GOP Turns Sure Victory into Defeat

http://townhall.com ^ | November 8, 2012 | Michael Reagan

[NKP_Vet]

Wait until next year -- 2016, that is.

That’s what disappointed Republican spinners kept saying Tuesday night as they watched Mitt Romney’s hopes crash and burn in swing state after swing state.

How many times did I hear a Republican talk about how their party’s deep bench of future all-stars will return it to power in Washington in four years?

But all the Ryans, Rubios, Bushes, Haleys and Christies in America can’t put the GOP -- or the country -- back together again.

The GOP is a wreck -- and not just in California, where the party’s registration is now below 30 percent.

Look how easily the Republican Party managed to turn what should have been a sure victory over an incompetent and dangerous incumbent into an embarrassing defeat.

First they tore each other to shreds in a bitter primary, smearing their eventual nominee in debates as a rich, uncaring profiteer who put working people out on the street and shipped their jobs overseas.

Then, while Obama’s ads in the battleground states reinforced the Republican-made caricature of Mitt, the Romney campaign did just about everything wrong

[NKP_Vet]

The assistant from Laurel Hardy Christie didn’t help matters. That SOB should do a Charlie Christ and get the hell out of the republican party.

[JCBreckenridge]

“Reagan has a point. In reality the only republican running that even knew Reagan was Newt Gingrich. But remember when Willard mocked Newt and said he had read a book by Reagan and Newt was only mentioned one time. In otherwords Willard called Newt a liar. In retrospect Newt Gingrich was the only republican running for president that stood a chance against Obama. Newt would not have sat back and let his reputation be destroyed from Obama, without fighting back. He would have also been on talk shows the last month of the election, not hiding from the media. He would have also hung Bengazhi around the communist’s neck, and not given him a pass.”

Newt was a staking horse for Romney. His job was to ensure that no other Conservative could accumulate enough support to defeat Romney in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. Which is exactly what happened.

After Newt got blown out in Florida, he was done.

[nomobs]

We have to start somewhere. What we are doing isn’t working. I guess we can keep th 3rd party issue in the back room and continue to send Rino’s out to be defeated.

What would the outcome have been had we had a 3rd party this time? The GOPe would have still blamed - THE CONSERVATIVES - for their failure.

[cdcdawg]

Newt would have lost handily, but he would have made a mockery of Obama in the process. In hindsight, since Obama won anyway, that would have been the way to go. We just didn’t have a candidate this time. Newt’s personal life has been a train wreck, and it would have killed his candidacy in the general election. Maybe one of these governors will be ready in four years.

[pepsi_junkie]

So why did he come in 2 million votes below what the pathetic McCain was able to garner in 2008?

You mean the votes Palin was able to garner in 2008. She was and is a rock star with a huge following, particularly in that election. If someone like Pawlenty had been the VP nominee in 2008 I'd bet anything that McCain/Moderate would have way less votes than Romey/Ryan. But McCain/PALIN beat Romney/Ryan because the base didn't turn out in 2012 like they did in 2008. There it is.

[Leroy S. Mort]

The mid-terms are extremely important. The Dems will go all in to win back the House and paint the Republican House as the main obstruction to “fiscal recovery”. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up like California with Dem supermajorities in House and Senate. Then we are truly screwed.

[apillar]

When will the GOP learn that every time they shove a RINO down our throats, we sit at home on election day, it happened in 2008 and again in 2012. Run on conservative ideas like in 2010 and you win in a landslide, run a RINO and you lose. When they figure it out they will start winning election again. But if anything they think Romney wasn’t a big enough RINO, now they think the only way they can win is to run a social liberal female half-black, half-hispanic lesbian or some such nonsense.

[frnewsjunkie]

You are so right!!!!!!

[palmer]

GOP is history as a viable party.

If they collapse soon enough then we have a chance to create the federalist party or whatever without them interfering.

[outinyellowdogcountry]

I don’t know if I can get emotionally invested in another Republican candidate that is lukewarm. I don’t think I will. The primary was brutal but necessary. Romney was nasty in the primary but nice guy in general election. I want a conservative that is not ashamed. Ryan was not ashamed to explain himself and he was good at it but seems they muzzled him? Rubio was my pick for VP. Tired of namby pamby moderates and know it all pundits. So Tired. And Ann Coulter should not sell another book because I am thinking she is a fraud. And get ready men.....she is NOT that pretty. Without her long hair she would look very angular and harsh. Not that that matters but it seems to be part of her illusion. She has written sarcastic books that conservatives have lapped up and it is just money making for her. I stand with Mark Levin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[newzjunkey]

I supported Newt, I voted for Newt, Newt would've been brilliant except he'd have lost the women's vote even more than Romney. Unfortunate but true.

