How the GOP needs to change, and how it doesn’t

3. The GOP has to reach out to non-white voters.

a Con on NPR this morning said the right’s demonization of non-whites as akin to smoking: “You know it will kill you but you do it anyway.”

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“How the GOP needs to change”

1. Stop thumping the Bible
2. Reach out to non-white male voters.

Pretty simple.

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sorry…came out wrong

Reach out to other demographics other than JUST male white voters

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“mainstream beliefs”

Bible thumping is NOT a mainstream belief.

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I’m trying to identify the next big liberal campaign of hate and filthy lies, because the national health care system only has so much money that they can suck out of it.

This mindless beast is going to be hungry.

Auto insurance?

Any thoughts?

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Kyle here’s one more to add to the list

4. Republicans need to abandon the idiot echo chamber that is talk radio and Fox News.

The idiocy and bigoted views parroted on that network counter the ideals of inclusiveness and diversity. As an example, I listen to Hannity on occaision and othere is no way young people who grow up in a diverse America can agree with the lunacy being propagated on that show. It’s completely geared towards fear mongering amongst the older white population. The talk radio sect is clearly on another planet.

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It also might help if the GOP brushes up on how math and statistics work before the next high stakes elections. In this space earlier this week it was alleged that “polls are more art than science.” So the work of statistical modelers like Nate Silver should be taken no more seriously than the gut feelings of people like Peggy Noonan, who counted Romney/ Ryan yard signs on her drive home. As we found out, you can actually make a pretty good stab at an event’s probability when you average 22 trusted state polls and 21 of them predict the same close outcome. It’s like the idea that holds one baseball hitter who reaches first via a walk twice as often as the average during his last 400 at bats will probably do that again in his next 100 at bats. It’s science!

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How about abandoning the “Tax cuts cure all” way of thinking. Had Romney articulated his plan besides cutting taxes for everyone which most hear as “cutting taxes for the top” he had a really good shot.

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Most Republican House members are in secure districts – especially since there are so many Republican statehouses that gerrymanded them based on the 2010 census. They may give a little more now, but they won’t cave. There was no mandate for that.

The Tea Party is alive and well, and will do another big push for the mid-term elections they did so well in Obama’s first term. It is almost automatic that the presidential party does well in mid-term elections. It will all depend on where we stand on taxes, spending, deficits, and debt then.

They, along with Obama, came close to a “Grand Bargain” when the Tea Party Republicans got elected, but Democratic Senators talked Obama out of it as they wanted to have the issue instead of a settlement. It may happen again – but Democrats have to worry about off year elections when the Republicans might sweep them again. Some of them actually worry about the deficit and debt. Obama doesn’t need to demagogue the issue again since he won’t face the voters. Neither side wants the economy to crater with sequestration and tax increases across the board – so either they punt it further down the road, or (less likely) strike a deal. Everyone will take credit (and flak), but either 2012 or 2013 is the time to get it done to de-escalate these issues and help our economy.

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Well in four years if all goes as feared, those moderates(so they say) are going to come streaming back to the conservative fiscal side of things. IF the economy perks up and jobs come back and Obama Care is not seen as a drag on the economy then say hello to Hillary Rottam Clinton for 8 years.Sad to say that the only chance Repubs have is if nothing short of disaster occurs.

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Rachel Maddow last night begging Cons to embrace more reality-based news sources because the country needs them to be informed so they can operate in the democratic process.

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Let’s take on the easy one:
I Report: Whaaaaaaa! You couldn’t be more wrong!

Kyle: Republicans must drop social conservatism

No, but stop legislating it to all. Your party acts like all are arch christian men. That they are the ONLY ONES who will tell us how to live our lives.There are many more religions, religious beliefs, and some w/o religious affiliation. Recognize not all have or should they have your views.Embrace diversity in lifestyle and race. You can be right to life…but do not legislate it to those who do not share your views. God is the ultimate judge. People need to be responsible for THEIR decisions when it comes to abortion.

Republicans have to move toward the left.
No. Just closer to the center. They must also have a clear opinion of what they stand for and what they will do.

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Stop trying to turn this country into a Theocracy. Believe what you want to believe. But when we try to force our beliefs on other and try to turn this country into a Theocracy, we’re no better than the countries in the Middle East.

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Kyle

1. The Party needs to move closer to the center.

2. The Tea Party IS the far right and must go.

3. Social Conservatism must be modified.

Your essay shows, essentially, you’re not willing to give up much, if any of the ideology which caused this defeat and will surely cause another defeat in 2016 if changes aren’t made.

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And you probably shouldn’t highlight your minority stars just because they are minorities. How about just highlighting your stars regardless of race. Kinda sounds like the guy who says I’m not racist because I have black friends.

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Only one thing needs to be done. Stop being hateful. That goes over well with the base, but flops with everyone else.

Here is you message (from outside the echo chamber) on minorities:

Black people are stupid and vote Democrat only. In addition, they are all lazy and want government assistance. Latinos are all criminals and need to be deported. They are also stealing our government services. Women aren’t smart enough to figure out what’s right for them. We need to tell them, and back that up with some rantings on Jesus. Young people are also stupid because they are young. They’ll turn Republican when they get older.

It comes off like, “We are smarter and better than everyone else, but they don’t realize it. What’s wrong with you people.”

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Great blog Kyle. However, I disagree with your #1 Point:

The GOP dont have to move to the left, they have to inch towards the center which means that they have to move left. Herein lies the problem which I see with the GOP which is the way their message is crafted and absorbed by the voting populace. (by the way I cant vote because of my nationality so I am neither Democrat nor Republican).

