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Feature
Recovering From Electoral Disaster
Step one: acknowledge it was a disaster.
REPUBLICANS AND CONSERVATIVES in the 2012 elections got less bang for the buck, and for their time and effort, than they have ever achieved in living memory. Their failure to defeat a severely weakened Barack Obama and their loss of Senate seats in the best environment in years for GOP pickups were failures on an epic scale. Now, against what is likely to be a newly empowered, radical president—bent on leftist “revenge” and untethered by the Constitution—those of us on the right face daunting challenges.
We need a new approach. The biggest change we need, though, isn’t ideological; it’s attitudinal.
The right seems to have forgotten completely how to motivate voters. We fail at the levels of both head and heart. We offer pabulum for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—and then wonder why the voters spit it back at us. We speak in clichés and generalities; we run boring advertisements; we take no risks; and we never leave our comfort zones.
No wonder we utterly fail to attract black voters, do increasingly poorly among Latinos—and watch as some 7 million economically disaffected whites, who will vote against the guy in power if they bother to vote at all, instead stay home on Election Day. (For more on that latter topic, see Sean Trende’s Real Clear Politics article two days after the election.) If Republicans/conservatives can’t regain Ronald Reagan’s ability to inspire blue-collar white voters in the Rust Belt and elsewhere, far too many of our candidates will be doomed to oblivion.
To understand how poorly Romney did, consider this: Since 2004, the United States population has grown from 293 million to 312 million. Yet with 19 million more Americans (granted, not all of them eligible voters, but still…), Romney managed to earn about 3 million fewer votes than G.W. Bush did in 2004. Or, looked at another way: Barack Obama lost 7 million votes from 2008 to 2012. An overlapping set of 7 million fewer white voters went to the polls this year. Yet Romney in effect garnered not a single one of them: He did not even exceed John McCain’s already poor vote total nationwide. If our side can’t garner a single extra vote as the population grows by 19 million, or as the Obamites turn off 7 million of their former voters, then we’re doing something very badly. And if we actually are losing votes among Latinos—as has been well documented—then we are doing something very badly. If we lost a net of two Senate seats in a year when Democrats were defending 23 of 33 seats, and defending them almost exclusively in red or purplish states, then we are, yes, doing something very, very badly.
ONE THING that our consultant-led candidates do poorly is actually explain solutions to voters as if the voters have brains. Granted, a whole lot of “low-intensity” voters may be somewhat ill-informed, vote on “impressions,” and may be susceptible to false narratives. Still, the Republican approach seems to be to try to dumb down the GOP message to reach these voters, rather than to give them the tools to understand our real argument. It’s the difference between addressing people as dimwits and addressing them as jurors: Most voters at least like to think they are considering evidence in each candidate’s favor.
Conservative sophisticates might scoff at some of Frank Luntz’s focus groups, but in one key respect those groups repeatedly provided the same message. One smart reader accurately noted this in a letter to me shortly after the election:
The general consensus of the group was, “I’m not happy with Barack Obama, but I want to know what will Mitt Romney do for me.” I think a lot of conservatives stopped listening after the first half of the answer, and our candidate never successfully answered the last part. A lot of those people stayed home, too.
The second thing missing from consultant-speak is real heart or compassion. No, I’m not talking about using the slogan of “compassionate conservatism” or about equating compassion with government spending. Instead, what Republicans need is real empathy. How often did Mitt Romney talk about “small businessmen,” compared to how seldom he talked about “workers”? More importantly, how seldom do our candidates or their consultants ever talk directly, apart from campaign events, to blue-collar workers? Likewise, how seldom do they go into black communities, or Latino communities, and actually hold conversations? And how few of our candidates have actually volunteered in their private lives at soup kitchens, or at community work days, or in ongoing outreach efforts through their churches?
The goal is not to change our principles to pander to new constituencies by adopting positions we know are wrong; the goal is to actually listen to different constituencies; “learn their language” (figuratively speaking); and, more than language, learn what their real concerns and lives are like.