Romney was our best shot; I think he waged a formidable campaign against a well liked, "historical" incumbent known for fighting dirty. When most voters say they blame Bush for the economy rather than the man on the ballot and you're from the party of Bush and are being characterized as wanting to return to those policies, an already weary and afraid electorate is not going to take a chance even if they loathe the direction the country is going in.

At the end of the day, I still believe John F Kerry or John McCain with Obama's record would have had NO CHANCE for reelection.

[gore_sux]

I think an angry black man like Herman Cain would have been perfect. His affair would only have taken Bill Clinton out of play and would have turned into an advantage. I want the next candidate to be an unapolegitic arse-kicker if we’re going to go down with the ship anyways. Bloody them up on the way down.

[ObozoMustGo2012]

Well, those tea partiers and evangelicals really showed us! Glad to know they will keep their principles while losing their bank accounts. They must feel so proud.

[fabian]

so true...great article. We need a house cleaning!

[klimeckg]

2016! Four years is a very long time! We don’t have 4 years, most of us are hanging on by days. The GOP and DEMs have once again become the Democratic-Republican Party of 1791. We need a real party otherwise 2016 will be another Moderate selection. I hope that there is some effort now to get real conservatives into the house and Senate in 2014. That’s the of us right now 2014 and of course this nonsense of Bonner making bubble gum and spit ideas to save us from falling into he’ll!

[MissMagnolia]

Conservatives have held their noses twice now and voted for McCain & Romney to try to avoid a greater evil .... and lost. With this election, the GOPe has well and truly lost their 'nose-holding' base ..... fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. No more GOPe wins in the future because I don't think they'll change course (already people are throwing Jeb Bush's name around so that tells me all I need to know). "Avoiding a greater evil" as a reason to vote for poor moderate, squishy candidates won't turn out the base in the future - evil is already here.

[klimeckg]

There also needs to be an effort to stop Krispy Kreme Christie of entering the arena anymore! I don’t know NJ politics, but he is not fit for office (no pun intended) :-)! He can govern all he wants in NJ but keep him out of the house/sente and definitely the WH. He is not a conservative. He did not Stand by Liberty, Property Rights, individual Sovereignty, the Constitution, and Capitalism! So I hope someone stops this man from climbing. I’d also keep him from being invited to any conservative events.

[klimeckg]

Impose Term limits on the hosue and senate!

[newzjunkey]

I just heard two-thirds of voters said the hurricane was a factor in their votes; 43% considered Obama's response.

Social conservatives make it tough to pivot to the general election. Single women bought the lady parts bs and philosophizing about rape didn’t help.

The worst of it is we aren't talking about mainstream social conservatives.

We're talking about extreme elements who want to hear about their faith-based beliefs with every breath, are unconcerned about electability, unconcerned about a person's record (Santorum confirming Sonia Sotomayor, for example). As long as the candidate sounds like a preacher more than a president, they're in.

They have become their own worst enemy and Todd Akin is a prime example. He irrationally believed his nomination was providential, that he couldn't lose to McCaskill even after his rape comment. These people attack anyone who wanted Akin to step aside as RINOs, GOPe, abortionists, etc. And I mean everyone, no matter the persons solid credentials.

Then we have Mourdock weighing in on rape as well, saying it's God's Will which is music to the ears of the people I refer to above.

Both Akin & Mourdock lost easily winnable U.S. Senate seats in states Romney won with 300K-500K more votes than either man.

These people harm their causes, give life to the stereotypes painted by Democrats and drag others down by association.

Rush Limbaugh is responsible for some of the biggest image Republican problems in recent years. He helped cost us this election. His "slut" battle with Sandra Fluke gave life to the "War on Women" which helped define this race for women.

[newzjunkey]

The parasites grew fat with their 0bamaphones and the removal of any work requirement for assistance and he swelled their ranks by 17,000,000 on EBT cards alone in the last four years so that was an addition to his base

You're a mindless bigot, a hapless drone full of loathing. In this roadkill recovery, EBT has become an essential part of the unemployed and underemployed surviving.