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The Nation's Pulse
The ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ Election
Best-selling bromides about embracing change aren’t going to save the Republican Party post-Romney.
A decade or so ago several mid-level-manager types urged me to read Who Moved My Cheese? with the promise that it would change my life. I took their promise as a threat. I like my life just fine as is. And anyhow, diving into a build-a-better-you book would upset my routine of reading histories. Self-help just isn’t my comfort zone.
I apparently remain the only person in the United States who neither eats cheese nor has read Who Moved My Cheese? Nevertheless, I’ve absorbed that the book details the perils of resisting, and the advantages of embracing, change. Dr. Spencer Johnson’s bestseller does this by chronicling the adventures of two adapt-and-overcome mice and a pair of recalcitrant little men stuck in their habits.
Tuesday was the Who Moved My Cheese?-election. Even a mouse could figure out which party adapted to the new nation and which one was trapped in the United States of Yesterday.
Obama didn’t bring change. Change brought Obama.
Last year, for the first time in U.S. history, minority births outnumbered white births. Do you see the future? It’s not black-and-white like the American past. It’s in Technicolor, with browns and yellows and blacks outnumbering whites. Demographics have consequences.
Minority voters, who vote more monolithically if not more enthusiastically than whites, now comprise 28 percent of the electorate. Blacks, who constituted thirteen percent of the body politic, voted 93 to 6 percent for Obama. Hispanics, 1 in 10 voters, opted for Obama by a 71 to 27 margin. Asians (3 percent) similarly broke for Obama 73 to 26. Surely Mitt Romney would have won had he faced George Romney’s electorate.
America doesn’t just look differently. It acts differently.
When Michigan elected George Romney its governor in 1962, seven in ten adult Americans were married. Today, the number is one in two Americans. Marriage in the U.S. has reached its historical nadir. This has electoral consequences. In 2012, the marriage gap actually eclipsed the more discussed gender gap. The married moved toward Romney 56 to 42 while singles supported Obama 62 to 35.
The year Michiganders elected Mitt Romney’s father governor, illegitimate births were an outlier. In the United States less than ten percent of children were born without a father married to their mother. The number of out-of-wedlock births now approaches parity with births within the marital bond. In George Romney’s Detroit, just fifteen percent of children now come into the world with their parents married to one another.
More Americans report a Nothingarian faith and rely on government assistance than a half-century ago. Whereas 5.5 million Americans depended on food stamps in 1962, 2 million Michiganders do so today. Like marriage and race, faithlessness and freeloading influences the vote in the Democrats’ direction. “How often do you attend religious services?” exit pollsters asked. Romney won the “more than once a week” crowd 63 to 36 percent and weekly attendees 58 to 41 percent. He lost the “few times a month” group 55 to 44 percent, “few times a year” 56 to 42 percent, and “never” 62 to 34 percent. Notice the trend line?
Mitt Romney isn’t the only one concluding, “This is not my father’s country.” The era of the all-white Republican presidential ticket appears over — or the party’s over. But conservatism, which wasn’t on the ballot Tuesday, is far from dead.
Tuesday’s defeat demands that conservatives do what their philosophical DNA tells them not to: change, let go of the anchor, and go with the flow. Most conservatives would rather be losers than liberals. Change tactics? Certainly. Abandon core principles? No thanks.
But the politicians representing conservatives, who seek office rather than right, have no problem pivoting. Look at Mitt Romney on gun control, abortion, and immigration. What would conservatives from five decades ago think of a Republican presidential nominee who made saving Medicare a campaign rallying cry? Like most Republican nominees, Mitt Romney wasn’t a conservative but a late liberal — someone out to conserve the projects of past liberals. Fifty years from now, some futuristic version of him will defend ObamaCare from a Democratic president raiding its funding for some other outlandish scheme.
In other words, the politicians representing conservatives have already been evolving — to their own electoral detriment. Republicans would benefit from nominees who resemble the changing face of America. But nominating candidates more liberal than the party faithful isn’t change — it’s Romney, McCain, Bush, Dole, and Bush all over again. Next time try making the distinctions bold not blurry.