If we are going to say that the best solutions to their difficulties can only tangentially be provided by government, then we must first understand their difficulties and, second, offer other good solutions and explanations of the same.
THOSE POINTS ASIDE, none of us should assume that we find ourselves in yet another “normal” cycle in which we just need to regroup and reload. Barack Obama is not a normal politician. He’s out for blood—or, as he told voters in the last days before the election, for “revenge.” He was re-elected by running the most vicious, vile, mendacious, and, on a lower plane, just plain crass campaign most of us have ever seen, cheapening the office he holds in trust for the republic. Unmoored from the need for re-election, he will show more “flexibility” to Vladimir Putin, issue more executive orders and administrative fiats regardless of constitutional restraints, and tip the judiciary so much that his constitutional abuses will not be reined in. His Justice Department and IRS will continue to stack the deck and, worse, hound conservative organizations with spurious “investigations,” fines, and possibly worse. The man is playing for keeps, and so are his propaganda storm troops in the establishment media.
Right-leaning Supreme Court justices, in response, need to undertake fitness regimens so they can keep their health for four more years. Right-leaning politicians must keep their noses clean, because any and all weaknesses will be exposed and exploited. And right-leaning activists must demand candidates who are not just philosophically solid, but also smart, canny, and tough.
The economy will tank—and Obama will use that as an excuse to create even more government dependents. Our allies, especially Israel, will be forsaken—and Obama will use their troubles as an excuse to cede more ground (figuratively speaking) to the adversaries who hate both them and us. Our military will continue to be gutted—and Obama will use our newfound weakness as an excuse to relinquish American sovereignty.
The entirety of both the political and societal playing fields will be altered, and our side will be demonized every time we dare set foot in the arena.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
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aware| 12.10.12 @ 6:25AM
Why don't you just admit that "conservatives" have been fully complicit in destroying individual liberties, spending us into banana republic status, shredding what is left of the constitution, pandering to the parasites, and using power to enrich the cronies.
In other words, just admit you love the State and quit pretending you don't.
Al Brooks, bleedingheartlib | 12.10.12 @ 10:36AM
"Step one: acknowledge it was a disaster."
Step 2: make the same mistake in '16, hoping for a different outcome.
Al Adab| 12.10.12 @ 1:18PM
GOP has been making that mistake since 1948. The long thin line runs from Dewey through Ford to Dole to McCain and Romney. It is only when Conservatives preponderate that the party enjoys success.
They will never learn and, should there be an election in 2016, the candidate will be even more to the left than Romney.
aware| 12.11.12 @ 5:56AM
The sad truth is that there is no blueprint for getting back the constitutional Republic lost in the New Deal(s) and WW2.
"Conservatives" only want small adjustments to the current regime of massive State control, if even that. They don't really oppose the system, just who is running it.
Appleby| 12.10.12 @ 6:44AM
For heaven's sake, shut up about the stupid election. Y'all are getting as boring as my sisters endlessly wailing about their 9 failed marriages (and counting) or the local papers moaning about the continuing NHL lockout. Shaddap aready, as we said in the old neighbourhood. Change the subject. Find something else to talk about. SURELY there is something going on SOMEWHERE that you can talk about besides the election.
Why can't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:21PM
Next time: hit the ground, decentralize as much as possible, remember ALL politics is local, and if you have an item such as your opponent is buddies with a cop killer, USE IT! If there is a Gay Bathhouse possibility, confirm it and USE IT! Show a cop getting blown away by Dorhn WITH PECKINPAH VIOLENCE AND GORE, and then nail him with starting his first campaign in her house, for example.
Romney had NO FANGS. Used them on Newt instead of Barack, for goodness' sakes.
The next guy we nominate needs a Lee Atwater, a Republican Carville, Gollum and ALL. I want it to be financial, familial, historical DESTRUCTION for anyone who wants to be a Democratic POTUS.
