How the GOP needs to change, and how it doesn’t
Tuesday was a brutal night for Republicans.
Incumbent presidents are tough to beat, but Barack Obama was about as vulnerable as they come. The economy is stagnant; his signature legislative achievement is unpopular; his party weathered sharp losses in the midterm elections – by now, you know the litany by heart. Yet Mitt Romney appears to have flipped only two states Obama won in 2008 (pending the final result in Florida).
When political parties lose brutally, a lot of new conventional wisdom crops up. Some of it’s right, some of it’s wrong. Here’s an early take on which is which:
1. Republicans have to move toward the left.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. There are two major political parties in this country in large part because they represent two sets of durable, mainstream beliefs. Sometimes one or the other does a better job of representing its beliefs, but neither ideology will be permanently defeated. Which leads me to …
2. The GOP has to ditch the tea party.
Wrong. Just two years ago, the GOP stopped Democrats’ congressional super-majorities in their tracks thanks to tea partyers. America hasn’t changed dramatically in that time, even if a successful tea-party candidate needs more polish than we’ve seen out of some of them (hello, Christine O’Donnell) to attract a broader audience.
The original animating concern of the tea party — halting the rapid growth of the federal government, from bailouts to debt to Obamacare — could have been a political winner Tuesday. (We don’t have to wait for the historians to marvel that the GOP in 2012 nominated the only guy who couldn’t capitalize on Obamacare’s lack of popularity.)
Romney might have made up for that failing if he’d joined the growing ranks of conservatives who support breaking up the biggest banks to ensure none is too big to fail. His comment during the second debate about his party’s devotion to Big Business at the expense of small businesses was his chance. He didn’t take it. A Republican with 2016 ambitions might, soon.
3. The GOP has to reach out to non-white voters.
This one’s absolutely true. There is plenty to criticize in Romney’s lack of minority outreach, but this is not his problem alone. Nor will it go away if the GOP merely highlights the promising, young, non-white stars they already have, such as Nikki Haley, Bobby Jindal, Susana Martinez and Marco Rubio.
Republicans have to explain why conservative ideas are good for minorities. They can’t simply trot out their ideas and expect minorities to recognize their brilliance when those voters have been told by Democrats, many of them for generations, that those ideas are intended to benefit other (read: white) people. When Republicans fail to engage minority voters, they effectively reinforce the Democrats’ argument.
It will take more than talking, though. It will take action. Here’s an idea about one policy that makes minorities most skeptical about the right: voter ID laws. Why not fight the notion these laws are about suppressing voting, rather than reducing fraud, by taking proactive steps to help put IDs in the hands of the people who think they’re being targeted?
4. Republicans must drop social conservatism.
Wrong. Social conservatism isn’t wholly out of the mainstream. Gallup’s long-term tracking of public attitudes about abortion, for instance, show the pro-life position is as strong as it’s been since Roe v. Wade. What’s out of the mainstream is a social conservative who can’t talk about opposing abortion without sounding as if he’s endorsing the act of rape. That cost the GOP two Senate seats and surely hurt Romney’s standing with some women.
Gay marriage may be different. Older voters who oppose it altogether are being replaced every day by 18-year-olds who couldn’t care less — and who don’t seem to change their stance as they get older. There was a time when Republicans could have pushed civil unions to make all couples equal before the law without changing the traditional definition of marriage. That time may have passed.
5. Georgia Republicans are a few years away from facing some of the same issues as the national GOP.
True, true, true. I’ll explain how they can avoid the same fate in a column coming soon to a blog very, very near you.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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883 comments Add your comment
Georgia
November 9th, 2012
9:14 am
Health Care is an oxymoron. Cancer Specialists are oxymorons. They are so swayed by drug companies to accept new approaches and clinical trials, that the pool of cancer patients has to be expanded in order to accomodate all the remedies. Thus some therapies are the spectral opposite of what might have cured the cancer, and the patient dies. Regulation, control, oversight, and retraining are needed for all cancer specialists, especially a few I could name here today.
Obamacare. Lets take diagnosis and prescription away from the drug companies.
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:16 am
@Tiberius…”Actually, it wouldn’t if you bothered to read my posts instead of assigning your personal interpretation to them.”
I see you are just terribly misunderstood….
Well in the off case that has a kernel of truth I will tell you the same thing I tell my team…the object of communication is to make the other person understand what you mean…it is incumbent upon the communicator to achieve this….if they don’t understand it’s your problem not theirs.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:18 am
“conservatives have been labeled”
And it is up to us to dispel those false labels.
