as “community organizers” ...out doing the hard work, the educating, the poll hustling. .....

[Edit35]

Neither was it checked for the editorial sidebar when it's obviously commentary aka an opinion.

Yeah, that was me that first posted this American Thinker article, I think.

I don't post much, and always got confused over the 'body of thread' box and the other one.

I assumed the first box is supposed to have the first few graphs of the article, and the second is my comment.

[TheThinker]

Most importantly we need to get legislation requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship before one can vote. There should be stiff punishments for voter fraud. People from England came to Ohio to vote illegally for Obama. We're fast turning into a banana republic every four years.

I say, screw bipartisanship. What George Bush should have done as soon as he was elected was oust all the Clintonites in the CIA and the intelligence services. He kept them on and they stabbed him in the back. Let's not be afraid to call treason-treason. What West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller did in 2003 was as close as one could get to being traitorous but the media never blinked an eye. In a leaked memo he urged fellow Democrats on his Intelligence Committee to use its probe into Iraq war planning as a staging ground to beat President Bush.

This part I wholeheartedly agree with. Vote fraud tyrannizes our electoral process. Also, Republicans can't be afraid to speak the truth because no one else will champion it. McCain should have attacked Obama with the truth about Wright and Ayers. He should have fleshed out who they are and why their beliefs are bad for the country.

Obama knew he had the old man beat all along.

[St. Louis Conservative]

In states where Republicans control the statehouse, they need to push hard for voter ID laws. In states where they don’t, or where it will be hard to get it passed, there needs to be a concerted effort to get ballot measures passed that institute voter ID laws and elimination of same-day registration.

[TheZMan]

Thanks for the link; I hadn’t seen that bit of stupidity before.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the info.

[Edit35]

If nothing else comes out of this election, it is that we (the GOP) need to sharpen our ground game.

Uninspiring candidates cannot motivate people to go out and conduct an aggressive ground game.

Personally, at times during the campaign I was too embarrassed to look someone in the eye and pretend that John McCain actually said or represented something new or profound or innovative.

Democrats at least had the luxury of being able to pretend Obama could help the 'hurting' middle class with the sheer power of his magical will.

McCain was viewed (by many Republicans even) as the oldest, most boring ineffective Washington insider since .... (fill in the blank).

The key to a GOP comeback is getting virile, exciting, yes younger candidates who can explain the superior system of conservatism.

I just hope the US electorate has not hit critical mass in that we will never be able to outvote the masses who simply want the govt. to give them more more more.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[Clemenza]

Yes, and I know it couldn't just be higher turnout on the North Shore Shore. I think that the general disenchantment with the GOP after Bush and Fossella really hit home on the South Shore, especially among female voters.

Sickens me how members of the "Conservative" party backed McMahon. Strainere is no prize, but now the Dems will likely hold that seat for as long as they want.

Staten Islanders are not so much "conservative" as parochial. There is a difference. Nevertheless, they did give 54%-55% of their vote to McCain, which is better than ANY downstate county, city or suburban.

[Clemenza]

Indiana had some of the best voter ID laws in the nation, and that didn’t prevent the Messiah from winning.

[Rick_Michael]

I thought Indiana officially was for McCain...but was called for Obama...not that it matters...

[exist]

I respect McCain. He’s probably one of the greatest Americans ever. But arghhh this whole working with Obama is making me barf. Barf-O-Rama.

Somebody arrest this drug dealing terrorist sympathizer please.

[St. Louis Conservative]

True.