Jimbobogie| 12.10.12 @ 6:29PM
Appleby, is anybody in the U.S. talking about the NHL lockout anymore??? We're getting tired of hearing about it up here! :) As far as I'm concerned, the season was lost when the NBA tipped off-there's a reason that hockey starts a month earlier.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 7:29AM
What Day is it? What's the DATE? The 10th of December? It's the 10th of December.
It's the 10th of December, and some of us are still Beating a Dead Horse. And, doing it poorly, I might add. And that "Conservative" in Luntz's little Group of Morons, most likely was just trying to make the most of his 15 seconds of face time.
"I realize that this is the Worst President that this Country has ever known, and that he has no Clue how to make things better. In fact, from all of the evidence I've seen, everything he's doing to our Economy, our Debt, and our Position in the World, has been ON PURPOSE. He's spent more Money than all of our Previous Presidents - COMBINED. He doesn't Enforce the Laws on the Books, that he disagrees with. He wipes his @ss with the Constitution. He Ran Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels. He Fund Raised while our Murdered Ambassador is being dragged through the streets, and while New Orleans was Underwater. None of our Allies Trust Us, and none of our Enemies Fear us. And, my Children's chances for a better future, looks to be all but nonexistent."
"That being said. What's the other guy gonna do? The one who hasn't been a Far Left, Black Radical Street Organizer for the last 20 Years. What's he gonna do?"
"Not the guy from the Hate Church, who's friends with Farrakhan and Ayers and Dohrn, Rashidi, and The Black Panthers. Not him. The other Guy."
"Until I know that? I'm undecided, and will probably sit this one out."
"And who could blame me?"
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 7:54AM
MAYBE, we've just become a Country of Morons.
Maybe, there's a REASON that everything on TV is CRAP. A reason that our Kids come outta school IDIOTS, unable to compete with the rest of the world. A reason that we have so many Prisons, so many kids born outta Wedlock, so many Abortions, Rapes, Robberies, and Murders.
There are those who believe that we just need to: "Communicate Better / Get our Message out there better".
Romney lost because the Halfrican got the Votes of 60 Million of the people I just mentioned.
End of Story.
squalis| 12.10.12 @ 8:12AM
I was thinking the same thing. I just could not have put it in words as well as you.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 1:18PM
That's not your fault.
My Mother says I'm Special.
Alan's Girl| 12.10.12 @ 1:35PM
.....and you are.
Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 2:17PM
Awwww! But, AG, you are correct. Tim is especially pretty.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 3:14PM
I am Pretty.
I can't deny it.
Von Mises Jr| 12.10.12 @ 8:36AM
You got it brother. I had this epiphany on November 6th. You cannot fix stupid with a lucid, coherent argument. Events must shape history.
But on a more cerebral level, this is the tragic flaw of socialism and the statist ideas of the Democrats. Their "Vision of the Anointed" (Sowell) is based on Rousseau's "Noble Savage" where they take the mess that God made of mankind and use Descartes theory of shaping society by just choosing everything based on intelligence. And when Nietzsche’s "Supermen" are finished devising the "Brave New World," people will "all just get along" (Rodney King -philosopher extraordinaire) and even God will be impressed.
What horse shit these people have for brains, both the Democrat elitist and their unthinking masses.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.10.12 @ 10:34AM
Rodney King turned out to have demonstrated more skill in his philosophical career than he displayed in his aquatic one.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 1:20PM
Shame on you.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.10.12 @ 5:12PM
I stand rebuked, though I believe he could still be offering us his insight if only he had worn a life jacket or other proper flotation device.
Al Adab| 12.10.12 @ 1:22PM
As we continue to see, many voters remain disinterested in the process. How often have you heard, "The parties are both the same"?