“If you do not change,” Who Moved My Cheese? sagely warns, “you can become extinct.” But if you do change, in some sense, you become extinct. Conservatives should come to grips with the America that is rather than grasp at the America that’s long past. But changing their principles along with the times will only leave them more disoriented, and asking, “Who moved my cheese?”
About the Author
Daniel J. Flynn is the author of Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America. He blogs at www.flynnfiles.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (86) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.9.12 @ 6:22AM
Actually, not much has changed.
Americans still want decent government.
What has occurred is that the cheese is defined by the bureaucracy of Agriculture, recommended by the bureaucracy of Health and Human Services, regulated by the Department of Commerce, taxed by the IRS, manufactured under the auspices of the Department of Labor, moved under the auspices of the Department of Transportation, and further regulated by the Department of Commerce, and I'm sure I'm leaving some government entities out.
That's the argument the Republicans need to make. Not who moved it, but who controls it.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 7:09AM
People are still people no matter what there color. Obama and the Democrats are tanking the country. Romney was a liberal who would have done more of the same. Win or lose Conservatives have to stand for Life, liberty family, peace, prosperity, small government, normal sexuality, and low taxes. Let the Democrats be the party of Abortion, homosexuality, war, sky high taxes, bloated government spending, corrupt unions, and general mismangement. Does the country need 2 parties like that? Let the Democrats be the party of death and taxes. Lets try to be the party of Life, Liberty and decent morality, win or lose.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.9.12 @ 6:46PM
@ Jack in Wi
You, Republican mini-me, still don't get it at all why GOP lost twice in a row to a black guy.
lol
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:28PM
They still can't understand why blacks are voting against their own economic interests instead of, you know, just getting back in the fields and pickin' dat cotton. They don't understand why hispanics don't like be asked to "Show me your papers!" by every cop in AZ with nothing better to do. Or why women aren't too keen about carrying rape babies to term only to see the same people who insist that they do so deny them food, shelter, or a basic education. Turns out it was 53% of the voters, not 47% like Romney said, who want a hand out. Or a hand up. If only the majority would just give up hope and stay home on election day.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.9.12 @ 6:45PM
@ Bill Hussein O'Stalin
You, Republican mini-me, still don't get it at all why GOP lost twice in a row.
lol
Herald7| 11.10.12 @ 10:22PM
What have you to do with infinity, or eternity for that matter?
You and the author have this in common: There is no God.
What is this but the most infinitely fatal mistake.
Alan Brooks | 11.10.12 @ 1:03AM
No, Americans can't even work together on K-12 education (or K-16 for confirmed cynics).
Last time we could pitch in to the max was during WWII--
67 yrs. gone by.
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:32PM
The generation that overcame the Great Depression, defeated Hitler, Mussilini, and Hiro Hito, built the national highway system and the greatest economy the world has ever seen, put several men on the moon, and so much more ALSO elected the most liberal President in US history, FDR, FOUR TIMES. The generation that elected Reagan twice can't even repair the roads or put their own grandkids through elementary school. Nor can they understand where they went so wrong.
Rhoetus| 11.10.12 @ 10:48AM
DNA doesn't manipulate or determine a persons politics. What caused the Republican wins in 1994, 2000, 2004 & 2010? Fiscal, sovereignty and individual independence should be paramount when communicating with the public. We need to find a way to get around the Propaganda war conducted by the far-left in the media.
Alan Brooks | 11.10.12 @ 2:50PM
The better candidate won the election.
Herald7| 11.10.12 @ 10:23PM
That is the classic comment from the camp of the subjective humanists.
Von Mises Jr| 11.9.12 @ 7:11AM
After the shock and horror of realizing we will have four more years of Obama, I came to the same conclusion: you get the government you deserve.
Rush summed it up well by stating that we can survive four more years of Obama. But can we survive as a nation with those that voted for Obama?
We have now found out that we had two terrorist attacks on our country in the last sixty days, one of which happened over a week ago when Iran fired on our drone. We were not even informed until after the election. But like the truth about Benghazi, our MSM will suppress this news and most people will not care even if they are informed.
