Posted on 11/04/2008 7:55:15 PM PST by CWW
I have been a Freeper fo over 10 years, and here are my 2 cents for what it's worth.
--WHY REPUBLICANS LOST –
1. Weak Candidate – C’mon, be serious. If it weren’t for Palin, it would have been a worse bloodbath than it is.
2. Poorly Run Campaign – McCain offered no alternative plan and chose the gentleman’s course by unilaterally disarming on the most important issues, e.g., Rev. Wright, Obama’s radical abortion position, immigration, Cap and Trade/Global Warming, Campaign Finance, etc.
3. Spendthrift Congressional Republicans -- squandered their capital by spending like drunken sailors and by supporting President Bush on liberal spending programs like No-Child Left Behind, Prescription Drugs, Immigration, etc. They also alienated conservatives by compromising on judicial appointments.
4. Unilateral Disarmament -- by voting for McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform, which Bush signed. McCain Was Hoisted On His Own Petard!! 5. Failure of President Bush to Use Bully Pulpit to Sell War and Explain It’s Relevancy to Peace & Stability.
6. Economic Collapse on Republican Party’s Watch -- the signs were there, but the public was kept in the dark. Blame at the 11th hour on Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, et al. was too little, too late.
7. To Much Compromise on Important Issues to Support President Bush – Campaign Finance Reform, Immigration, Prescription Drug Boondoggle, No-Child Left Behind, etc.
8. Infighting Among Conservatives-- Evangelicals split there vote in the primary between Romney and Huckaby. With all of his faults, Romney would have run circles around Obama on economic policy – the very issue that decided the election.
9. Biased Media – Unbelievably bias, and this will not change – EVER.
Some of these factors were not within the party’s control. But many were, e.g., controlling spending, and running an aggressive campaign with a positive theme, etc.
The fight for the control of the Republican Party is over. The moderate Gerald Ford-Country Club Wing has lost. They could not convince Reagan Democrats to cross over despite the groveling and “reaching across the isle”.
HOW TO WIN NEXT TIME:
1. Stand for Something Besides Your Personal Re-Election, Dammit!!
2. Don’t be afraid to take unpopular positions if they are the right positions. People will follow a leader. 3. Create a conservative platform and require candidates to take the pledge to earn party support.
4. Recruit conservative candidates who have lived in the real world and held real jobs. No more party insiders. Recruit more conservative women!!
5. Use every opportunity possible to hold democrats accountable for every vote, every failed policy and every tidbit of bad news.
6. Shun liberal Republicans and liberal candidates.
7. Revitalize the grass roots conservative base by opposing liberal democrat policies at every turn.
8. Adopt a “No More Pork” Pledge. 9. Oppose ALL spending increases except for Defense.
10. Introduce tax cut bills for small businesses over and over and over.
11. Oppose income redistribution to people who don’t pay income taxes. 12. Stand firm on immigration and securing our borders.
13. Oppose policies that weaken the family -- gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia, etc.
14. Develop more alternative forms of media to deliver the conservative message - -More Blogs, more Webinars, More College Republican Clubs, More Rubber-Chicken Dinners to Spread the word, etc. 15. Replace the ENTIRE Republican leadership in the House and Senate. They lost; they should be gone. Period.
I very much appreciate your post. You nail it with your list of why we lost and also some great ideas going forward. I listed some too in a previous post elsewhere. I appreciate you being in the solution toward conservative change. It is time for a revolution of action for conservatives. Time to form clear principles and work from that foundation only. Throw the rest out.
The first thing we have to do is change how we pick our candidate. The front loaded winner take all process allows the media, crossovers and indies to choose our candidate and when you do that you get a McCain. After that we need to concentrate more on the issues of the economy and national defense. These are the things that people care about. The EVs might be drawn in by the abortion issue, and for the record I am extremely pro-life, but many people do not vote on the social issues like guns and abortion. We saw in PA, OH, MN, WI, MI etc. how much the gun issue got us. Next we need to find attractive and ARTICULATE candidates who can make the conservative arguments against all comers. Lastly we have to be inclusive to all conservatives not just the hard core social conservatives. We push a lot of good people away by allowing the EVs to run our party. They aren’t that plentiful and many moderately conservative voters are turned off by their fanaticism. I look to people like Mike Pence, Eric Canter, Bobby Jindal, Tom Coburn and our own governor Mitch Daniels as examples of the type of leaders I am talking about.