In becomes ever more likely that at some near time we will simply eliminate the costly, inconvienient and anoying electoral process and just have Congress (or the Supreme Court) select the chief executive. Ceasar and Bonaparte are happy.
Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 2:19PM
Al Adab: And Hillary will be the democrat nominee for president in 2016. Doesn't matter who the Republicans nominate, Hillary will be elected to continue the decline and fall of the USA.
squalis| 12.10.12 @ 8:12AM
I was thinking the same thing. I just could not have put it in words as well as you.
A. C. Santore| 12.10.12 @ 9:14AM
I'm tired of the Monday morning quarterbacks who have every answer but the right one.
Obama won because he did two things: 1. He blamed everything he could think of on every Republican he could find. 2. He buttered up his base [with our money].
The Republicans [note I did not say Romney] lost because 1. they took the high road [to nowhere] and never deflected the blame on Obama, and 2. they absolutely threw away two elements of the base that would have made the difference.
The "evangelical Christians" were never courted and convinced that a Mormon would be O.K.
The Ron Paul and people who agree with him were insulted beyond explanation at the Republican National Convention. [N.B. I am not a Ron Paul supporter.]
Shutting them out of the convention alone did the job, where giving Ron Paul a noticeable role, including speaking time, would have saved them.
When I saw and heard them reading only Romney's tally, and ignoring Paul's, I knew it was all over.
C. Vernon Crisler | 12.10.12 @ 11:30AM
The reason why Republicans lost: Mitt Romney. The man could not even inspire conservatives; how was he going to inspire anyone else?
RCV| 12.10.12 @ 11:52AM
Obama won because he got more votes. And he got more votes because he had a serious and effective ground organization. Instead of simply spending their time grousing on blogs, his supporters actually devoted serious amounts of volunteer time to canvassing, organizing, identifying supporters and insuring that their votes were cast. The GOP concentrated simply on spending PAC money on ineffective advertising.
SUBVET| 12.10.12 @ 12:08PM
RCV......until we have voter ID your taking a knife to a gun fight.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 1:26PM
Perhaps you could enlighten the rest of us, by giving us his PLAN for the next 4 Years?
I mean, besides Raising Taxes on the Rich, before he Jets off on his $4 Million Tropical Vacation.
Thus far we have spent $1.4 BILLION on this Champion of the Poor's Vacations.
Doesn't sound very FAIR, to me.
But then, I don't have my head up his ass, like you do.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 3:16PM
We're still waiting.
TLP| 12.10.12 @ 5:19PM
Still waiting.
Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:25PM
The point that RCV made is that his guy won, and his guy won by being focused on power and getting out votes. That's a serious comment and criticism. The fact that Obama is a traitor to his country is not relevant to the point RCV made.
Of course, Republicans tend to have these little four letter words called JOBS, that are foreign to Democrats.
CJW| 12.10.12 @ 3:27PM
Obama got 4 million fewer votes than in 2008, so his "ground game" was worse this time. Obama's main ground game is ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC.
He won because of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada. For whatever reason, some Rep voters did not like Mitt's religion, wealth, moderate Republicanism, etc, and they did not vote, or voted third party.
As for voter fraud, it is difficult to prove, but why would Delms oppose a simple regulation like voter photo ID? The answer is obvious, to allow for voter fraud.
Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:26PM
Of course there was Democratic voter fraud. Democrats are vermin. That's why I left Chicago at age 18, and never moved back.
CJW| 12.10.12 @ 6:03PM
You left Chicago for the same reasons that Obama moved to Chicago.
Paul A'Barge | 12.10.12 @ 5:43PM
Does it surprise you that one of "us" agrees with "you"? It should not.
But Obama having won does not make Obama good for America, and you are going to find that out at some point. Frankly, I think when you do find out it will be too late.
Now, you could be one of "us" and you're just bashing the Republican juggernaut because it, well it sucks. If that's the case, I've misunderstood you and I apologize.
Bottom line though, you are right. And we are all going to suffer for it.