We have so many victims in their own minds that are easily propagandized. Katrina is still allegedly a stain on Bush even though the real problem was that the Democrat politicians in New Orleans stole the money to fix the levies, and then failed miserably in saving the people. The aftermath of Sandy is illuminating the same waste, corruption and incompetence in that NY and NJ are broke and ten days later people still have not gotten supplies.
The rumor is that Obama will meet with the Supreme Leader of Iran and declare peace in our time. At least until the next major 911.
And while our government fails to reach those they fleeced of their property, looters are not so inept. It is a sad day in America.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 7:45AM
Give it up. The war is a loser and Obama is as big or bigger a warmonger then Romney. The Repubican will come back when they become the party they used to be. That is one that pushes peace, prosperity morality,, fiscal sanity, and small government. Who gave us the right to fly drones over Iran or anywhere else? Will you crackpot zionists ever give up with your warmongering? You have destroyed the Republican Party and given us Obama in 2 elections..
Von Mises Jr| 11.9.12 @ 8:25AM
Jack, you should stop writing bullshit and read some history. Socialism has been the cause of most wars.
Here is a reading list for you:
"Socialism and War" - Hayek
"Socialism" - Von Mises
"Omnipotent Government" - Von Mises
"War Collectivism" - Rothbard
Who started most recent wars, Jack? The USSR, Nazis, Imperial Japan, Mao's China, Pol Pot?
Who got America in to most wars, Jack? Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Kennedy and LBJ escalated Vietnam, Clinton in Bosnia and Mogadishu, and now Barry has attacked Libya unprovoked and aiding Syrian Islamist.
loulou| 11.9.12 @ 11:01AM
You can't reason with the little loser. He's just worried about his relatives in those muslim lands. He doesn't want his family members blown up by a drone.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 11:55AM
Baloney Ludwig: The recent wars have mostly been started by Republicans. Obama is right where he is because of people like you. Romney lost because he sounded even more warlike then Obama. Obama was able to run as a peace candidate even though he started as many or more then Bush. The people in this country are sick of wars in the Middle East for your homeland. To hell with you Zionists. You bring nothing to the table for the Republican Party. you bring almost zero votes and little money to the party. Go back to the Democrats from where you came from. The people are sick of both party's and war. Thats why half of them didn't vote. I voted for your boy Romney. A lot of good it did. Obama is and always has been owned by the Zionists. It is just another branch of that squabbling sect. The loonier Zionists back the Republicans.
Rhoetus| 11.10.12 @ 10:59AM
Jack in Wi: 9/11/2001 was un-provoked and not executed by a State like Germany, USSR or Japan. Didn't we learn anything when the USSR invaded Afghanistan? I could see that radical-Islam had the potential to become the next adversary after the Cold War.
Between welfare and warfare America is going bankrupt and the baby boom demographics is not in our favor.
Mrs Gloom| 11.9.12 @ 8:53AM
Jack
Who or what do you think you are? You are so full of hate for God's chosen people. Hate is not a godly virtue. I have read your comments for quite awhile and you sadden me. I truly feel sorry for you. You have got to be a very unhappy person in your life.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 11:59AM
I am a real Christian who follows the Prince of Peace. "He who said. Blessed are the Peacemakers.
Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The Truth will set you free." Killing innocents makes more terorists everyday. I am quite happy. I love nothing better then preaching the Truth to people like you.
TLP| 11.10.12 @ 5:39PM
The Prince of Peace was a JEW.
Mister Grady| 11.9.12 @ 12:06PM
God's chosen people?
Honey, you need to read Galatians. Over and over and over...until you get it.
You can believe the dispensationalists, or you can believe Paul, but you can't believe both.
Read Galatians!
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 4:31PM
There are no more Jews or Gentiles. We are all one in Jesus Christ. Our Jewish brothers and sisters have been getting it wrong for 2000 years. God wants us living in peace together. Shalom is a beautiful word. Lets work to make it happen.
Mike in N.C.| 11.9.12 @ 4:39PM
Which Jesus Christ? The one of Christian churches or the one of the LDS church?
Mister Grady| 11.9.12 @ 7:35PM
The One of the Bible, genius.
