Nov 07 2012
The Obligatory “You’ll Eat Your Crow And Like It” Post
One of the great things about blogging is when you have an epic face plant moment, you get to post about it the next day – no matter what. /sarcasm
Amazingly, President Obama ran the table of swing states – taking all but North Carolina. Color me sadly stunned. I got none right, outside NC. I am in good company I guess: Rove, Limbaugh, Krauthammer ….
Something is clearly wrong on the GOP side if after four years of this kind of economy the nation is ready to go through four more years of massive debt and deficits with no job creation. And there will be very little job creation coming. Businesses are looking at tax hikes, Obamacare and massive new regulations. Business owners (like us) don’t have the luxury of adding a lot of new people now – unless they are there to fill out government forms. This does not make us money or competitive, it simply drains our revenues that should be going to opening new opportunities and raising salaries. But why would a liberal, community-organizer understand business?
I worry about our kids, and the fact we are not handing them the same nation handed to us by my parents generation (WW II). Instead of the American dream being about making something of yourself and succeeding, it is now who can grab the most government handouts. Or better yet – be the one handing out the goodies to the poor masses. And the debt they have now to pay off is horrific.
If Americans under the age of 18 were required as a group to pay off the entirety of the federal government’s debt in equal shares, each would now need to pay about $218,676.
That is more than the $130,468 average price tag for four years at a private college or the $173,100 median price for an existing one-family home in the United States.
Obama only knows one trick – spending. Hopefully the GOP House will – this time! – hold their ground. But I fear they will fold, like they did in 2011.
It is not morning in America – again. And I can point to a few things that kept GOP out of office – again.
First off in VA: the GOP has to let the voters pick their candidates. ‘Ol George Allen ‘the retread’ was hoisted on the voters without their support (or desire). He was a huge boat anchor for Mitt Romney. You cannot get people excited about a campaign when they are not even allowed to vote (win or lose) on the selection of the candidates. Bob McDonnell is the face of the new VA GOP. The old guard who fear open primaries need to go into retirement – they have done enough damage. There better be change in the Grand Old Party of the Old Dominion. Or else go the way of the Whigs.
Social issues: If the GOP is going to be strapped with idiot white men telling women what it means to be raped they should just give up now and not waste time or money. Aiken and Mourdoch left a stain on the entire GOP’s small-government message of the season. This makes three GOP senate candidates I am so glad did not make it I can’t tell you. Boat anchors, all of them.
Rich White Guy Party? When I hear talking heads say the GOP needs 75% white turn out to win, there is something seriously, seriously wrong. I mean what is the point of a national party that looks like they come from one family? America is diverse and we need to tap into that and explore its potential. Instead we find the GOP being distilled down to a single large voting bloc. Rich White Guys….
This is the new face of the GOP – or should have been.
Mia Love conceded in a hotly contested congressional race against incumbent Rep. Jim Matheson (D) in Utah’s 2nd congressional district.
As was Herman Cain, Sarah Pailin, etc. Yes – I am an old(er) white guy, but not rich and sure as hell not comfortable with an all-white male group as my social circle. I can’t talk sports and cars that long before going comatose. I enjoy the diversity of my Northern Virginia community – including the immigrant working families. I want legal and managed immigration: not rabid, unbending, uncaring anti-immigration. I definitely think women should be equal partners in all endeavors. All of sudden I see the GOP as the lecturing, know-it-all guy you hate to be around. Mitt Romney was a nice exception to the rule.
I am not going to sugar coat this. President Obama AND his party won big after four years of historic economic pain and suffering. That tells you something about how bad the opposition appeared to too many voters. Turnout was astoundingly high, which meant the people spoke. Races were close and down to the wire, which means voters wanted a good option. I cannot help but ponder what a Bob McDonnell would have done in 2012 (like he did in 2009). Or a Chris Christie – though I am a bit cool on the man.
The GOP needs an overhaul, new blood up and down, and a new set of causes built around a moderate libertarian core of limited, non-intrusive, cost-efficient, results-oriented government. That means jettisoning all ideas about using the government to impose a preferred set of morals on We The People. Get over the social engineering, life will teach the lessons needed to survive and thrive.