Ralph Novy| 12.10.12 @ 8:24PM
Leave us not forget, however, RCV, that Obama ALSO had fundamentally better policy positions.
This wasn't merely a chess game or military battle.
spike59| 12.11.12 @ 5:42AM
"Obama ALSO had fundamentally better policy positions."
------------------------------------------------
"let's make those rich bastards who pay for most of everything already pay for all of it" is NOT a 'policy', you mental midget
SUBVET| 12.10.12 @ 12:07PM
AC............if you were a "evangelical christian" who would you vote for.....a muslem or a mormon.
I think most christians knew the answer and voted.
Ralph Novy| 12.10.12 @ 8:26PM
Santore: You couldn't be more wrong -- on EVERY SINGLE POINT -- if you were trying.
Sheesh.
John786| 12.10.12 @ 9:24AM
The article has the paragraph of the year:
-Republican House majority protected via clever redistricting-
There's a word for this in the English language. Hmmm.. I think it begins with G. You'd better delete it before it gets out.
stmichrick| 12.10.12 @ 9:36AM
One big admission I will make: I thought the Obama commercials appealing to those who wanted 'a man who understands women' and believed 'Romney didn't care about my wife' were seeking the support of unreliable voters.
Wrong.
Our 'communication' problem is more elemental than TV commercials. Statism is a sickness cured only by catastrophe.
BackToBasics| 12.10.12 @ 9:42AM
Step 2 is to admit that voter fraud by democrats in the battleground states made the difference in this election. Without it, Romney would have had just enough to win. He really was up by the 1 percent where the polls had him!
Doctor Right| 12.10.12 @ 9:59AM
Comparing the nation of today to the nation Reagan governed starting in 1981 is apples-to-oranges.
First of all, Reagan understood the nature of the enemy we were facing in the Cold War, and he successfully rallied the people to his cause in two successive landslides. The enemy we face today is just as dangerous - perhaps more so, due to a decided lack of rationality - but the GOP has been pathetic in communicating the nature of this threat to the populous, who apparently need constant reminding even AFTER 9/11.
Secondly, Reagan had only to deal with 3 idiot networks and their anti-Conservative rhetoric. Today's Conservative candidates have to deal with a veritable smorgasboard of anti-Conservative news outlets, including the internet. Conservatives have FOX, but even they've gone soft.
Third...immigration. Reagan's amnesty bill in '86 was probably the biggest mistake of his Presidency, and it has increased the numbers of under-educated voters who are natural fodder for the left. And it's getting worse, with no end in sight.
Doctor Right| 12.10.12 @ 10:05AM
Fourth, the Democrats have always relied upon something that the GOP has never been willing to admit: The average American is dumb, and getting dumber. To that end, the 47%-ers would rather watch an episode of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" than actually read the news and figure out what's happening in the world. It's bread and circuses, folks...
Fifth, the legacy of the World War 2 generation was still strong in the 80's, and the baby-boomers jerk-offs of the 60's hadn't yet assumed serious high office (with rare exception, like Governor Moonbeam). Now the situation is reversed; the shared sacrifice and patriotism that girded the Greatest Generation is practically gone, replaced by the puerile infantilism of the Worst Generation .
Finally, political correctness has frozen discourse in this country to the point that an under-qualified man with little to no actual accomplishments and a very checkered, mysterious past, including numerous unfavorable associations can be elected President simply because he's black and has a sharp crease in his pants.
The 21st century incarnation of the GOP is dead.
Don't expect them to rise to the challenges facing this nation. They can't.
Simon Templar| 12.10.12 @ 12:10PM
DR, I would not say dumber but more uninformed and ignorant and it gets worse every year.
There are millions and tens of millions that STILL no nothing about the Benghazi scandal and millions that voted for the Fraud that do not have a clue as to what he has done, proposed to do, and has implemented. When some of them are informed of it, they are shocked and in disbelief.