Abdullah| 11.9.12 @ 10:59AM
Bravo Jack! Hey, while you at it, go join the party - we give away sweets and candies in Gaza to celebrate our brother Hussein victory over crusaders.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 12:01PM
Obama has been the flunky and step and fetch it of Zionists his whole career. The Pritzger and Frown family and Axelrod own him lock, stock and barrel.
Jack in Wi| 11.9.12 @ 4:28PM
I ment Crown family Chicago billionaires. They put him where he is and helped keep him there.
Mike in N.C.| 11.9.12 @ 4:38PM
Really? Last I heard you clowns were beating up Obama for not visiting Israel, not meeting with Netanyahu and being insufficiently in touch with Bibi's existential angst. So, which is it? Do you have any idea what the f*ck you are talking about?
Mister Grady| 11.9.12 @ 7:37PM
Well, genius, some people think one thing, and others think another. It's the opposite of marching lockstep.
Alan Brooks | 11.10.12 @ 1:08AM
"The war is a loser"
Agreed, Jack: Ashcanistan is no more a nation than the Holy Roman Empire was Holy or Roman.
TLP| 11.9.12 @ 7:53AM
First of all, I would like to correct Mr. I Don't Eat Cheese's pronouncement that The Democrats "adapted" to the Changes in America.
They didn't adapt to anything. They're the ones that Changed everything in the first place.
They Penned The Immigration Act of 1965, cutting off Immigration from hard working, industrious Europeans, in favour of The Earth's Lowest Common Denominator, who had Nothing to offer this Country, and quickly became a Burden on their new Home.
Like Locusts: They Consume valuable resources until none remain, and then move on.
Like a Pestilence: They've moved into Cities and made them Unlivable.
Like The Plague: They leave only Death and Despair in their wake.
One does not ADAPT to that Situation. One Defeats it, or like Constantinopal and the Eastern Roman Empire, one gets Consumed, and disappears from the face of the Earth.
If we can survive 4 more years of The Muslim's Policies of Wholesale Destruction - and I'm not sure that we can - perhaps enough of those at the Bottom will come to realize that they can do better than just a Minimal Existance. They can be more than just a Ward of the State.
Maybe.
But, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, if I was you.
CJW| 11.9.12 @ 7:56AM
Von
I agree. The usual idiots prefer to blame Mitt or McCain for not motivating them enough to get off their ass and vote. With all the news that is available, regardless of the MSM bias, there is nobody to blame except ourselves for not voting for McCain and Romney.
I still cannot believe that O got NINE million less votes. There cannot have been NINE million more Voters in 08 that did not vote now. Maybe the transportation from the cemeteries was bad. I wonder how the purging and cleaning of voter rolls affected this, and the general news about voter ID and voter fraud.
chuck| 11.9.12 @ 8:10AM
I see a day, maybe soon, that the United States part ways, and becomes 2 separate countries. We are on that path, really we always were, we just had a major denial 150 years ago.
This is about where the power should lie, at the state and local level, where individuals can control the leaders much more effectively, or with a federal government that is impossible to control.
The Red and Blue States are at opposite ends in a huge tug-of-war, with our lives, fortunes, and honor on the line.
I fear this will not end well at all.
Von Mises Jr| 11.9.12 @ 8:32AM
It is apparently too much to ask for McConnell, Boehner, the Bushes, McCain and their consultants to have half the common sense and courage as TLP, CJW and chuck.
So chuck, I think you are correct that we should chuck the DC establishment overboard. What the hell do these people do except screw us over while protecting their own privilege.
CJW| 11.9.12 @ 8:36AM
The vast majority of politicians, both parties, go to DC, become the ruling class, make money,and make lots of money when they leave office by writing books,and becoming lobbyists. I remember Senator Daschle's wife was the lobbyist for Visa and other credit card companies that have offices in South Dakota. There are hundreds of examples like this, both parties; it is an incestuous crowd, all about power and money.
Butch| 11.9.12 @ 3:47PM
Agreed, Chuck. It's time for a peaceful separation, but I'm not sure they'd let us. They want us gone, but not our states, if I read the likes of RCV correctly. What's wrong with the India-East and West Packistan model?