The message about abortion, immigration, taxes, economy issues that the GOP have are reasonable. It is the way they are crafted that turns people off…or the way the Democratic party HELPS the GOP party craft their message is what makes people rethink voting for the GOP party..(and it does not help that you have politicians like Murdock et al essentially reinforcing that message).

There was something interesting I read the other day: That most right-leaning media networks are not helping the GOP..in that they FOCUS on telling their audience ONLY what they need to know/hear or what fires them up. Considering that that fervent base is ever shrinking due to the changing ethnicity of this country, this is not a good look for the GOP. Again the GOP can change this by crafting a “we are not AGAINST you message, we are FOR you” message. How?

(1) Repudiate that 47% message that Romney brought up. Most polls mentioned that there is a growing percentage of independent voters. When I hear a candidate say “Oh 47% of you dont matter to me because you are constantly on the government’s dole, it makes me really think twice about voting for such a candidate. And the other problem with such a statement is that it is flat out WRONG and insulting. No need to go to specifics here, maybe another day.

(2) Recraft the immigration message- 75% of Hispanics voted for the Dems vs 25% for the Repubs. Especially since that they are one of the fastest growing demographics, it is almost impossible to be seen associated with a message that immigration reform that people percieve as all illegal immigrants being booted out of the US. Recrafting it can mean having buck the GOP party mantra and figure out immigration policies that can make hispanics go hmmn..maybe this candidate/party isnt against me after all. Failure to do that will amount to an ever increasing electorate that shuns your party’s candidate.

(3) Big business is not your friend. For all the insane and unbelievable amounts of money poured into the general election by Super PAC’s and corporations at the end of the day, the voters are the one who matter. If you have a candidate who is all pro-business, he or she will NEVER have the interests of the people (read:we the PEOPLE or we the voters) at heart..and vice versa. The Dems have constantly crafted the message that they are for the people, and the GOP have not been really savvy on creating such a message. Now being for the people does not mean that big business has to/or will suffer, NO. But when people see a candidate as only representing big business, they go hmmn..maybe I will be better off voting for the other party. A stronger electorate (financially) is always good for business anyway.

(4) Social issues: Again, GOP have staked out their positions on these social issues and that is not the issue. The issue is the way their stance or messages are being percieved (no thanks to Murdock and co). The voters who might support these issues might see the way the message is being crafted and go wow..I dont want to be associated with that..

(5) Be an all-inclusive party: I wish i could paste a picture on this blog: It was a screen shot of both the Dems and Repub’s “victory parties”. One picture showed Americans from all races, while the other picture showed a picture of only white people. Now maybe Chicago is more ethnically diverse than Boston but unfortunately that is a picture that everyone sees. And considering how ethically diverse that America is becoming, that is definitely a picture that you want to change if you want to remain politically relevant in the future.

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The obsession with welfare needs to end. Stick to the core principals.

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The republican party is the party of the wealthy and have been since the end of the civil war. They are against taxes, unions, social programs that benefit ordinary Americans. They will never change these core values of their party. They don’t need to anyway, because they can influence government through their money given to politicians and quit the charade that conservatism is good for America.

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The election postmortem is missing some key facts. Obama got 10 million less votes than he did last time. Romney got 3 million less votes than McCain. There WAS a drop in voter turnout/enthusiasm.The results were much closer, and it was against an incumbent president. The next presidential election will not have an incumbent. Hillary is the only re-run for the Democrats, and Rubio looks to be positioned for the Republicans.

Obama is the first president as an incumbent to win re-election by a smaller margin than that by which he was elected in the first place. McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton all increased their re-election vote share significantly. Obama’s dropped from a 7 point margin over McCain to a 1 point margin over Romney. Such lack of political capital will make him a lame duck faster than any other incumbent term president who never had/has to face the voters again.

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I notice still….

Nary a word on how the New York Times and Nate Silver and all the polls nailed it.

We were told how they were biased and there couldn’t be that many Democrats out there.

Meanwhile Fox and Dick Morris and Kyle’s gut were way way off.

Nary a word.

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1. Stop pandering to evangelicals. Defined religion is no longer a mainstream belief.
2. Accept that the 1960’s nuclear family no longer exist. Families look different today.
3. Drop some of the social issues. Don’t give up but you are losing ground. Stop making them the forefront of your campaign.
4. Get serious about financial reform. Present realistic ideas, not ideological ones.
5. Compromise. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
6. Accept that there are Americans who are displaced due to socioeconomics. They are just as important as a wealthy person receiving a tax break.

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I Report:
Regarding your “Any thoughts?”
I think that you are either juiced up on caffeine or just over the top. Whichever is the case, take a break & chill please.
JDW
You made some great points a moment ago, as did Jon early on here.
I spoke on the phone with a tea party contact in my locality well over a year ago. After a lengthy & civil conversation with her, she totally lost me when she fell into a rant about the “…Communists in our county government..” As I stepped back & reflected later on, I realized how much of what she had said to me had been a total crock.
.

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Kyle,

Then why has every Republican presidential candidate argued for tax cuts every time. Seriously, I’ve only been alive since Reagan and let’s see :
H. W Bush: No New Taxes.
Bob Dole:15% Across The Board Reduction
W. Bush: Bush Tax Cuts
Romney: 20 % across the Board reducition

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DetritusUSA:

Obama won 8 of the wealthiest 10 counties in the U.S. Kind of puts a little dent in your Repubs are only for rich people theory doesn’t it??

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-wins-8-10-wealthiest-154837437.html

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@real john

You are the problem. Its not them, its you. Every one of these groups would vote for you if you would stop being a jerk towards them. Republican policies needlessly alienate them, and people like you, part of the base, openly bash them. How is that helpful?

” The African Americans, Jewish, and union voters will never vote Repub.”