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:19 am
Tiberius…”if it weren’t for Fox News, no one would know that 4 Americans died as a result of the incompetence of this administration.”
Indeed…we also wouldn’t know that
Romney was going to sweep to victory
The gender gap was closed
Young people wouldn’t really vote this time around
You still don’t get it…Fox News is making a fortune telling Republicans what they want to hear not what is actually true.
Rafe Hollister, dreading the eventual decline caused by Obamanism
November 9th, 2012
9:20 am
It is apparently lost on you that from the moment people started gathering in villages the entire point was to provide outcomes that could best be achieved collectively.
JDW, our first colonists just about starved to death that first winter, because of their effort at collectivism. They finally wised up and learned that all people are not created equally as for as work ethic and dedication, so they divided their assets and moved to an every man for himself strategy, that was a big improvement in their overall well being.
cc
November 9th, 2012
9:20 am
Enter your comments here
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:20 am
“the object of communication is to make the other person understand what you mean…it is incumbent upon the communicator to achieve this”
Fine.
I’ll dumb down my posts so that you can understand them better, JDW.
Which works better for you, fourth grade-level or third grade?
Ernesto
November 9th, 2012
9:22 am
The GOP and conservatives need to embrace a pathway for undocumented immigrants already in the country to achieve a legal status. Not everyone has to stay, especially those who are committing other crimes. 70+% of Latinos cannot fully embrace the party because they have a big attachment to their families and friends who are in this type of situation. Latinos are not married to any political party. Most Latinos are conservatives and they have been waiting to be part of the conservative movement.
Just think of all those citizens who are Hispanic Americans and are about to turn 18 within the next four years. They will be able to vote and they will remember those who made their lives and the lives of their families a constant nightmare. The conservatives need to accept us and our needs and the Latinos have been waiting for a long time to be part of a conservative movement.
cc
November 9th, 2012
9:22 am
Rafe:
“The one positive economic thing that happened during the previous four years appears to be in trouble.”
The “one positive economic thing” was the expectation that Obama would be defeated. It isn’t in trouble, it’s DEAD!
Redcoat
November 9th, 2012
9:23 am
Tiberius…….”And it is up to us to dispel those false labels. I’m afraid it will take numerous generations. …..Just will have to weather the dark days ahead……and prepare.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:24 am
“Romney was going to sweep to victory
The gender gap was closed
Young people wouldn’t really vote this time around.
Deflection and inaccuracy as usual from you.
Keep thinking that Fox News isn’t separated by a “news” organization and an “opinion” organization, JDW.
You can choose to dismiss the accuracy of their reporting by citing their opinion, but you would still be wrong.
Rafe Hollister, dreading the eventual decline caused by Obamanism
November 9th, 2012
9:25 am
You still don’t get it…MSNBC and the MSM is surviving by telling Liberals what the Obama regime wants them to hear, not what is actually true.
JDW, with a little editorial input it reads much better now. You are welcome.
Dr. Pangloss
November 9th, 2012
9:26 am
1. Shut down the clown show. Put people like Gingrich, Cain, Bachmann, Santorum, Perry, et al in a corner and tell them to shut up.
2. Lose the gun fetish.
3. Lose Fox News.
4. Lose Fox News.
5. Lose Fox News.
6. Stop telling outlandish lies. Just tell ordinary political lies.
7. Lose Fox News.
8. Disown the conspiracy nuts.
7. Lose Fox News.
Rafe Hollister, dreading the eventual decline caused by Obamanism
November 9th, 2012
9:29 am
Fox News must be really doing a great job getting the news out, it really has the Obamanist riled, like nothing else.
mike
November 9th, 2012
9:31 am
What with Thanksgiving coming up, all you turkeys on the right had better not be sticking your necks out! Hahahahahaha!
(It’s a joke, Kyle.)
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:32 am
@Rafe…I think you need to revisit American History…try this for a quick refresher…
http://www.historyisfun.org/history-jamestown.htm
Notice that the problem was the upper class didn’t want to do much work and they forgot to bring sufficient laborers and skilled farmers. Once they got the rich to do their fair share we were off an running.
mike
November 9th, 2012
9:34 am
I have to agree with Dr. Pangloss above. Especially #1. When I saw Huntsman was in the running, I thought that he would very likely give Obama a run for his money. Of course, they blew him out early. Not nutty enough. And so it goes……
Redcoat
November 9th, 2012
9:35 am
The majority of people now have been led to believe that this country runs on auto pilot……that the government has a big deep well of unending money….and if you don’t have as much as your neighbor, you are a victim. Someone (just don’t call me names and say I’m wrong) prove me wrong.