We could have a strictly written-constitution constitutional republic with immediate impeachment and execution (or expulsion) for judges who stray, carefully controlled immigration, cultural homogeniety, decent ports, free trade with them, unlimited flyover (ironic, no?), and abundant natural resources and water. We'd have plenty of good colleges and med schools, and 1950s-style K-12 education stressing the fundamentals. We'd be virtually crime and social-problem free.
They could have Diversitystan with all the rights and priviliges appurtaining thereto.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.9.12 @ 6:49PM
I bet you were ok with Dubya killing over 3000 people with 9/11 attack.
Dubya ignored the warning so many times.
Dubya started two unpaid wars and killed thousands of young Americans and gave the tax cut for the rich.
Gosh, the USofA is full of stupid Republicans!
chuck| 11.10.12 @ 10:15AM
Go to Hell.
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:37PM
Well if you're thinking about starting another civil war don't bother. After the last 150 years of the South dragging down the rest of the country I can promise you that no Northern liberal will lift a finger to stop you from leaving.
JimH| 11.9.12 @ 8:59AM
Yeah, they made us read that book at my job. It was part of management's attempt to reconcile the workers to the shafting being foisted on us as inevitable and positive. Change for its own sake is dangerous and antithetical to a conservative. Only if something can be shown to be an improvement of what it replaces should it be embraced.
skeptic| 11.9.12 @ 9:10AM
Good analysis, arguable conclusions. If you are starting or maintaining a religion, core principles must be conserved. If you want political power, you need to get votes.
GOP voters--especially the Ron Paul and Tea Party types-- have a "my way or no way" mentality. You can try to get votes by getting people to see things your way. Or you can find a way to compromise, and offer programs that implement that compromise.
The GOP had no real program other than criticizing Obama and the Democrats in general. Nothing constructive was offered by the GOP, just huffing and puffing and promises to blow the house down.
If we have a growing percentage of Latinos, Asians, etc, maybe we ought to start facing facts and try to get them to accept at least some conservative thinking. Instead, we lament that they don't think like middle class whites.
PolishKnight| 11.9.12 @ 12:50PM
The "change" that brought forth Obama is simply about using race and gender and other democrat special interest groups entitlements to buy votes while the Republicans fret about abortion and tax rates for the wealthy. It's not working, obviously. The left is constantly patting themselves on the back that they'll win elections because they have more non-white males in the population and celebrating the end of "white male privilege" which they define as the notion of white males having civil rights.
In the meantime, the voting ratios of white males is not as skewed as it is for non-white males. While 95% of blacks are loyal Democrat race entitlement voters, only 70% of white males vote Republican. Much of the remaining 30% can be explained via union and welfare loyalties, but even so many white males vote Democrat because the Republicans don't seem to be terribly concerned about retaining them. They pander to the Hispanics and women in the hopes of getting their votes which is a losing proposition. For every woman or Hispanic they buy off with throwing a white male under the bus, they probably lose several white male votes to apathy or confusion.
The left has been open about their race and gender based entitlement agenda to win elections. If the right doesn't do anything about it, they can kiss the baby AND THE BATHWATER goodbye!
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:43PM
When conservatives use the word "socialist" they mean anything that is done to benefit society rather than the 1%. I can see why Republicans would expect to get 10-20% catering to those who hope someday to join the 1%. I just don't see why they'd ever expect to win any fair elections.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.11.12 @ 1:40AM
Socialism means common ownership of the means of production. Government redistribution (Obama's philosophy) is just an indirect form of socialism.
Joan Of Snark | 11.11.12 @ 6:58PM
Maybe we ought to insist that those who come to America to seek their fortunes assimilate instead of trying to turn Her into a perverted version of what they left.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.9.12 @ 9:12AM
I think the racists are right. They are just right for the wrong reasons. Mass immigration is changing the culture and politics of our country, just as it did in pre World War European countries. This led to ethnic balkanization and worse in Europe.
We need to review our immigration laws and drastically restrict the amount of flow into our country. We can do that without adopting racialist views of superior or inferior biological species or subspecies.