Finally, pick a small set of priorities like national debt and career/wealth opportunities (which is not the same thing as ‘jobs’) and hammer the hell out of them. Expose the problems and failures of the opposition (see green energy for endless examples of cronyism). Don’t dance around the issue and try and be polite. Stay on target, stay focused and work solutions. If you are off yapping about rape being God’s will you are going to be seen as completely off the tracks and in the ditch. Because you are!
Four more years of incompetent leadership will lead to only one thing – another shot at a bruised and beaten electorate in 2016. But in those four years, the GOP better be a completely different animal.
Now, back to life for a while. I have an economic storm to prepare for, and it won’t be easy going to weather this one.
Update: By the way, the esteemed Ed Morrissey has an interesting post out this morning – noting we had a D+9 turnout again. Can you say “centrists”?
Update: Curious about that economic storm coming? Here is one bleak outlook worth reading.
The conservative/libertatrian/TeaParty/Republican group better decide whether they want to be a permanent group of minority losers or if they want to create a majority and win. Too many people in this group want it al their way or they pick up their marbles and go home – leaving Obama and his supporters in charge.
Take a look at voter self-identification in the exit polls: 35% conservative, 25% liberal, and 40 (FORTY)% independent. The demographics in the country have changed and we need to 1) unite and 2) win over a majority of independents if we want to win elections.
Limbaugh has said: “Try conservatism, it works every time it has been tried.” I agree with that message, but the messaging and the messenger need to be changed. Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Mia Love, Suzanna Martinez, Bobby Jindel, Nikki Haley, et al need to be the face of the party. Excuse me, but John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and John McCain aren’t going to win over those people we need to bring to our side. That’s the messenger part.
The messaging part has to do with how you package the message. When the talking heads call Obama “the Annointed One” and “his excellency” and call him a Muslim, etc. that turns off voters and does nothing to bring them to our side. Yeah, its red meat to the believers but disgusting to everyone else. When our leaders say out loud that their number one priority is to defeat the President (it may be true, but do you have to shout it from the towers?) that turns off voters who just want us to get along.
The way the message is presented and who presents it must be changed. And many on our side need to get off the “My way or the highway” mentality.
I agree with many aspects of the comments already posted above me:
Redteam is someone who I frequently find common ground with. The ‘excitement’ factor, for example, is something that was missing from the Romney package. He was polite, empathetic, at times warm and humorous, civil, had lofty ideas, showed passion, growing stronger in the closing days of the campaign, pulled in substantial amounts of money, campaigned until the very end…and more. But, the fact that some 10 million voters decided to skip this election, from the ones voting in ’08, is proof positive (to me) that he just didn’t have that thing called ‘charisma,” and couldn’t rally enough people to win.
Even though I personally grew to like and respect the man, after the 2nd day of election decompression I’m finding others did not feel the same way. For instance, people are continuing to say that Romney didn’t explain details of his economic plan well. His wealth has been brought up, complaining about his own low tax rate (on investment income), and seeing him as someone not able to understand the common man.
A more interesting reason, though, that is being discussed today, was the effectiveness of Obama’s negative ad campaign, preceding Romney even officially claiming the R nomination. By coming out early and hard they were able to define Romney before he even got out of the gate, last August. Supposedly 85% of Obama’s ads against Romney were negative — greater than any other campaign. Something like $600 million was spent on this psych-ops kind of character assassination strategy, leaving the dems with far less money in November than Romney had. It was a calculated risk end game that worked, as it helped to plant talking points into people’s heads that stuck — seemingly resistant to anything that Romney tried to do or say to counter or deflect their distortions. You then add in the MSM assisted cover-up of Benghazi, the perfectly timed storm, giving way to the bipartisan photo op with Romney’s keynote speaker at the RNC convention, and the ingredients for an Obama win were in place.
Oneal lane – I share your discouragement. Sometimes the odds of attracting a big enough R coalition, who can successfully accomplish a face-off with dems, and who always seem a step ahead in hubris and strategy, is daunting.
Layman — you echoed my own sentiments about the changing demographics, and issues associated with them.