This is happening because we literally have a progressive state controlled media and educational system. Until conservatives take back their party from GOP progressives and launch a full attack and response on this control of information this will continue.
We, conservatives, could all wake up tomorrow and decide to be communist and we would still lose. We would still be 'greedy, elitist, and redneck' communist as far as the progressive media is concerned.
Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 10:25AM
As Hillyer says: The USA is screwed.
Frank Drackman| 12.10.12 @ 10:30AM
I've said it before, I'll say it again, I'm White, and I'm Proud...
Ooops, I mean "Black", please don't tell General Holder, or that former AG I'm still convinced has a Y chromosome, Janet "Man Hands" Reno...
Republicans best chances is that EICOTUS(Evolver in Chief of the US)keeps smokin, preferably the Marriage-Juan-a,(see Marley, Bob) which I would if I was Chief Executive(is he gonna arrest himself?)
and even if it just gets us 8 years of Joe Biden, which we might get anyway, hmm he gets the Catholics, Rustbelt Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Indians(dothead variety), heck, I might even vote for him if the Repubiclans nominate that fat homo Christ Christie...
Seriously, I used to joke he was 300lbs, have you seen him lately, he's 400 if he's 40...
Frank "still smokin" Drackman
Frank Drackman| 12.10.12 @ 10:38AM
Richard Pryor used to do a dead-on immiation of "The White Guy who gets cut ahead of in line by N-word" went something like this...
(Bobbing head up and down the whole time)
OK! WAT DA FUCK? WATTA YA THINK YOUR DOIN? GET BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE MOTHER FUCKER, YA WANTA THROW DOWN PECKER-HEAD? SON-OF-A-BITCH...
and its so funny, cause it's TRUE!!!!!!!! Niggers, I mean N-words(How come Richard Pryor could say "Nigger" and Michael Richards can't?) are always cutting in line,
Oh anyways, He sounded exactly like Christ Christie
Frank "jewin it up" Drackman
Bill8472| 12.10.12 @ 11:07AM
N-words (I like that term, used as a noun) are the new aristocrats. It's OK for them to cut into line.
How do we know that's true? No one EVER (I mean EVER) contradicts them or argues with them, certainly not in public, even when they're obviously wrong, or stupid. I haven't seen much contradicting on N-words going on in private, either.
Bill8472| 12.10.12 @ 11:04AM
People shouldn't have been asking "What will Mitt Romney do for me?" before the election; they should have, and many of them were, asking the question, "What will Mitt Romney do for the nation?" Mitt Romney didn't answer that question very well either.
Who Knows?| 12.10.12 @ 11:53AM
Boehner and his team, the Washington Generals, are just going through the motions, and will be predictably wasted by Obama and his Nigerian Globetrotters.
Relax, all you caring people out there.
The election is over, and over a month has already passed.
It’s too late to continue the “convincing others” game. Orders are being given, by The One, and all we can do is cover our own asses.
There’s really not much else to SAY, except that choices made have logical consequences. It was always going to require an event of huge magnitude to force people to wake up.
I figure a majority of Americans are like someone who’s still in bed, enjoying a pleasurable dream, but noticing the daylight, and wanting the dream to continue a while longer. However, “mother” is in the room, about to shake them out of their dreamy slumber, and they won’t like the waking state they’re going to have to traverse!
Reality always bites, and bites back.
My advice?
At least emulate Harry Truman, by going for brisk walks outdoors, as many times a day as possible. Get to know MORE than mere words about trying to con or convince OTHER people of this or that!
BackToBasics| 12.10.12 @ 4:39PM
Agree and reality will bite back so hard it will be able to wake up many but it will make some of the sleepers go into shock and continue their denial and blame Republicans and others it will kill outright.
Simon Templar| 12.10.12 @ 11:57AM
Some very good points in the article. We could implement them all and they would certainly help a great deal. They are still thinking that is 'inside the box' and with thinking that smacks of conventional politics.