We cannot afford a whole new boatload of socialists in this country.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.9.12 @ 6:51PM
Come back after you properly understand what "socialist" means.
Guess where SS, MediCare, MediCaid are from!
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.9.12 @ 7:35PM
These are Progressive (gag) concoctions. Do you know what socialism is?
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:45PM
Socialist comes from the root word social which means to benefit society. Clearly that idea upsets conservatives who think only the 1% should get anything.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.11.12 @ 1:41AM
This is known as the root word fallacy.
Rhoetus| 11.10.12 @ 11:10AM
My eastern-European immigrant grandparents were capitalists and created their own security through wealth accumulation. My native born English ancestry grandparents were progressives and at one time active in the Socialist party. People came here to flee tyranny where do we go to flee tyranny?
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.11.12 @ 1:39AM
I believe America has for the most part granted asylum to those fleeing persecution. Most of the 19th century European immigrants were poor, not persecuted. Millions were fooled into coming here by government-subsidized railroads. The railroads advertised in Europe how great everything would be if these poor Europeans would just come and settle on land next to the railroad tracks. It turned out otherwise for many of them.
Rhoetus| 11.18.12 @ 10:40PM
My grandfather worked at US Steel, saved to build houses until he could build an apartment building, and retire off of the rent money. He was a greedy landlord. God bless initiative and capitalism.
Miles Glorious| 11.9.12 @ 9:14AM
Chuck I agree with you! I thought I would not see it but it is coming.
Bob Grant| 11.9.12 @ 9:36AM
Mr. Flynn,
I wish when you and others carpet bomb readers with statistics you would break it down along ethnicity, gender, income, and religion.
When you're in the weeds you get a clearer picture.
The bottom line is diversity in white america is very healthy: among gender lines; among income level; among education level; among religious lines; and all other demographics.
On the other hand diversity among non-whites is EXTREMELY unhealthy. It is ridiculously monolithic especially among the african american community, to the point of absurdity. Did you know certain precedents in Philadelphia voted 100% for Barack Obama? We used to read about similar election numbers in the Soviet Union circa 1973, or Saddam Hussein circa 1995.
You would think 150 years after slavery, 50 years after Martin Luther King's epic I have a Dream Speech, 25 years after record growth of middle class african americans, you'd see diversity of thought visa vie political and social views, but it's quite the opposite.
How many middle-class African American, non-government workers who rely on a strong, vibrant growing economy walked into the polling station and disregarded their family/country's best interest by choosing Barack Obama?
Two million, Three million, Five million?
In the coming weeks pundits will get their kicks freely giving "advice" about what republicans should do, and the kind of soul searching that needs to take place, perhaps others should do a little soul searching as well.
Bob Grant| 11.9.12 @ 9:46AM
To clarify. When I mention diversity, I mean diversity of thought.
PolishKnight| 11.9.12 @ 4:14PM
Say what you like about the left, but they care about winning elections both in the short and long term. They do whatever it takes, by hook or by crook, to win . Then in the long term, they look at increasing power at all costs which in a democratic society, for now, means pleasing their base and getting people to vote for them. And NOTHING inspires 100% of a neighborhood to vote for someone more than hearing that they can be entitled to race based preferences and privileges and others will be second class for their benefit and opposition to that is "racist".
Even economic class is not as surefire a way to get votes. Whether the black man and especially black woman is rich, poor or even married and goes to church every Sunday, the promise of race + gender preferences gets them to pull that level for D everytime.
Then on the Republican side, Romney responds to requests for more special preferences for women with "binders" full of women he wants to help out. And then by an 18% margin, they went for the Democrats.
Live and learn folks, live and learn. Good luck with outlawing abortion!
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:49PM
I don't know why anyone would vote for Romney. His policies? He didn't have any. His history? He refused to disclose it. The GOPs track record? You're joking right? Why did anyone think he could possibly win? Oh, yes, the right wing smear machine. Obama was born in Kenya yap yap yap. Well guess what folks it didn't work.
nathan| 11.9.12 @ 10:39AM
I'm curious, really genuinely curious.