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:36 am
@Rafe…I really don’t know about MSNBC or MSM because I DON’T WATCH THEM. From what I read they did a pretty reasonable job of correctly identifying the trends in the recent election unlike their FOX breathren.
The other thing that comes up time and again is this…FOX News viewers are simply uninformed.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-uninformed-npr-listeners-not-poll-suggests/
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 9th, 2012
9:36 am
How the GOP needs to change
Maybe leave the bayonets and horses at home before you go off to the next war?
I'm a cowboy baby !
November 9th, 2012
9:39 am
How the GOP needs to change
We ain’t rogue enough .
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:40 am
@mike…”When I saw Huntsman was in the running, I thought that he would very likely give Obama a run for his money. ”
I agree completely…in fact Kyle I had that very discussion. Early on I was hopeful that maybe just maybe Huntsman could make an impact on the GOP and start it’s return to the more moderate party that I once supported…however the Wingnuts “won” again.
Next time around the only standard bearer I see that could maybe have that impact is Colin Powell…but if he really wants the job he should run as a Democrat.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:40 am
Another thing that comes up time and time again is that some people think polls are the be-all and end-all of knowledge.
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 9th, 2012
9:42 am
Shaaaaaawn Hannity and Marko Rubio both begging for hispanic votes yesterday.
.
How pathetic.
.
The message of Personal Liberty ,Peaceful trade ,and the rule of Natural Law appeals to all people..when they understand it.
.
But making them understand would require more work.
It would seem as if the tards of the GOP leadership will attempt to compete with the amoral DNCt to buy votes .
.
It is……….indeed……..the stupid party.
.
Let the Hannities, the Wingfeilds,the TARPERS, and the other war-mongering Patriot act/NDAA supporting neo-con/progressives join the DNC.
Strike the letters GOP from the political lexicon.
.
And leave the Freedom Lovers alone.
.
It would be a better country.
stands for decibels
November 9th, 2012
9:44 am
At the risk of piling on…
Newt is not a fringe figure in the GOP, he made a serious run for the presidential nomination. As far as I can tell he’s generally embraced as an “idea guy” and not marginalized by the conservative media
And yet I heard many, many times from a surprising number of online contributors to these blogs that not only was Newt a credible candidate, but that he would cream, obliterate, humble, etc. the hapless Barack Obama in a TV debate.
Obama did show that he was rusty his first time out, and yeah, Newt might’ve made a halfway decent showing there. Newt would’ve been absolutely gutted, filleted, and pan-seared in subsequent meetings, there’s simply no way that he wouldn’t take the kind of bait Obama would’ve used to trap him into saying something outrageous.
/drive-by
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:45 am
“”When I saw Huntsman was in the running, I thought that he would very likely give Obama a run for his money. ””
mike and JDW remain clueless about politics.
Yeah, put President Personality but Incompetent up against Gov. Competent but Boring.
And the results would have been different – how?
The American Idol President was re-elected.
Del
November 9th, 2012
9:45 am
The left and many on the right overlook that this was a close election nationally. The Democrats with strong help from the unions launched a highly successful ground game strategy that took the key swing states for Obama. Obama’s leadership or lack thereof will be severely tested in his second term. The fiscal cliff is weeks away and ignoring the deficit position this president has been taking won’t make it through his second term. The tea party succeeded in energizing voters in the 010 mid-term election and we saw the results. Republicans need work on a greatly improved ground game and make our poor economic health and the deficit a paramount issue beginning now. The party adopting a socially liberal policy isn’t the winning strategy.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 9th, 2012
9:46 am
Obama’s win was bigger than John Kennedy’s in 1960 (303 electoral votes, popular vote margin of 112,827), bigger than Richard Nixon’s in 1968 (301 electoral votes, popular vote plurlaity of 512,000), bigger than Jimmy Carter’s in 1976 (297 electoral votes, popular vote margin of 1,683,247), bigger than George W. Bush’s in 2000 (271 electoral votes and a popular vote loss of 543,816).