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7. Stop blaming the media for your shortcomings.
8. Tell Rush, Hannity to f-off. They are part of the problem.
9. Show some compassion when events happen and make sure the party upstages the fringe idiots on the side (see #8).
10. Stop catering to big business. Big business only cares about who is in power. Cater to Main Street where people live and work.

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Kyle,

America looks eerily similar in 2012 as it did in 1912- a pluralistic culture in its mainstream center, multiple on its assimilating margins. The people assimilating in that era faced some of the same issues as minorities in this era. The only difference is that they were white. Descendants of Italian Americans should look at their Latino brothers and sisters and remember their ancestors were once derisively nicknamed WOPs because they came here without papers. Descendants of Irish Americans should study their history. They would see familiar themes like the breakdown in the Irish family in the late 19th century, the Lace Curtain/Shanty Irish dichotomy that vexed their community even as they eventually produced Jack Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Jewish Americans note with glee how similar the Asian assimilation experience in this country has mimicked theirs.

At this historic moment we should remember our national birth certificate holds these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal-free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. We should remember the words that so eloquently describe the myth of America-give me your poor, your tired your huddled masses yearning to be free and realize that the European foreigners who would over time help to make the twentieth century an American century were reviled by the “Real Americans” of that era.

As a fifty something black man who grew up in the deep south I am glad to see this country I was raised to love return to its melting pot roots. This is how America works. It is how America has always worked. The Republican party’s main problem is the contempt you sense it holds for you as a member of a minority group.

Black Americans should have been a natural fit for the party of Lincoln, but you cannot vote for people who act like they do not like you and no matter how many Herman Cains you nominate it won’t feel like you embrace my people until you do. I think many other assimilating groups who by nature are conservative are forced to feel the seem way.

When I see what happened at Ole Miss I think Republicans. When I think about the new citizens who voted for the first time this election I think Democrats. Conservatism isn’t the problem. Its the attitude of this is my country that is the problem. News flash-its my country too, and it is the country of my Asian and Latino and Gay brothers and sisters too! We too sing America, we too love this country, but remember it belongs to us too.

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Repubs at the core, are all about big business and making it bigger. Those who think that the Repubs give 2 hoots about conervative social and religious issues have been had. And they will continue to be had as long as they listen to and believe what Limbaugh and Hannity tell them.

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“You know your party’s in trouble when you read this: A: The rape guy lost. B: Which one?”

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Rafe,

“As an old timer….”

“Like Rush says…”

Exactly the demo and thinking that will lead to obsolescence.

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Anyone who thinks it is moral to take 91% of a person’s hard earned pay has serious issues…

It was moral in the 50’s

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Kyle, you forgot to mention scum bags like Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Neal B. no one under 30 are listening to these hate filled angry white males.

These people are now blaming parents of kids who voted for Obama, this is why Mitt won the confederate but not America.

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The wild thing is that there are African American on this forum who clearly are open to change and are telling the Republicans what they need to do to attract us. There is a 0.1% chance that they will actually listen however.

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JF McNamara
10:20 am
—–
agree with this point. Currently there are some conservatives on TV saying things like the a reason the President was re-elected is because we are a nation of takers now. As long as this is the mindset of people the conservatives put out front. It’s going to be a long battle ahead.

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The wierd thing about this election is that even though Obama won by 100 electoral votes, the Repubs still don’t get. Explanations like: He only won by a few percent; Most of the country voted against him; He didn’t get as many votes as he did last time; Romnay isn’t a real conservative, are totally laughable. The Constitution provides that the candidate with the most electoral votes wins. The fact that many Repub voters just can’t accept the fact that the President won the election tells me they just don’t get what our republican (no pun intended) form of government is all about.

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@atler8…I know what you mean. It is amazing how many of them carry on a civil converstation to a point and then start “foaming at the mouth”. The problem the Republicans have is they have actually elected some…Jim DeMint, Michelle Bachmann, Ted Cruz, Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Tom Price and Rand Paul to name a few. Thankfully the Akins, Mourdocks and Angles of the world have not been elected.

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Yes, Jay hit on something at 10:45.

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“Republicans have to move toward the left.”

When the left advocates and advances the destruction of individual rights so that we can be “progressive”, Republicans need to stay right where they are. However, a lot of the far-right evangelicals do the same thing (advocate destruction of individual rights to enforce their idea of morality), and that has to go.

We have way too many people violating their oath of office to advance their pet causes.

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Kyle, you need to write a message to all Americans, not just Republicans.

Here’s the obvious that no one wants to mention.

Racial discrimination is rampant. White men and women are being treated like they are criminals because they live in the USA.. Non-whites seem to think it is their privilege to accuse white people just for living. That is wrong.

Religious freedom is being treated like it is a garbage truck to be avoided. Those who don’t have any want everybody to be like them. They discriminate.

Women are full citizens and need no more privileges or restrictions than anyone else. Women can speak for themselves so leave it to women to do it.Same for gays.

Justice must prevent disparity in taxation, schools, privileges, and dependency payments from taxes. We were not established as a give-away country but one seeking freedom and independence for all. Dependency is not freedom but reliance on others to meet your needs.

I’d say more but I have to leave. Rejoice over that but I MAY return!.

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Interesting that Kyle laments, “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.” Except Kyle, like other Republicans are being extremely disingenuous in saying such a thing. Every time, EVERY TIME, they have proposed laws against “gay marriage” they have also included language in the law to prohibit civil unions and any other name we might use. Republicans who spew the lie, “you can have it just don’t call it marriage”, are bald-faced liars. You voted for such a lie here in Georgia and in every other backward state that had such a ballot initiative.

And people like JF Mcnamara have it right. As long as the GOP continues to insult everyone, saying that minorities are nothing but deadbeats and scofflaws, with people like Limbaugh and Beck and Hannity and Rove as your defacto leaders, you will forever be the party of Old White Men.

