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Future for Republicans is not so bad [4 reasons for optimism]
Washington Post ^ | 11/18/12 | Chris Cillizza

Posted on 11/18/2012 1:14:38 PM PST by SoFloFreeper

It’s not a good time to be a Republican. The circular firing squad — it was Mitt Romney’s fault! Demographics did it! Conservatives messed everything up! — has begun in earnest even though the 2012 election is less than two weeks gone....

That said, things aren’t that bad for Republicans. Here are four reasons for optimism.

1. The party’s superstars are coming of age...

2. There are an historic number of Republican governors...

3. The electoral map is bad, but not that bad. We’ve written extensively on how where Republicans currently find themselves in terms of the electoral map is similar to where Democrats found themselves in the 1980s. That’s broadly true, but things for Republicans today aren’t nearly as dire as they looked for Democrats three decades ago...

4. History is on their side. Presidential politics in the post World War II era tends to be defined by the pendulum effect. The pendulum swings one way for eight (or so) years and then has a tendency to swing back the other way — almost no matter what...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2014; 2016
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To: CodeToad

These articles are to make the cowards feel better about themselves.


21 posted on 11/18/2012 2:18:23 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: bicyclerepair
The point has been reached where the takers outnumber the makers I believe.

I agree, but Akin's "legitimate rape" and Mourdock taking it upon himself to lecture us on God's will did nothing to help.

22 posted on 11/18/2012 2:28:39 PM PST by TwelveOfTwenty (Ho, ho, hey, hey, I'm BUYcotting Chick-Fil-A)
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To: newzjunkey

Many retirees have second homes, sometimes in other states, for instance many people from the north stay in Florida during the winter months then go back to their families in the summer months. Retirees have the flexibility of moving any place they want because they do not have jobs to hold them down. There is no reason why they cannot make their new home their official address and be registered to vote there.


23 posted on 11/18/2012 2:31:58 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: SoFloFreeper

“I think the hopes for conservatives may truly rise after 2020..”

You mean the Civil War which I’ve been praying for is arriving early?


24 posted on 11/18/2012 2:35:44 PM PST by max americana (Make the world a better place by punching a liberal in the face)
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To: reagan_fanatic

We need to get the Reagan Democrats to come to the understanding that they as working people are the ones who are carrying the burden on their shoulders. Also, when people are educated about the effect that the debt will have on their children, they will come around. But first they must be educated in terms that Joe Average can understand. Republicans tend to use wonkish or accountant type language. They need to bring it home to the working people in a way that they can understand. For instance, what does 16 trillion actually mean? You use numbers like that and it makes people’s eyes glaze over, but you tell them that every man woman and child in this country own 40 thousand dollars to the federal government and they will get it.

Another thing is to drive home the point that the Democrats are always begging for more money year after year. When are they going to stop? It is true that the Democrats are slick talkers who could sell ice to the Eskimos, but when you tell people enough is enough, they can get it. We have to use simple speach that Joe Average can understand.

We need a clear simple message-—enough is enough.


25 posted on 11/18/2012 2:43:31 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: SoFloFreeper

Th Point has been reached where it is time to end the GOP since it is not a conservative party. The chance has passed for them to fight. Time to began a conservative Party USA. I am in the process of switching to unaffiliated. This dumb republican party won’t even fight voter fraud so what good is to to defend the party.


26 posted on 11/18/2012 2:43:56 PM PST by Mozilla
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To: SoFloFreeper

The point has been reached where it is time to end the GOP since it is not a conservative party. The chance has passed for them to fight. Time to began a conservative Party USA. I am in the process of switching to unaffiliated. This dumb republican party won’t even fight voter fraud so what good is it to defend the party.


27 posted on 11/18/2012 2:45:15 PM PST by Mozilla
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To: stanne
The best thing to do right now is to get active in our local parties. Newbies don't win early, but in 2014/2016, those active for two years often have a good chance to be a state delegate if they win their precinct delegate election. Precinct delegates are often unopposed.

The easiest way to gain respect by local parties is by showing up and getting to know those there. Many (not all) of them are "establishment" but a lot of them are just as disgruntled with "national establishment" or "state establishment" as the rest of us. Some of those there are as conservative as we are. (Even to Congressional level - Tim Walberg is a good guy and my rep.)

The bad news is the amount of patience required as this is a four year operation. The good news is that it is possible to make changes. Michigan's two RNC reps last year were replaced at convention when their election was up. We don't have much RNC recourse, but we do have state and local party recourse. If enough states say enough, then RNC has to change as well. 2016 is a four year operation and starts now.

28 posted on 11/18/2012 2:54:06 PM PST by Darren McCarty (If most people were more than keyboard warriors, we might have won the election)
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To: TwelveOfTwenty

Notice how the Democrats are always using the same talking points. They do not talk about abortion, they talk about *women’s health*. They are skilled at side stepping the tough questions and of course they are carefully rehearsed. No one is allowed to go off message and be a loose cannon. While I do not admire the Dems dishonesty, I think that our candidates need to go through a political charm school. They need to know which phrases to use for sensitive issues. The fact that the media is dishonest and is always trying to set up traps for Republicans is reason enough to give our candidates some public relations lessions. When the media is all about propaganda you will never get a fair shake from them so you have to blow them off is a very nice way. “Be as wise as serpents, be as harmless as doves.” We are dealing with serpents in the Democrat party and in the media so let’s not step into the snares that they set before our feet.


