You think those guys lost because they were RINOs? Think again. Learn a little history.
Ford lost because he was the "post Watergate" President who pardoned Nixon. Republican fatigue. Dole? The economy was booming in '96. Reagan himself couldn't have beat Clinton in '96. We all had fat jobs. Why change captains? Of course, Clinton's "success" was largely due to Gingrich's congress forcing Clinton to the middle where he managed to take credit for not screwing things up. McCain in '08? Again, the Republican brand was so poisoned by Bush-fatigue and a crashing economy. Alvin Green himself would've won in '08.
It's a little different today. Jeez! Think about it. Put your brain into it and stop repeating these tired old memes.
In large measure, yes. They lost because they couldn't and/or wouldn't clearly draw out the difference between themselves and their Democrat opponents. The GOP needs bold colors, not pale pastels --and nobody is more pale pastel than Etch A Sketch.
We don’t need you Romneybots around FR.
The only Republican in the past 120+ years who has been able to oust a Democrat President was Ronald Reagan, and he didn’t do it by being a Romney-style moderate. He did it with bold colors, not pale pastels.
No serious person really believes that Mitt Romney will do anything to attempt the kind of reforms that we need. If anything, he’ll slow things down.
The big Republican victories of recent years — 1980, 1994, and 2010 — were achieved by running as unabashed conservatives. Candidates like Ford, Dole, and McCain lose — and that’s the kind of Republican that Romney is. Don’t believe it? Look around him — personnel is policy.
Santorum has principles; Romney doesn’t.