The “tea party” people would have been more acceptable had they stuck with their original premise of fiscal conservatism. But, they were hijacked by radical religionists who now have effectively relegated them to being the Tealiban. Dump these people, they do you no good.

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1. Republicans have to move toward the left.

Kyle: “Wrong, wrong, wrong. There are two major political parties in this country in large part because they represent two sets of durable, mainstream beliefs.”

It is Kyle, who is wrong here. When a party moves to an extreme right or left, a move in the other direction does not mean that there will be no difference from the other party. A moderate Republican party can still represent different beliefs than a moderate Democratic party, which would be best for the country.

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“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.”

B/c separate-but-equal worked so well before.

Kyle, I’d be more worried about your boy Newt ruining the sanctity of marriage (what number is he on now) than some homosexual couple.

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Both parties need to come more toward the center. There are excellent Republican candidates who can be fiscally conservative and not spout nonsense about “legitimate rape, rape is a method of conception, and pregnancy from rape is God’s will”. Absolutely nothing should be off the table for budget cuts, not the military, not Medicare/Medicade, not Social Security. At the same time, there will have to be some tax increases. I don’t think tax increases on just the wealthy will be successful. Let’s be honest, there just aren’t that many truly wealthy people. If the Republicans can just stop being so out of touch with folks on a lot of the social issues that they expounded on during this campaing and come back to nuturing their fiscal conservative natures, they will be more in line with what most folks want. Most folks are fairly moderate. And yes, the Democrats need to come more to the center as well. The left needs to be less strident in driving their social agenda and wake up to realize, nothing is free and their are always consequences that must be paid for with any social action they want to take.

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Dusty’s 10:53 post is a prime example fo why the Repubs lost. I can almost hear my brother spouting these same words as 2 of his adult children keep popping out welfare babies with no husband in sight. This same man who had his kids homeschooled so they would not be subjected to the sex education being offered in middle school. Its so ironic that he cannot see the forest for the trees, much the same way many other Repubs seem to think.

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Jaynie:

Great post. +1

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“Many of us felt some pollsters were being unrealistic to expect the electorate to look more or less the same, in terms of partisan breakdown, as in 2008. It turns out they were right. But that certainly doesn’t mean they’re infallible.”

True. But I trust the number-crunchers a lot more than the pundits who base their conclusions on hunches and faulty data. I’m referring to folks like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, George Will and Dick Morris. Rove is an especially sad case. He lost much of his credibility on Fox News election night when he went into complete denial of the outcome. However, what’s truly astonishing is that four years ago his election predictions were very accurate. I sincerely believe that something went very wrong with Rove over the next four years; perhaps he’s growing delusional or senile.

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“1. Republicans have to move toward the left. Wrong, wrong, wrong.”

I agree. Yet when Romney was being swamped in the polls he moved substantially to the Left and evened up the polls. Why did he feel it necessary to make that move? Why did that even up the polls? We need an answer to that question from his campaign staff.

“2. The GOP has to ditch the tea party.”

No. But it has to bring it back into the mainstream. The TEA folks started out preaching against spending. Now most of the groups I am familiar with are concerned with only one issue, taxes. This country will never have a balanced budget and pay off $16 trillion in debt with taxes off the table.

“3. The GOP has to reach out to non-white voters.”

Agree. But more important the GOP must stop demonizing non-white voters. One does not win friends and influence people by calling them dirt bags, etc, etc.

Romney received 29% of the Latino vote. What percentage would he have received if the Republican House had passed the Dream Act? No one knows; but it would have been more than 29%. The Dream Act has been essentially passed by executive order for two years and will be extended for four more years.

I saw a number over the weekend, not sure of its accuracy. “Every month 50,000 Latinos turn 18 and register to vote.”

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I just want to say to Republicans and the right that I understand what you are feeling at the moment. I know because I felt it when George W. Bush stole the election in 2000. I know because my skin would crawl every time I saw that criminal “smirk.” I know because when he was re-elected in 2004, I knew then that was no hope for the country. Unfortunately, my fears were realized. George W. Bush and the neo-cons completely ruined this country. If not forever, at least for the foreseeable future. So, again, I understand your disappointment. I’ve “been there, done that.”

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I’ve been around long enough to watch a country that for the most part that bounces back and forth based on conditions, not necessarily what the parties can or can’t do……the country has a percentage of people on both sides that have a set ideology and then there is a group in between that tends to agree with bits and pieces of both.

Past voting trends seem to suggest that those in the middle go along for the ride until the ride gets too extreme in either direction……….the dems are currently the operators of the roller coaster, if the ride remains fun and we don’t get too sick, the country will stay on the ride, if the majority gets too sick from the ride, odds are they will want off.

Now, that has been basically true for the most part, but I also think at some point in the future if not now, that there may be a point where folks give up on life and want to be taken care of. That is where Europe is at the moment, but even they tend to bounce back and forth which is why they have a Merkel and a Cameron and had a Sarkozy, but their systems have moved further left than ours are currently. The question is how far left do our systems go before we are where they are…..

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If you go back and do a state-by-state analysis of the election you will find that social conservative policy played a part in both Ohio and Virginia. In the past year both states, with republican controlled legislatures, have enacted harsh and unnecessary restrictions on abortion. Women in those two states were very angry and had vowed for the past 6 months to vent their anger on the entire republican party.

Did that make the difference in these two crucial swing states that Romney lost? I can’t say that for sure but it certainly didn’t help Mitt in either of those very close races.

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As for the disparity of the Latino vote:

“Latino groups to Obama: You owe Latinos the election, now pass immigration reform”

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/latino-groups-obama-owe-latinos-election-now-pass-194113601–election.html

Seems the one issue was a driving force…….after this issue is settled, are the numbers as big in favor of the left when the majority of Latinos are very religious??