Race should be # 1 since 94% of blacks voted for 0bama, the vast majority only because of race.
If we hope to combat this new assault on democracy, we have to be willing to confront the enemy’s new tactic.
He wouldn’t dare blame Palin. I don’t think even he is THAT stupid.
I also think that Conservatives need to find a way to get to our young people.
Also, our media helped influence the election. We need to do something about this.
We have met the enemy & he is us.Until Republicans return to CONSERVATIVE principles of less government and honest government that truly serves the people, we are doomed. It may be too late for the USA.
That second line was just too cruel. Really tasteless.
You nailed it.
Yes Yes Yes! We need to get our heads together and do away with the mainstream media, and that includes Fox. We need to find out who the main advertisers are and threaten them with a boycott. God, it can’t be that hard, can it?
No matter what happens, the conservatives did not get a choice in choosing a candidate. Period.
These sorry results were exactly as conservatives predicted they would be after Democrats chose McCain in the FL and GA GOP primaries. They knew he would be the easiest candidate to beat, and they were right.
As of tonight, I am going to take a four-year sabatical from politics. My husband and I decided tonight that we will be retiring. Let The One send us our checks, and we’ll cash them.
If you can’t beat them, let them pay for all their promises on someone else’s dime.
Sometimes reality really bites, huh?
Newt was smart enough to know that if Clinton had been impeached, Al Gore would be our president.
I don’t think you would like that.
It was only a matter of time before we had an election like this. The question is, can we recover? We have to try, of course, and I say we start by getting our own house in order.
The RINOs that created this debacle have to be dismissed from their positions of power and influence, and replaced by patriots.
More sincerely, we should have nominated Duncan Hunter.
1- It looks as if it’s over, “projectedly speaking.
2- Even when it’s over, it may not be over.
3- There will be lawsuits, I hope, due to ACORN and other voting irregularities. All we can hope for is Honest Judges.
4- We had to live through Jimmy Carter to get to Ronald Reagan, and we can live through 4 years of Barry Obama to get to the likes of Sarah Palin.
5- WE became too complacent and we didn’t start the VETTING process soon enough or with enough vigor. EVEN IF WE SOMEHOW PULL OUT A WIN THIS TIME, the Socialist-Marxists will STILL think they can overpower us in 4-more-years. If they win this time, the American Public will get so ticked off at Democrats that they won’t have a chance in the White House for at least another 16-20 years (the length of a person’s recall).
6- Even though Barry Obama wins, we still hammer at our Congresspeople regularly and vigorously. We send emails, we send snail mails, we keep up with CSpan and everything going on in Congress. AND we watch what our various States are doing.
7- WE have got to stay political. It’s no longer just a game, it is Survival. We Can Live Through 4 Years Of Barry Obama.
8- No matter what he promised, he’s got nearly a Trillion Dollars in Bail Out on His Plate and he will ultimately be responsible for what happens with that, not George W Bush. And WE need to make sure, with letters to the editors, that the Public is made aware of just whose responsibility it is. And we also need to play “devil’s advocate” when he proclaims that he “can’t” do something he promised to do while running for President. WE need to remind the lemmings that Obama promised . . . and now he’s reneging. So what else did he LIE about?
9- WE have the advantage over an Obama Presidency. We know what’s going on and he is clueless. USE IT to our advantage. Inundate his office with letters and emails for every mistake he makes, for every misstep he makes. Call him on his errors and Quote History Books.
10- WE know how to use the Internet to our advantage! And we will do so. Maybe an Obama Presidency is just what WE need to shake us up and make us get serious about the USofA.
Now, lock and load and be vigilant. And don’t nobody try to take my State Retirement away from me.
Right on.
Here’s a plan: 1. Quit contributing to charities. The government will take care of that for you now that they are going to get a big chunk out of your paycheck. 2. If you are a business owner and you have to fire employees due to the high tax rate, fire liberal employees first.
The “young people” will start to get it when Mommy and Daddy can’t afford to give them everything and bail them out anymore...they’ll get it really fast.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.