What do you all propose to do? Mid terms are two years away. Maybe the republicans pick up four seats in the senate, maybe. Hold your breath? No.
So what do you propose, individually to do?
I'm going to return to a theme I've mentioned several times because I'm not seeing it otherwise.
For Christians: Praise God in all things. Even now. You have your salvation don't you? Having that, Tuesday is relatively inconsequential. Gaining salvation means you gained a new address, heaven, a totally new loyalty God. Country, family come distant seconds to Him. For the last three days I read the anger, the hate, all of it. But Christians need again to get back to what's important. And being Christians, sharing the message of the Risen Savior with those who don't have that new address yet, well is there really anything MORE important?
Maybe we need to be more like Job here? He lost everything, praised God anyway. It doesn't matter if this is a political site, Christians now, more than ever, need to stand up, "Go into the world and preach the gospel". You spent the last year playing politics. You spent the last year doing "idol" worship. Now get back to business.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.9.12 @ 6:56PM
It's Jesus's intention that GOP lost twice in a row.
People created the concept of GOD.
People create Jesus.
Jesus is imaginary dude.
And Mormon Cult Mitt Romney believes his Mormon Jesus was a blue-eyed, blond white polygamist dude with three wives.
All religions are CULT!
Rhoetus| 11.10.12 @ 11:15AM
One must get one's moral compass in either religion or philosophy - where do you get yours? Marx or Smith? Jesus wasn't a communist regardless of what the communists tell you.
Ralph Novy| 11.10.12 @ 5:08AM
"And being Christians, sharing the message of the Risen Savior with those who don't have that new address yet, well is there really anything MORE important?"
Yes, Nathan, there are quite a few things that are a LOT more important -- like abiding by the "golden rule," like being kind and tolerant towards one's neighbors, like just trying to be generally kind and fair with respect to one's fellow human beings.
This "personal salvation" stuff is very selfish -- and counter to Jesus's basic message.
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:51PM
Every night I pray to God that he will send me to Hell so I can watch conservatives burn.
Joan Of Snark | 11.11.12 @ 7:01PM
You'll be too busy shaking hands with all your friends to notice the conservatives are not there.
nathan| 11.9.12 @ 10:52AM
Let me mention one more thing.
God did not get voted out of office Tuesday. He still reigns supreme over the universe. As we remind ourselves of that, the occupant of the white house is relatively unimportant to those who put their faith and trust in Him and His Son.
I asked the question earlier, what will you all do. For Christians, maybe you take this time to re-dedicate your lives to Him. It might be a good start.
I'm weary of this and have grown weary. I do wish you all the best. Take care of yourselves.
Kingofthenet| 11.9.12 @ 9:04PM
Well God can lay 'Hellfire' down on you....but I guess so can the President of the United States...
Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.9.12 @ 10:14PM
Nathan;
Perhaps you are correct that God did not get voted out of office on Tuesday, but those of us who heard the voice vote at the Democratic convention for returning His Name to the party platform aren't confused about how the delegates really voted, Mr. Villagaroisa's pronouncements to the contrary notwithstanding.
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:52PM
Was hurricane Sandy an act of God? Or was it due to global climate change? Either way it doesn't look good for the GOP.
vtwin| 11.9.12 @ 11:01AM
"Whereas 5.5 million Americans depended on food stamps in 1962, 2 million Michiganders do so today."
Ah, the post FDR liberal America vs. the post Reagan conservative America.
djn1313| 11.9.12 @ 12:04PM
American values, drive for success, hard work, and pride in this country are not the things most minorities believe in. Since most of America's younger generation is comprised of hispanics and blacks this nation is going nowhere but downhill in the future. The nation is already at the tipping point as the providers of intelligence and wealth begin to flee the socialist nightmare continuing with four more years of obama. Conservatives don't need to change their values, they need to decide if creating a nation separate from obama's socialist utopia is the only option. America is becoming a nation of takers, its future survival is bleak.