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Nate Silver 1
Kyle Winfield 0

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You want some advice from someone who has voted both GOP and DEM:
1. Don’t pick rich arrogant fools who act like they are entitled and cannot relate to all levels of the voters;
2. Don’t lie to the voters and treat them like ignorant morons;
3. Get as far away from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Anne Coulter and the other talking heads and get on TV with shows for everyday folks – like Saturday Night live and Leno;
3. Don’t call your opposition a socialist and communist when your own party keeps passing unfunded mandates and socialized medicine to buy votes ;
4. Do not associate with ultra nationalist neocons who had anything too do with the war in Iraq.
5. Find someone who is squeaky clean with no conflicts of interests and isn’t afraid to disclose their taxes.

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I totally agree with you today, Mr. Wingfield! In no way should the GOP ditch the Pekoe Heads, become true to their “freedom from government” mantra on social issues, or in any way move toward the middle of the spectrum where most people live. Please keep preaching this to the faithful while giving them helpful newspaper references to back up their stubborn refusal to evolve.

This will make relegating them to the obscurity they deserve SO much easier. THANKS AGAIN!

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” Worse than that, they continue to run on social issues, which is their weakest area of support, and give nothing more than “Trust me” for their fiscal plans.”

Except, they didn’t. Romney did NOT run on the social issues, but Obama did a good job a making it appear that he did……..and there is a difference.

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“Except, they didn’t. Romney did NOT run on the social issues, but Obama did a good job a making it appear that he did……..and there is a difference.”

While I do not agree 100% with the above statement, it is called politics. Has been going on even when we were a colony. Nothing new. Both parties do it every election to including midterms, local and state.

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Jconservative – Hirsch of the NY Times and PPP were featured nightly on MSNBC and they were dead accurate so was most of the reporting on MSNBC about voter moods and why the GOP would lose. Watch it sometime- you might learn something.

Dick Morris- “So what if I didn’t know what I was talking about”
Rush Limbaugh – I lied when I said on Monday that Romney would win big because I did not mean it and did not tell that privately to my brother and friends.

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“women have enough commonsense to know whether or not to have a child or to abort it not the government.”

If they had that much common sense, why are so many pregnant when they don’t want to be?

Just asking………

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DeborahinAthens and H.E. Pennypacker it sounds as though you two grew up, like myself, believing in the principles espoused by Barry Goldwater – small government, fiscal restraint and individual liberty. That would be the same Barry Goldwater who has an award named after him by Planned Parenthood in Arizona.

“I think every good Christian ought to kick Jerry Falwell right in the butt.” Barry Goldwater

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Here’s some advice- do not try to impeach a Democrat for something you all do behind close doors.
And do not ever diss my wife. I had to wait and get my Black buddy Obama to teach you guys a lesson. I sure enjoyed giving you guys an ass whooping. It was payback time. And then when you started picking on Hillary it really got me mad. I get my street fighter from
Scranton to whoop on those rich white boys while Barack and his Chicago buddies gave you guys a real thumping. Even got one of the Jersey boys to join in. You know how they are – act like your best friend and family, invite you over for pizza and a beer and then you got a blade in your back.
This sure was fun -kind of like wild hog hunting in Arkansas.Send my regards to Newt.

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Yesterday I said that the problem for the Republicans is that they have lost the “Reagan Democrats”. If they want to improve their position, they have to get them back. Of course, first, they have to figure out why they lost them and I don’t think most of them have a clue as to how that happened.

I think there’s a large number of folks like me, who are disgusted with both sides and the entire process. Me personally, I’m not expecting to live long enough to see it get any better (and I’m planning on being around some more decades, Good Lord willing). We’ve pretty much gone the way of history, you get 200 or so years and then you self-destruct. That’s pretty much us, the way I see it.

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md

Regardless of the party or individual, to the victors go the spoils. History shows that the loser doesn’t get to write much of the narrative; and that goes well beyond and before the United States ever came into being.

We can all voice our opinions, but in the end, the loser doesn’t get to write the narrative. Well technically they can, but for the most part only the ardent supporters will ever buy into it.

It is over. Now we see if both the WH and Congress can do a better job of working together than they did last go around.

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Thank you Independent Thinker!
I was raised in the GOP but it has left me. Similarly my mom realized the same thing much later in her life but by the time she reached her 80’s.
liberallefty:
I agree. The epithets, insults & disrespect coming from the r/w are simply amazing! You haven’t lived until you’ve provoked a r/w tea partier simply by stating that you are not a social conservative & that that line of thought & dominance in the present day GOP has driven you away from it.
I had the opportunity to watch one such r/wer absorb my words and come back at me with his Obama is a “Muslim terrorrist ” rejoinder as he stormed out the door of the business establishment we were in.
Oh, and I’ll never forget the day I was on another political blog here at the AJC and “TDWE” spouted off & used the word “hate” to describe how she felt about the Americans on the other side of the political fence from her.

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Where are the journalists? You lnow the ones that go out and snoop around to get answers. I wonder how every single swing state this pst election went to Obasma? Think about it, what are the odds in such a closely contested election that Romney doesn’t min a single swing state. Maybe they weren’t really swing states but who is looking into that?

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TBone,

You find it odd that the map from 2008 and 2012 were two states from identical? And yes, most “swing states” haven’t been swing states for 15-20 years.

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@BB

LOL . You mean things that the Republicans are against even though they are going against what they supposedly stand for . Issues that involve freedoms & less government . The right has combated this by calling out liberal hypocrisy . Kyle your party is doomed because your platform is all over the map .

A liberal , a moderate , & a conservative go into a bar . The bartender turns around and says hello Mitt .

