“Did the Republican base really not show up or did they show up and had their votes discarded?”
Both....I think many conservatives are weary of having to hold their noses and voting for a moderate republican. Ann Counter seems to believe that Mitt is a conservative guy, and perhaps on some issues he is...but as an over all candidate he certainly isn’t..and his lack of a serious conservative foundation was his undoing, just as it was for McCain. You take this general lack of interest by conservatives, and add to it the obvious shennagigans by the Democrats with respect to voter fraud and you get the result we saw Tuesday night. Like it or not, Barry did an outstanding job of using the power of the presidency to ensure his re-election. Chrisie didn’t do Romney any favors, but I simply do not agree that a hurricane and the resulting PR boon for Barry was the reason why Romney lost...it was a factor to be sure....but I believe the situation was decided long before that....too many in the GOP did not like Romney...because he is a Mormon, because he is not a solid conservative, because of Romneycare, there are alot of reasons...but the net result is many just didn’t support his presidency. So now the GOP talking heads are warbling on about more inclusiveness as if the GOP isn’t already inclusive, which it very much is. No, the problem has been, remains, and will be the fact that the elite of the GOP disdains the Tea Party specifically, and conservatism in general. Here we have another moderate nominee knocked off despite his moderate campaign....and they continue to spout off about how we just need to try to be even more moderate (meaning more progressive). Rush was right yesterday....Conservatism, when properly articulated with sincere passion, always wins....and a sincerely passionate conservative campaign has not been tried in ages...certainly not in the last two presidential campaigns. I suggest we push for a change NOW in the GOP...get rid of Boehner and McConnell as leaders in the House and Senate....replace them with Paul Ryan and Rand Paul...or whomever we can find that will actively and passionately articulate serious conservative policies in opposition to Obama’s criminal agenda. 2014 MUST be a major push to obliterate any democrat/progressive opposition in the House, and to do the same in the Senate to the degree that is possible. If, after the 2014 midterms, we conservatives do not see a major shift by the GOP towards a serious respect for the conservative base of the party, then the conservative base needs..no... MUST find a new home...because the GOP has moved too far to the Left to be our home any longer. Our country can no longer afford to allow progressiveism to run amok in DC unopposed....
Good post. I agree! The GOP-E doesn’t want to change the DC political culture, they merely want their seat at the table. We have a financial/social crisis that needs to be dealt with seriously. Rand Paul or DeMint and Ryan would be good replacements. We don’t need to compromise towards marxism. We need to hold the ground we have now and work towards reinforcements in 2014. It’s going to be a hellish 2 years.