Jim Adcox| 11.9.12 @ 12:56PM
We gotta drink the cup of our judgment to the dregs!
ncatty| 11.9.12 @ 1:17PM
Our leaders in Washington will kick the budget can down the road a little further. Our stagnant economy will remain the new normal. The producers will adjust but those on bottom will remain there with government assistance their only hope. Towards the end of our version of Japan's lost decade (we are halfway there already) the inflation chickens will come home to roost with a vengeance. And that will be that.
fmm| 11.9.12 @ 3:19PM
Unfortunately your basic contention that conservatism is not dead is dead wrong. You only have to look at Herman Cain and Allen West to understand.
Mike in N.C.| 11.9.12 @ 4:35PM
Your statistics about church attendance are interesting. The problem the GOP has is the religious face of your party is Akin, Mourdock, Bachmann, Santorum and Reed.
JimP| 11.9.12 @ 8:05PM
I disagree with the demographics changed so we lost conclusion. Pat Caddell does too, and others. The GOP has no "brand". It is run by Old White Guys who don't know how to sell and/or refuse to sell conservatism. Over 40% of the electorate is conservative. Twenty percent is liberal. Obama is a disaster. And still we lost. It's the inside the beltway 'gurus' and establishment GOP, not demographics.
Kingofthenet| 11.9.12 @ 9:02PM
You should have read 'Flowers for Algernon' instead, and stop doing a 'Charlie Gordon' EVERY election cycle...
Mike W| 11.9.12 @ 9:08PM
It was pathetic watching Republicans go on and on about Benghazi thinking it would make any difference in the election.
It did not make one iota of difference in the election. Our foreign policy days post 9/11 of relevance are over.
Ralph Novy| 11.10.12 @ 4:56AM
Hmm.
Well, Mike, I don't think American have stopped caring about foreign policy.
I think the Benghazi thing showed that Americans didn't appreciate being lied to about foreign policy.
Bob Grant| 11.9.12 @ 11:32PM
On a serious note, what is up with above picture?
Two guys in a field with corncobs in their hands and an empty handed one with a very, very concerned look on his face.
Oh what was he thinking?
Ralph Novy| 11.10.12 @ 4:54AM
"Like marriage and race, faithlessness and freeloading influences the vote in the Democrats' direction."
You just couldn't help yourself, could you, Flynn?
You tried to sound reasonable and fair and prudent -- but then THAT slipped out.
Poof!
The value of the article -- and your credibility -- evaporated in an instant.
Rhoetus| 11.10.12 @ 11:18AM
Memo to Gov. Romney: You should have listened to David Horowitz.
Politics Debunked | 11.10.12 @ 3:15PM
A major reason Obama won: People didn't realize how much he lied. Many liberal newspapers reported his claim he will "pay down our debt".. and never printed anything questioning it. He constantly repeated the lie, contradicted by his own budget document. The anti-Obama media likely didn't bother pointing out his lie because they thought it was obvious.. but it wasn't to many people it appears.
Obama claimed at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 6th, 2012: "I'll use the money we're no longer spending on war to pay down our debt".
Yet the White House site contains his 2013 budget proposal with a table showing his planned national debt at the end of each year through 2022. It adds at least $900 billion to the debt every year, $9.6 trillion over a decade.
If a CEO lied about his company's finances to get people to buy stock, the public would cry "fraud! send him to jail!". Should we trust someone to run our government that we wouldn't trust to run a company? This isn't a one time gaffe, he has repeated it from the State of the Union in January, through dozens of speeches into October and a campaign commercial.
For details about this, or to see the issue described in an amusing cartoon&video; mashup of Obama's own words, see the new site: http://PoliticsDebunked.com
MasterOfSparks| 11.10.12 @ 10:17PM
So you're suggesting that the GOP should have gone with the "Cheesy Bread" candidate Herman Cain? You think ideas like "999" and "If you don't have a job and you're not rich blame yourself" would have done better than the "I like to fire people" candidate? I mean who else did you have? It all sounds about the same to me.
Herald7| 11.10.12 @ 10:24PM
"Let God be true and every man a liar." Romans 3.3-4
Bill8472| 11.12.12 @ 10:21AM
I hope you're wrong, but I'm afraid you're right.
Rhoetus| 11.12.12 @ 10:50PM
Rules for Conservatives @
http://www.saveamericanow.us.com