29 posted on 11/18/2012 2:54:36 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: Darren McCarty
Then get to work on your state. I think it helped elect Obama.
30 posted on 11/18/2012 2:56:41 PM PST by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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To: Beowulf9

Don’t be surprised, I live in Massachusetts which has a very large Catholic population but people vote overwhelmingly Democrat. I guess when people have to decide between conscience or money, they pick money which they believe they are going to get from the Democrats and of course, those rich guys are going to pay for it all.


31 posted on 11/18/2012 2:58:14 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: SoFloFreeper
The pendulum swings one way for eight (or so) years and then has a tendency to swing back the other way — almost no matter what...

8 years? Is Chris Cillizza for real? Is there ANYONE who really believes this is an 8 year swing? Is this writer and the reading public so uninformed and/or unaware to be oblivious of all that has transpired since the mid 1960's? The last 20 years in particular have been utterly destructive to us as a people, the US Constitution and this nation. That includes Republican GW Bush. This is not some 'pendulum swing' by any stretch nor did all of this just happen in the last 4 years.

32 posted on 11/18/2012 3:00:07 PM PST by Altura Ct.
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To: Mozilla
Other conservative parties outside of the NY fusion system can't even with a plurality of a city council. 3rd parties have not succeeded at anything since at least 1856.

The bottom line is this. It was, is, and always will be a 2-party system. If the Republican Party, the closest thing we have to a conservative party which sometimes wins, is not doing the job, we need to make sure that people there are put in place to do the job properly. That's a four year process and it starts with making sure our local and state Republican parties have good leadership at their leadership elections in the next two months.

33 posted on 11/18/2012 3:02:29 PM PST by Darren McCarty (If most people were more than keyboard warriors, we might have won the election)
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To: Mozilla

When I was at the DMV office to make an address change 6yrs ago, I also switched from Republican to Conservative, under #5 Other, on the Voter Change computer screen. Somehow, Independent and Unaffiliated just didn’t *sound* right. Most people don’t even check under that Other choice.


34 posted on 11/18/2012 3:05:02 PM PST by Carriage Hill (America - a great idea while it lasted.)
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To: GeorgeWashingtonsGhost

Vlademir Putin is starting to look more and more like George Washington, compared to what we’ve got.


35 posted on 11/18/2012 3:06:10 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: cradle of freedom

Oh I’m not surprised but I think Catholic leadership might greatly improve the Republicans.

Should be more appeal to the Catholic hierachy to press their members to not be rubbing elbows with goats;)


36 posted on 11/18/2012 3:08:34 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: TornadoAlley3
Then get to work on your state. I think it helped elect Obama.

As well as have a coronation attempt for senate to a guy who lost by 17% to Stabenow, gave up a state rep district to create a safe district that wasn't safe (my own), although my congressman won.

There's plenty of work to be done. We ousted two RNC reps here last year over bad behavior in the primary. That's a start. I'm working on county/state elections right now, and plan to enact some changes around here.

37 posted on 11/18/2012 3:09:59 PM PST by Darren McCarty (If most people were more than keyboard warriors, we might have won the election)
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To: bicyclerepair

Ditto. This last election proved America is gone forever. We are now a socialist banana republic. We had a clear choice between free enterprise and teat-sucking marxists and we lost. I no longer am going to hope that we can ever elect another Ronald Reagan. I refuse to be lulled by Fox News and right wing talk show hosts. Just wake me up when Texas secedes, My family will be on the first bus!


38 posted on 11/18/2012 3:26:07 PM PST by 2nd Amendment (Who is John Galt?)
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To: Beowulf9

The Catholic leadership has been very tepid about getting into politics. A few are showing some spunk such as Cardinal Dolan. Most Catholics have been Democrat and there was a time when the Democrats didn’t side with abortionists and homosexual marriage so it has taken some time for a lot of Catholics to realize how truly strange their party has become. I hope that Cardinal Dolan and other Catholic leaders will bring Republicans into their sphere of influence. It would be good to see Republicans being invited to speak before Catholic discussions and even parish functions. Notice how the blue areas of the voting maps are not just the city but the suburbs of the cities as well. Many of those suburban voters are Catholic Democrats who moved out to the suburbs a generation ago. These people are hardworking, they are homeowners and I believe they should be our voters because they are shouldering most of the burden of taxation. Republican outreach to Catholic clergy would be great because they know how to talk to their people in a way that they understand. Northern Catholics do not speak like southern Evangelicals, they need to hear people who come from their background so that they can relate to them.


39 posted on 11/18/2012 4:03:40 PM PST by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: Darren McCarty

You have some good ideas, here. Thanks.


40 posted on 11/18/2012 4:25:42 PM PST by stanne
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