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The GOP needs to stop being so hypocritical on certain platform issues. You can’t run on a platform of limited government then turn right around and try to legislate and impose new laws restricting how people may choose to live their lives just because you don’t personally agree with it. I don’t want the government spending all of my hard earned money, but I also don’t want that same government telling me how to live my life either. It’s quite simple…if I’m not hurting you or infringing on your personal freedoms and rights then LEAVE ME ALONE!

Contrary to popular belief there are PLENTY of conservative-minded individuals all across this country who happen to be a member of a minority group (I happen to be one of them). It is erroneous to talk about the Latino vote or the Black vote or the Gay vote as if individuals within those groups all act and think alike. You will find liberal AND conservative individuals throughout all of these groups.

The GOP’s primary problem is that they have continued to pander to the extremist and often bigoted factions within their party. Conservative or not, NO self-respecting individual is going to vote for a party that fails to address and/or denounce this type of behavior within their party. Don’t get me wrong… there are plenty of bigots in the Democratic Party too…The major difference is that the GOP gives their bigots a voice and a platform.

Want some proof? Why on Earth would the head of the RNC (Michael Steele) have to apologize to Rush Limbaugh (an unelected radio personality) for comments that were basically true? Rush is an entertainer and his comments are often incendiary and ugly.

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MD,

Emotion should not be legislated.

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cc

If you believe Dusty’s diatribe to be accurate, you are welcome to provide unbiased studies to back that up.

You also believed what Dick Morris, Karl Rove, the radio pundits and right leaning websites were selling you right up through Tuesday night.

Just saying

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…another thing…..the GOP needs to get black conservatives who actually GO INTO THE COMMUNITY to LISTEN…then act upon what they heard!! Too often, black conservatives spout the same tripe that their Caucasian counterparts espouse…and many won’t buy it!1 A major paradigm shift from black conservatives is necessary!!

http://www.blackcommentator.com/154/154_thindwa_black_conservatives.html

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The other reoccuring theme for the Republicans is an inablity to evaluate informmation that they don’t like…the polls were wrong, the turnout models were wrong and of course now the voters were wrong…

For years we have suffered as a nation as our revenues were gutted based on the assumption by Republicans that tax cuts, including those for higher incomes drive growth. We have the lowest revenue collections as a % of GDP in modern history…but no growth…why?

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service took a look at the delimma and found…

“The results of the analysis suggest that changes over the past 65 years in the top marginal tax rate and the top capital gains tax rate do not appear correlated with economic growth. The reduction in the top tax rates appears to be uncorrelated with saving, investment, and productivity growth. The top tax rates appear to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie.

However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution. As measured by IRS data, the share of income accruing to the top 0.1% of U.S. families increased from 4.2% in 1945 to 12.3% by 2007 before falling to 9.2% due to the 2007-2009 recession. At the same time, the average tax rate paid by the top 0.1% fell from over 50% in 1945 to about 25% in 2009. Tax policy could have a relation to how the economic pie is sliced—lower top tax rates may be associated with greater income disparities. ”

The Republican response?

“The New York Times reported on Thursday that Senate Republicans applied pressure to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) in September, successfully persuading it to withdraw a report finding that lowering marginal tax rates for the wealthiest Americans had no effect on economic growth or job creation.”

http://www.dpcc.senate.gov/files/documents/CRSTaxesandtheEconomy%20Top%20Rates.pdf

Before Republicans can solve the problem…they must see it.

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2. The GOP has to ditch the tea party.

Wrong.

ABSOLUTELY! If I’m gonna be dependent on any party, it’ll be the one who seeks to diminish government, not the individual.

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.

AMEN to that!!!! It’ll take a strong dose of “Round-Up” to undo what the dems have done to cultivate their genetically-modified crop.

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?

Once again, Kyle moves beyond the status-quo. It’s no wonder he supported Gingrich….innovative ideas are the key to success.

As usual, Kyle presents a fair assessment of his own.

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Kyle, I’m not sure you are right about Obama’s abortion position (if you are referring to his vote as an Illinois state senator). The reason he didn’t vote for the partial birth ban was he felt it would be restrictive of legitimate abortions. More important however, he knew there was already a law on the books to cover the situation you describe. So I’m not sure it’s correct to claim Obama supports killing the unsuccessfully aborted fetus.

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8 million white voters stayed home? Obviously they didn’t feel represented by the Republican candidate.

So, of course, that must mean that we need a more squishy, two faced Northeast moderate that governs exactly like any other ate up big government tax and spend liberal would.

Or maybe not.

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“To wit, contending that the world’s greatest scientific minds and their theories are conspiracies is a globally cooled loser.”

Those minds are having a hard time trying to explain why co2 is still rising while temp has leveled off……it’s suddenly NOT the direct relationship they thought it to be……go figure.

“Quit being so Hitler-like in your insane wish to outlaw labor unions. THEY have helped you working class stiffs enormously and yet you spit on them”

And there is a huge difference between a local union and a 3rd party national…….the later is very hitleresqe…….

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I thought ya’ll were taking yer country back?

Oh, did you mean “county”? …that explains a lot.

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MD,

At this point it no longer matters what caused it, it happened, it’s happening, and it’s getting worse. What we need are plans to deal with the consequences. More and more events like Sandy will occur whether we do anything or not, we need to be prepared for them.

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The GOP war on math and facts continues with ideasbm, (an apt screen name if there ever was one).

I am not going to do all of his work for him, but here is an easy one to disprove, vacation days. Let’s see how far back we have to go to find a President that refutes his error…….OH!!!!!, only one, George W. Bush.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-20093801.html

I will go ahead and beat you to the punch and refute your likely response…..yes CBS is liberal MSM and can’t be trusted to count vacation days.