Last thoughts: Mark Steyn brought up a good differentiation between the dem and R approaches to campaigning. The dems, he asserts, cater to tribal identity kind of politics — people grouped and then targeted to their special interests and needs. Whereas, the republicans direct their campaign messaging to the ‘citizens,’ as a wholistic kind of group.
I don’t actually care why Romney lost. i am just afraid that the democrats will lose their now unchecked dishonesty to institutionalize their ability to cheat and steal elections
I think it is beyond doubt at this point that the GOP is not redeemable.
They learned nothing from the drubbing they got in 2006 in 2008.
The Tea Party, they despise, saved the day in 2010, only to see their candidates undermined in 2010 and 2012 by the same people, in the GOP, responsible for the country’s and the party’s debacle.
You need to understand: BUSH GAVE US OBAMA!!!!
I said it many times, and I stand by it.
Furthermore, the Bush family is responsible for squandering the Reagan revolution.
The check pants repubics, the establishment, has snuffed the patriot coalition, that Reagan put together.
Their mission is managing the decline and secure power for themselves.
That may not be as damning as the destructive work done by the demsheviks, but the country is going to hell in either case.
And constantly i see Jeb Bush probing and pushing for a return to power in 2016 or beyond.
The push for amnesty is relentless now.
I see little changes to change the GOP in time for 2014.
The only chance, in my opinion, is to start a new third party, or to combine several small parties, like the libertarians, the Constitution party and secure enough seats in Congress and Senate to exert pressure on the GOP.
Then, grow the new third party, and draw good people from the GOP, until GOP becomes representative for the very small group it stands for today.
I am almost certain, Jim DeMint, Sarah Palin, the young Paul, Ted Cruz and others will leave the GOP and join the new party.
The Ron Paul revolution should have told the GOP everything about the need to change.
The GOP, as it is today, doesn’t represent me, and, I believe many feel like me.
That’s the gist of the problem.
Face it folks.
It does not matter which party gets their candidate elected to President because nothing will change as both political parties do not fear the people, they fear the banks and wall street. Until that changes, the person who is elected President is simply the puppet of choice.
We all sat here in 2008 and saw what happened and simply continue to ignore it. We thought at the time that “We The People” had a say in our Government and everyone called their Congress critters and demanded that they vote down the so called Bailout of the Banks and for half a second it worked. Congress voted no on the Bailout and the world did not go into Armageddon.
What happened next should have been proof enough to anyone that we no longer have a Representative Republic because in the blink of an eye, another vote was taken after some Republicans took some bribes and the Bailout passed against the wishes of the American people. That was just the beginning of what can only be described as the looting of America.
So after the American people bailed out the Banks by force, what did the Banks do? They did not offer any help to the people to save their homes and foreclosed on all of their homes illegally in most cases. They had originally sold your loan once, sometimes twice to investors including your pension fund, took out mortgage insurance and collected, bought default swaps and collected per AIG bailout, and when you lost your job, took a house they did not own too. It was both Democrats and Republicans that lost their homes, but I would bet there were more Democrats in that category.
Not wanting to be outdone by the Federal Government and Congress, it was revealed in September 2011, about 1 year ago, that the Federal Reserve, without any authority from anyone, especially Congress, gave over 16 Trillion US Dollars to Bailout the entire world at our expense. That was between 2007-2010, three years and does not include the latest bailout of Europe Central Bank. In three years, the Fed loaned out the same amount of our entire US Debt to the world without any oversight or authority.
The Republican party lost because their candidate did not address a major issue that everyone could have gotten behind and all were affected by and that is the illegal acts by the Wall Street Banks and the Federal Reserve. There is not a person in America that was not damaged by these illegal acts, but yet not one single Bankster has been sent to jail. No one is held accountable.
Had the Republican Party nominated a candidate with the Balls to deliver the message that those responsible for the crisis would be punished and real reform of the Banks, the Wall Street Casino, and the Federal Reserve would take place, the entire country would have been behind that candidate. Instead, we got a candidate that did not even mention the financial crisis or the Federal Reserve even once, but simply added a little known section in the Party Platform to appease the Ron Paul crowd.
The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are both out of touch with the American people. They chose Obama because at least they know what he is going to do about this issue, nothing. They did not know what Romney would do on this issue because he never bothered to even tell them anything on the issue and given the misconception that the GOP is a bunch of rich white people that must rely on the Banks to remain wealthy, why would they take a chance with Romney.