They will continue to win because they could care less about conventional political strategies such as platforms, rhetoric, appealing to groups outside their base, being behind the latest and greatest issue, worrying about pissing certain groups off, redistricting, crafting messages, etc.
They win because they smart enough to control the media,the narratives, the culture, their opponent's message and image, the educational institutions, the entertainment industry, and the demographics via lack of legal immigration policy. They win because they corrupt the election process and know how to get out their vote.
Until you begin to address these head on and admit that they are the keys to their success and control, you will continue to lose. It is not complicated.
Ralph Novy| 12.10.12 @ 8:30PM
Brilliant "us/they" thinking, Simon.
Let me guess. You're Zoroastrian. Right?
spike59| 12.11.12 @ 5:43AM
no, "us/them" thinking would make him a "liberal Democrat"
Claudius| 12.10.12 @ 12:54PM
A prophecy given to Emperor Claudius (from "I, Claudius"):
"WHO GROANS BENEATH THE PUNIC (racial?) CURSE
AND STRANGLES IN THE STRINGS OF PURSE,
BEFORE SHE MENDS MUST SICKEN WORSE."
The question is will the people ever get sick enough of this before they boot the statists out? It's pointless for Conservatives to blame themselves for not getting the message out, or not feeling what the masses feel. We already do! The message is there for anyone who cares to read it.
The conflict in the country is between the visceral and intellectual. Unfortunately, people relied on their feelings rather than intellectually engaging the issues. If the electorate isn't sensible then there is little anyone can do to fix the problem.
In this country the electorate must ultimately take responsibility.
Ralph Novy| 12.10.12 @ 8:43PM
Claudius:
I rather agree with you, although we may be coming at the same thing from different directions.
I'm a self-described liberal/progressive who is VERY suspicious of "statism." I.e., I'm an adamant supporter of Bill of Rights protections.
For the same reason(s), I'm always suspicious of overambitious "socialist" programs that approximate how the Soviet Union, China and Albania, for example, purported to implement them.
As to how the 2012 presidential was decided, I'm undecided. I think it's a pretty even mix. Plenty of "visceral" response for and against Romney and Obama. Plenty of "intellectual" response the same way.
If I had to "peg" it, I'd say the American electorate acted like a jury and just thought -- on the basis of both gut and mind -- that Obama and his policies would serve them better than Romney and his.
But yes, ultimately, the electorate must take responsibility.
Now, if only the bankers, hedge-fund managers and sleazy political hacks would!
Sigh.
RAM| 12.10.12 @ 2:21PM
Whatever paradigm the Republican in-crowd has used to define "electable" should be launched into deep space. We mere mortals outside the Candidate-Consultant Complex (C3) have witnessed its absolute falsity.
Bill8472| 12.10.12 @ 2:29PM
I hate when I hear those bastards say "elections have consequences." But they're right about that.
Their day is coming, boy.
PolishKnight| 12.10.12 @ 3:25PM
The author appears to be stumbling around the obvious because he's afraid to state it. Getting more "latino" votes and white votes simultaneously is tricky when the left is able to openly bash white males and pander to Hispanics (and other non-whites and women) with goodies and the Republicans respond with appeals to keep those upper income tax rates low. While they're at it, just extend out their throat and give directions to the Democrats on how to cut it.
Step 1: Protect your white male base and stop allowing the left to deny them civil rights in government, the workplace, education and the courts.
Step 2: Latinos, among other leftist special interest race entitlement groups, will either find the Republican agenda of family values, limited government and sound economic principles alluring or they won't. But at least they won't by default run to the Dems for preferential treatment.
That's it. That's the ONLY way they can beat Hillary in 2016. Otherwise, I hope they raise the top income tax rate to 99.9% and let the rich declare that maybe having a dozen gardeners working at half price and then going on welfare and voting democrat isn't a good idea.