And tripling of the debt? I would love to see how you get moving from just over $10 trillion to ~$16 trillion and call that tripling. I need Fox to unskew that math.

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Kyle,

The problem with that statement is the Republican party has lost all credibility in being the party of smaller government after the Bush years. Why would the party of less government create the DHS and sign off on the Patriot Act?

What the parties preach means little when they practice the opposite.

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Conservatives label lazy as lazy and we know unlike some misspeaking people on Kyle’s blog, exactly what ethnic group receives the most of the social assistance from government.

Far more whites on welfare than minorities.

Look it up.

Most minority people I know work 2 or 3 jobs for low pay and very little benefits.

This is part of the Republican problem

They see poor and think ” well they choose to live that way ” or ” They just dont want to work ”

When neither is true. They do want to work and most of them work very very hard doing jobs we wouldn’t want to do.

They just want a chance at a decent life.

Yet they get labeled moochers etc. You saw it in Romney 47 percent speech.

This is how Republicans truly feel and it just doesn’t match reality.

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md, let alternet.org break it down for you:

A Republican President is re-elected in 2004 with 284 electoral votes and the pundits say he has the “political capital” to push an extreme right-wing mandate. A Democratic President gets re-elected in 2012 with 303 electoral votes, and they’re telling us he needs to “unite a divided country.”

Sorry, chump, mandate is happening.

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“At this point it no longer matters what caused it, it happened, it’s happening, and it’s getting worse. What we need are plans to deal with the consequences. More and more events like Sandy will occur whether we do anything or not, we need to be prepared for them.”

And if it turns out to be part of the earths natural cycle, there isn’t a dang thing we can do about it…..but you are more than welcome to crash your economy while thinking you know best…..

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Kyle says :The italicized sentences represent the new conventional wisdom I’m talking about.

Well, you are missing BIG one by not mentioning the obvious.

Move away from being identified as the “Christian” party. The Republicans are much bigger than that, but nobody can tell because it seems every single solitary move they make is to be more theological.

And the country is moving away from theological based thinking, so trying to rule by theological rules just makes Republicans look like they want to turn us into a Christian version of a mid-east country.

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“A Republican President is re-elected in 2004 with 284 electoral votes and the pundits say he has the “political capital” to push an extreme right-wing mandate. A Democratic President gets re-elected in 2012 with 303 electoral votes, and they’re telling us he needs to “unite a divided country.”

Sorry, chump, mandate is happening.”

For starters, I never thought Bush had a mandate either……..

And suite yourself, but thinking that way will see nothing accomplished in the next 4 years…

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@Kyle…”Voters said, 51% to 43%, that they think government does too much rather than too little”

Nice antidote but not really worth much…WHAT is it they wish to give up. Remember the Tea Partiers and “Keep Your Hands Off My Medicare”?

My guess is that most of those wish someone else to give up something.

The other issue is regional…remember that last Gallup Poll…the only region Romney carried was the South.

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Bye Bye Cheesy Grits
November 8th, 2012
12:47 pm

You obviously failed reading comprehension in order to have made such an ignorant reply as you did. Anyone who has half a functioning brain would logically conclude I was talking about white people receiving the most government assistance and suffering the least from unemployment.

Now, have you anything less intelligent to say than you’ve already said?

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And for the record, a mandate wouldn’t be stopped by the House………

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They BOTH suck@12:20 pm:

“If you believe Dusty’s diatribe to be accurate, you are welcome to provide unbiased studies to back that up.”

Dusty is entitled to an opinion. Neither she nor I need to provide “unbiased articles” to support it. Your description of her post as a diatribe can be argued. When did expressing an opinion become a “diatribe”? Can you provide unbiased articles to support your claim?

Asinine . . .

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why is it that when blacks are outta work its because theyre lazy, but when whites are outta work its the governments fault?

Chronic unemployment is what I have a problem with regardless of race.

You would benefit from reading Larry Elder’s column today.

Obama Re-elected — 9-Year-Old Black Kid Can Breathe Easy

It was the results of the study that I found most interesting:

In 1991, researchers for the National Race and Politics Survey asked the same questions of both blacks and whites. Blacks, for example, were also asked if they considered blacks “aggressive or violent,” “boastful,” “complaining,” “lazy” or “irresponsible.”

While 52 percent of whites agreed with the statement “blacks are aggressive or violent,” 59 percent of blacks also agreed. On the question of blacks being boastful, more blacks than whites agreed, at 57 percent and 45 percent, respectively. On “blacks are complaining,” 51 percent of blacks agreed, while fewer whites, at 41 percent, agreed with that statement. Fewer whites (34 percent) than blacks (39 percent) agreed that “blacks are lazy.”

Stanford University’s political scientist Paul M. Sniderman and survey research specialist Thomas Piazza examined the 1991 survey. They write: “In every case, blacks are at least as likely as whites to hold a negative view of blacks. … Indeed, when it comes to judgments of whether blacks as a group exhibit socially undesirable characteristics, where there is a statistically significant difference between the views of blacks and whites, it always takes the form of blacks expressing a more negative evaluation of other blacks than do whites.” Are blacks, who consistently score higher than whites on self-esteem tests, racist against themselves? According to the National Race and Politics Survey, apparently so — thus the absurdity of branding someone racist merely for holding “negative” racial views.

Surprised?

Not me. The racist tag is a convenient distraction…a cheap tactic employed by the left.

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[Minority] voters have been told by Democrats, many of them for generations, that those ideas are intended to benefit other (read: white) people.
———-

Democrats: Divisive, racist fearmongers.

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md

Hang in there little dude. It will be alright.

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finn…..president obama got nearly 9 million votes less compared to 2008. that is hardly a mandate.

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And who’s on food stamps? According to the Census Bureau, 59 percent are white.