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/obama-bigger-win-kennedy-nixon-carter-or-bush
How you like them apples?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 9th, 2012
9:47 am
And Florida results aren’t even in yet.
clem
November 9th, 2012
9:47 am
righties migh want to listen to one of their shunned folks david frum:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/davidfrum.html
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:48 am
@Tiberius…”Another thing that comes up time and time again is that some people think polls are the be-all and end-all of knowledge”
Looks like they worked pretty well earlier in the week…as long as you understand the motivations of the pollster as our friends on the Right learned to their chagrin…guess they were watching FOX News.
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:52 am
@Del…The left and many on the right overlook that this was a close election nationally.”
Really it wasn’t…look at the geographic results…Romney won the South thats it…he lost West, Midwest and Northeast. In fact he went O for the Northeast 141 EV’s to 0. West and Midwest he lost in the 80 to 35 range…
clem
November 9th, 2012
9:52 am
what we do know is that tiberius is not the be all end all of knowledge…..
let’s take a poll to demonstrate
Del
November 9th, 2012
9:53 am
Obama does not have a mandate from the voters and he most certainly doesn’t have the GWB buffer from the economic issues we face like he had in his first term. The libs are kidding themselves there, but that’s okay.
JDW
November 9th, 2012
9:54 am
@Tiberius…”mike and JDW remain clueless about politics.”
I know…you are so much more in tune with politics…why you should run for office…oppps never mind.
St Simons
November 9th, 2012
9:54 am
Nooooo. No. No.
don’t change a thing. heheheh
tiredofIT
November 9th, 2012
9:55 am
I just heard Boortz and one of the reasons for his retirement is he is tired of working 4 and half hour days while getting a “fat” pay check. Poor baby.
iggy
November 9th, 2012
9:56 am
Dow down 471 points since election.
“HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN”
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:58 am
JDW, polls are polls, not necessarily information. And polls are most certainly opinion-based.
If you wish to rely on them as your bottom-line knowledge base, that is fine by me.
It does explain your ignorance on so many issues, however.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
9:59 am
“why you should run for office”
I did.
And succeeded.
You?
Never mind . . .
iggy
November 9th, 2012
9:59 am
I heard an audio clip from one of Obama voters yesterday. The idiot made the comment that Obama would bring Israel and Iran together because he is the “Angel of Peace.”
Other audio clips were laced with MF and GD about killing the Jews.
Oh well…
Del
November 9th, 2012
9:59 am
Really it wasn’t…look at the geographic results…
Look at the total vote count. I indicated that the Democrats had a far superior ground game and that’s what won the election for Obama. When you look at the division among the total electorate and say he has a mandate, you’re kidding yourself.
retiredds
November 9th, 2012
9:59 am
usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/11/08/10-dramatic-things-people-are-doing-after-obamas-win?google_editors_picks=true
Kyle, if this is how the R’s are responding to the election of Obama to a second term you might as well fold up your tents and disappear. No reasonable person is going to buy into this type of idiotic reaction.
ITS ALL BUSH'S FAULT
November 9th, 2012
10:00 am
GOP,FOX , RUSH , NEAL SEAN, ANN KARL MITT NEWT SARAH GROVER SHOULD ALL SELF DEPORT!
St Simons
November 9th, 2012
10:00 am
Billy Joel’s right, cons
Don’t gooo changin’
to try & please meh
you nevah have let me down before.
I hate you just the way you aaaaahhhre.
–signed, Amerka, except for old white dudes
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
10:01 am
Del, he had a slightly better ground game, yes, But the GOP has a flawed message as well.
And of course they didn’t have hundreds of billions of unpaid for tax dollars to buy their union and teacher votes.
Edward
November 9th, 2012
10:01 am
All I see here is the right-wingers confirming that they will forever henceforth be the losers in national elections. They’ve chosen option C from Aquagirl’s list of options and the sad thing is that they truly believe their rants, name-calling, insults, denials, and equivocations will convince an ever more diverse populace to support their xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, antediluvian rhetoric. Perhaps that is a good thing, we don’t really need to worry about them anymore.
Skip
November 9th, 2012
10:03 am
Polls are opinion based, so are votes.
iggy
November 9th, 2012
10:03 am
Billy Joel…lol…that guy has done nothing since Glass Houses and even that, at best, was mediocre.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 9th, 2012
10:04 am
“They’ve chosen option C from Aquagirl’s list of options”
Except, of course, they haven’t.
But you keep thinking that, Edward!