RJ| 12.10.12 @ 5:00PM
The Senatorial races, collectively, and the Presidential race was a disaster as it demonstrated a much bigger disaster: the cultural change towards dependency over self-reliance. Dependency destroys freedom and prosperity. Dependency rarely learns its lesson and reforms itself. We have a difficult path ahead of us.
Paul A'Barge | 12.10.12 @ 5:35PM
Sir,
it wasn't a disaster (for us, us being Conservatives). It was certainly not good for America. But America will survive. It was not a disaster for Conservatives because frankly, the candidate was not a Conservative. And no one really tried to "sell" Conservative principles.
The candidate was a Republican. And it was and is a disaster for the Republican Party. And for that we (Conservatives) should be thrilled and grateful. GOP, RIP.
Long live the Tea Party.
RJ| 12.11.12 @ 2:41AM
I am finding it hard to be grateful for another 4 years of Obama as President and seeing Harry Reid's power enhanced in the Senate.
Oldefarte| 12.10.12 @ 5:50PM
Folks, I've said it a thousand times and I'll now repeat myself once again. It's simply the STUPIDS and the LABOR UNIONS. Romney's Bain personnae of aquiring private companies, downsizing most in order to make profitable served as a warning to Democrats and labor unions. If he had become POTUS, he would probably have acted similarily in slashing the federal government expenses, effectively furloughing/buying out its federal workforce with retirement type payoffs and thus eliminating many of their expensive salaries and pension costs to taxpayers. Since each/every governmental worker is a municipal union member, their Trumpka'ed bosses put out the word to all of them to vote for Obama and to therefore prevent Romney's election and his futuristic governmental downsizings. The STUPIDS bought this hook, line and sinker. Every policeman, fireman, public school teacher, street worker etc in every city, state lemmingly walkied off of the cliff under instructions from their Trumpkas, and that is why this re-election occurred. This is also why today Obama expressely commented on Michigan's right-to-work legislation enactment, which has nothing to do with his federal administration job as POTUS. The unions simply control this country, especially the municipal ones. If and when their public outlawing or right-to-workisms can be enacted of governmental employments, then the present captured state of this nation by them can begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 12.11.12 @ 11:42AM
Were you commenting to me or to Quin? Either way your commentary made about as much sense as s SCREEN DOOR IN A SUBMARINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Balducci2| 12.11.12 @ 2:22AM
"Romney did not even exceed John McCain’s already poor vote total nationwide."
Actually, according to updated vote counts (including absentee ballots etc.), he did.
dkc| 12.11.12 @ 4:50AM
I do not accept that Americans elected Obama without actually supporting his agenda. Despite Mr. Hillyer's hopeful outlook, I think American conservatives must now treat their nation as a patient who must suffer the course of a potentially fatal disease, and for the duration of that illness they must first look to the well-being of their families and friends. We cannot cure the deluded majority, and, if they do not wake from their delirium, the price will be terrible for us and the world.
N8tivTxn| 12.11.12 @ 10:37PM
Anecdotal evidence is surfacing, that seems to indicate Romney's advisers failed to bother contacting key, experienced (R) local and regional swing state political operatives, for their help, because some of them had been involved in assisting TEA Party candidates in the 2010 mid-terms.
Additionally, Republicrats won't get the votes they need, until the go where the swing voters are - in front of their TVs watching the latest hot pop culture offering.
I said a month ago, Obama didn't win the presidency of the U.S.A... he won the DC version of "Dancing With the Stars".
There is a new presidential election playbook. The GOP seems to be the last to know...
Marc Jeric| 1.4.13 @ 4:24PM
And another decent RINO bit the dust. Romney brought to the fight a dust feather, while Mullah Obama brought his Chicago machine gun. Romney never mentioned Rev. Wright, Davis, Ayers...Never defined the two murder cover-ups (Fast & Furious and Bebghazi) and never defined their purposes. Never called Obama a marxist...