Assuming you are right that some in the conservative base did sit home, the lesson learned should be -
Don’t alienate a couple million voters from your base in order to pick up couple hundred thousand independents. You can’t lose 5 conservative voters for every 1 independent you pick up and expect to win. The math just doesn’t work.

But we’ll never know if you were correct in your assertion that people stayed home. For starters, over 4 million more people voted in 2008 than in 2004. The 2004 Presidential election had 121,069,054 votes cast, and the 2008 Presidential election had 125,181,481 votes cast. So if all other variables were constant (and they weren’t), you would have a difficult time arguing that people stayed home.

But this election saw waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many variables to be able to make a case that Republicans stayed home. If anything, President Obama generated a historic turnout of the black vote.

Yep and when all those folks decided they would sit home and let the Democrats win so that they could send a message, look at the message we got….Reid and Pelosi and together with Obama they support an immigration policy that makes the one McCain supported look downright draconian…so I would say that a lot of people on both sides of that issue made some tactical errors, and that includes the right.

Now here we are stuck with these loons…and whatever mistakes the GOP might have made they were downright sane compared to the people running things now.

I’m not trying to be pessimistic here but based on their past performances I doubt the Republicans will have the strategy nor the testicular fortitude to carry it out even if the did.

Very sad. I search for encouragment on the web today but find none. Sad day for the Republic.

Look, we all want real reform in health care but we don’t want government taking it over. That isn’t exactly “reform”. There is a federal role to play but it isn’t one of “owning” health care.

We want:

1. Individuals with their own policies not provided by employers to be given the same tax treatment as people who do have their policies provided by an employer.

2. Individuals and small business being able to pool together to get better group rates.

3. Standardize mandated coverage across the states and allow insurance companies to operate across state lines thereby increasing competition and giving people more choice.

4. Cap malpractice award amounts.

Those three simple items would greatly increase the number of insured in this country. Your employer writes off their portion of your health care premium. If you pay your entire premium, why can’t you deduct it? Why can’t your neighborhood or town pool together and get a great rate from a company as a group? Why does your state drive up insurance costs by mandating that hair transplants and viagra be covered while the state next door gets lower rates because they don’t require those things be covered? Why should a family in their 20′s with small children be forced to mollify some guy’s hair loss insecurity through higher health insurance costs? Why can’t they get a policy that more closely matches their needs and costs less? Why do we all have to pay higher costs and pay for unnecessary procedures because a few people like to play “litigation lotto” and sue for outrageous sums? John Edwards is personally responsible for the skyrocketing of cesarean deliveries due to his specializing in litigation against Ob-Gyn doctors.

Those things would be “reform” and don’t require a government takeover of the industry.

Bet old Reid won’t let him within a mile of Nelson over on the Senate side if the two want to sit down for a chat.

The list of payoffs that got Reid his cloture vote
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/12/22/the-list-of-payoffs-that-got-reid-his-cloture-vote/

Left Now Admitting Obamacare Full of Budget Gimmicks
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/12/21/left-now-admitting-obamacare-full-of-budget-gimmicks/

Legislators Ask Attorney General To Seek Protection From Healthcare Bill
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_165401.asp

By the way, REP. Parker Griffith has just switched parties.

AJ, I know Redstate’s been off your good lit for a while, but this is something worth looking at.

It’s worth it to them – they have made it as unrepealable as possible. This is NOT going to end well.