Layman, I agree with almost all you said, but Obama is not a natural born citizen, neither is Jindall or Rubio. They are not the face of the party because THEY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE THE PRESIDENT. I voted for Romney, I would not vote for either of them. I would stay home. I agree with Jan that Romney had a lot of personal qualities that I admire. Personally he seemed to be a really good person. But his politics are too middle of the road for many. for me also, but I voted for him instead of the extremely left marxist that ran on the Dimocrat ticket. I certainly agree with you about John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and John McCain, etc. We need to have someone that is attractive to a lot of people. Conservatism does work, we just haven’t really seen it since Ronald Reagan left office. We have to get a genuine conservative that will accommodate the middle. The right and middle can get excited by that combination. The right does NOT get excited by a middle of the roader that is playing a conservative (unfortunately, that describes Romney). I sometimes refer to Obama as a muslim, maybe I’m wrong to do so, but he is a muslim and I see nothing wrong with being truthful. But if I’m wrong it’s because it’s his religion and I don’t really think religion should be a primary consideration. I didn’t let Romney being a mormon affect my vote, but probably would likely never vote for a muslim. Obama’s campaign was almost a 100% negative campaign, aided greatly by having the entire MSM in his pocket. I never will figure out why the press are such willing accomplices. The more the dimocrats win, the more the press loses. At some time they won’t have the freedom to back who they want to. The feeling of Repubs right now must be exactly as the Dims were at this time on ’04 when Bush won reelection. They must have felt as if they were out forever. It only lasted 2 years. We’ll figure it out.
I just read the following on the Battleground Watch blog:
With all the revolving theories, stories, anecdotes of why Romney lost going around during the aftermath of this election, yet another one has surfaced. Supposedly the new GOTV wonder, ORCA, was a massive failure, leaving election day volunteers in disarray and confusion. Whew! Unbelievable, if true, especially with those numbers posted above being ridiculously small!
jan,
Look at my comment above regarding the ORCA disaster. The day before the election I got word from my local Victory Center that the ORCA wasn’t going to work.
I was also told that the GOP/Reince Priebus wanted to help Romney use the GOTV method used for Scott Walker in Wisconsin. The Romney team decided to go forward with Project Orca.
It now seems like this election was lost due to the lackluster GOTV effort by the Romney team. The Obama campaign took advantage of early voting and ran up the score enough that they coasted to victory.
In the future some of the Super PAC’s may want to invest in targeted GOTV efforts instead of running commercials that most people tune out almost immediately.
Thanks Joest73,
I somehow missed your earlier comment. So, even though, ORCA, was totally screwed up, you still think that it ‘didn’t lose the race,’ even considering how small the tally differences were in those 4 swing states? That’s what your initial comment inferred…although, in the last one, you seem to say something a little different. Just curious….
RT:
Still a one track mind focussed on the Natural Born citizen BS. OK, OK.
Let’s just for a moment say your right. Why can’t Rubio or Jindal be the face of the party? Are you trying to say that only people who can (or want to ) be President can participate? Be spokesmen and ambassadors? Be salesmen for the party and the message of hard work, independence from Government tyranny, etc.?
Pretty narrow minded, don’t you think?
Layman: here is Article 2, section 1.5 of the US Constitution:
“By the time of their inauguration, the President and Vice President must be:
natural born citizens
at least thirty-five years old
inhabitants of the United States for at least fourteen years.
So, as you can see, there are only 3 qualifications for the office of President. I’m sorry that you consider these to be BS. Is there a reason that you don’t want these qualifications adhered to?
I don’t care who is the ‘face’ of the party as long as they help to get out the vote. I took your statement above to indicate you support them to be president. Sorry if I misunderstood your intent there.
Just as a personal note. I live in Louisiana and have been a big supporter of Jindal. Not so sure I am any longer. He is personally wrecking the Educational systems in the state, including the Universities and he is ruining the Correctional institutions. He is basically governing in an Executive Order fashion, a la Barack Obama. I feel as if the elected representatives should make the laws and rules and the Executive should execute those laws. He is up for re=election next year. It’ll be interesting. Tho I concede he will likely get re-elected because unfortunately too many people don’t pay attention. And his opposition may be even worse.
But I don’t think I’m narrow minded, but I am well informed.
AJ, why moderation on my statements?
How about a little light relief.
I am an electronic engineer and I realize the incredible complexity of the small device we call a transistor.
Here is the alternate story of it’s invention from one of the most fascinating websites on the net.
Read with caution!
http://www.phils.com.au/transistor.htm
Laura Ingraham on Chris Christie, “it wouldn’t surprise me, if at some point, Christie becomes a Democrat”
Nope, wouldn’t surprise me either, it’s only a formality of him changing the letter after his name. He’s already one in his actions. He won a lot of votes for Obama in the election.
Jan, et al
ORCA did not lose the race for Romney. Yes, it had some major tech issues, but the program was designed for the actual day of voting, when, except in a few cases, like making sure someone has a ride to the polls, it really isn’t going to do much of anything. The idea to call someone to remind them to vote on the day of the election…well, that isn’t a good game plan.
There was NO ORCA in 2008, and John McCain got 3 million more votes than Romney. So, twofold issues here (major ones anyway), looks to have been deep enough fraud on the part of the Dems in key states like Ohio, Fl, and Virginia. Looks like it was unrestrained fraud in several of these heavy blue areas, but 2) we had 3 million stay home from our own side. Why?
I’ve said, and others, that John McCain lost in 08, but he didn’t lose by near the margin he would have without Sarah Palin. Palin did bring vibrancy to the race, she also brought evangelical Christians. Probably 3 million votes right there that McCain got that he wouldn’t have had.
I’m not saying Palin should have been on the ticket, but if she had been utilized by the campaign, it might have helped.
Romney was too nice. He allowed Obama to call him a liar in the last two debates, and people had listened to ads for MONTHS saying the same thing about the man. Obama is the one who should have been confronted and the American people the truth about this president and his policies. The policies harmed America and the man was incompetent. Simple, straightforward message.
Until we stop cowering before the malignant media, we’ll never win another election, let alone rescue this country from the vile, vermin who spew forth their hatred about her every day.
AJ, I have a comment in moderation since 4 pm would you please free it up. Kinda hinders communications.
Penguin, Palin did add a lot of excitement in ’08, don’t know how the Repubs can get that going again.
penguin2
Romney being ‘too nice’ is an excellent point. I might add that he was also ‘too perfect,’ in the eyes of the mainstream voter, having money, a close, loving family, and the kind of life many want but don’t have. Most people could not relate to this and/or were probably envious and had to find something to distrust about such a man. Identity politics apparently seems to be where it is at these days, whether it is ethnicity, class, gender, or simply being flawed (which most of are). There has to be some kind of ‘similarity’ relationship between a politician and his supporter to win.
I think Romney’s civility was also something people just couldn’t grasp, and therefore instinctively found fault with. Romney stuck to the issues, which became boring, while Obama hammered at Romney personally, pummeling his character, rotating in nitpicking incidentals throughout the campaign, fabricating so-called truths about Romney that were derived out of rumors, innuendos, and even thin air. It was crazy making and disingenuous to me, making me dislike Obama even more. But, to others, they bought into it, kind of enjoyed taking the rich man down, and now relish the outcome that the ‘working stiff’s’ candidate won — ‘power to the people’ kind of credo.
Basically, Romney ran an old-fashioned kind of campaign, appealing more to the old-fashioned, virtuous, and patriotic kind of voter. Obama ran a blistering, blustering one, loaded with drama, accusations, and divisiveness. And, the latter is now what catches the attention, and consequently the support, of the special interest and low-information voters who now make up the majority out there,
AJ, still got a comment in moderation from 4 PM yesterday. Would you please let it through.
Layman:
here is Article 2, section 1.5 of the US Constitution:
“By the time of their inauguration, the President and Vice President must be:
natural born citizens
at least thirty-five years old
inhabitants of the United States for at least fourteen years.
So, as you can see, there are only 3 qualifications for the office of President. I’m sorry that you consider these to be BS. Is there a reason that you don’t want these qualifications adhered to?