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What Republicans see changing and don’t like is the work ethic, the attacks on free market capitalism, and the degradation of personal responsibility. If those things are lost, then we’re not America any more. Republicans love the idea of America more than Democrats.

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Good to see the Charter Schools thing pass.

Now parents will have a choice.

Old Testament or New Testament.

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What assumptions?

Just told you to hang in there.

No excuses dude, no excuses.

Have one heck of a day.

I

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Obozo won because he got the loser vote.

Yes because as well all know poor people are just losers and want to live that way.

This is why you lose.

Keep it up guys.

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“And who’s on food stamps? According to the Census Bureau, 59 percent are white.”

I don’t doubt your statement, but wonder if that statistic is broken down to reflect the percentage of unwed mothers with dependent children, and further if it differentiates unwed mothers with mixed race children?

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What it shows is that if more people did the things necessary to earn a decent income, Romney would have won.

You folks really think a society can exist where the majority of people are in the upper middle and upper class? This is why you lose – no respect for the people doing the grunt work that keeps the country running.

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Aquagirl,
LOL

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“But tell them you are going to take away Medicare and they will freak out”

Just in case you aren’t aware, but one is paid for through payroll deductions……no pay, no play.

The other is partly a giant entitlement program………..

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Barry,
I’d rather have those hard-workin’ losers on my side than some whiny hamburger flipper.

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This is why you lose – no respect for the people doing the grunt work that keeps the country running.

That’s odd. Conservatives aren’t the ones who believe higher education is the only way to go. We encourage vocational training where warranted. Not everyone is college material.

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You can’t display good character if you have to don a “true conservative guise” to get nominated before displaying your “true moderate roots” to try to get elected.

Everybody does it. In 2008 Obama played to the leftists and ultra libs before going moderate.

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Don:

In recent years, the party has driven out people like Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe as it pulled the edges of the tent far to the right.

Can you tell us what happened to the dems’ blue dogs?

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Try telling Bubba some of his family’s needs are the same as the needs of a black single-mom family and a Hispanic family. Then tell him his other needs will have to take a back seat for the good of the party.

Poop, meet fan.

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@@….it is true that not everyone is college material. they still go to college anyway.

why?

because being a plumber, electrician, etc. is not considered cool. far too may parents insist that their kids *must* be in a college-prep curriculum. it is also highly unlikely that the pay would put them into a hugely expensive house with 3.78 suv’s in the driveway and 5.429 big-screen tv’s in the house.

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I guess Paul Ryan can go back to being just a normal guy….a normal guy who is faster than a frickin’ cheetah, beeeyatches!

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@@ wonders what happened to the democrat’s blue dogs.

many of them got gerrymandered out of their seats.

heath shuler, anyone?

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I can’t feel too sorry for anyone that chooses to remain in a lower level position and then also chooses to complain about it………….they always have the power to do something about it.

Spoken by someone who isn’t a minority or been poor.

Sometimes its not that easy to claw your way up.

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oops….i meant democrats’ blue dogs. punctuation error.

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The media pretty much shut down the Tea Party because it redefined them as a bunch of racists.

That wasn’t a stretch.

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Unless they have a connection……like GM or Chrysler………….too funny

What is even “funnier” is the interesting choices that this person uses as examples.

Given that there are numerous other examples who have “connections” that are dozens and hundreds of times more relevant.. (But shhhhhhh! As good Republicans, we shan’t talk about those criminally negligent titans of malfeasance on Wall Street and elsewhere. They are the job producers, doncha know?!)

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Finn’s thought process is the exact reason Obama Won!

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This is like Mardi Gras where they have parades daily

The excuses parade is just going on and on and on and on…………..

But everyone have a great day and do carry on

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The Donald:

“Congrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.”

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“Spoken by someone who isn’t a minority or been poor.”

Ah grasshopper, you know what they say about assumptions…..but in this case the “me” does not apply.

I actually speak of it from the perspective of being quite poor……..and I mean pay check to pay check with no fun in between. And since I was there, I have no problem speaking on the issue.

Working 3 jobs, finding money for baby food, and going to school part time for a very long time…….I KNOW what the choices are. One can wallow in their misery and do nothing about it except complain, or one can do whatever the heck it takes to make it different…….I CHOSE the later.

So no, I don’t feel too sorry for the ones that choose the former………..excuses are easy choices.

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“because being a plumber, electrician, etc. is not considered cool”

The plumbers I know make biggy bucks…….plumbers helpers….not so much.

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“because being a plumber, electrician, etc. is not considered cool.”

What’s worse is the loss of respectability that honest trade skills used to hold in our society. It takes all kinds of jobs to keep the economy going, but when we applaud those who put a company’s bottom line over everything else, and ascribe virtue to the kind of creative accounting that made a CEO’s average pay 4000 that of an employee (instead of 40 or 50 times), we no longer actually value “hard work” but use the term sarcastically to demean those whose jobs were eliminated through technology or shipped overseas.

In the “old days” (that so many Republicans pine for until you remind them about the unions and tax rates of the time), trade unions set standards and career paths for the non-collegiate populace, so that doing a hard day’s work meant people were at least valued enough to achieve a decent standard of living, a couple of weeks vacation time to spend with their families, and access to affordable health care so that they might live long enough to see some of that pension money (if the un-prosecuted Wall Street crooks hadn’t gambled it away by then.)

It wouldn’t be fair to blame only one “side” for this erosion of respect. Too many people think becoming a reality star or professional athlete is the key to success, and that hard work is for suckers. Everyone should, at some point in their lives, learn what it means to work hard at something, so that we can all respect hard work. Of course, when our President said as much in his “back to school” speech a couple of years ago, the rightie-tards in my kid’s school decided such socialist propaganda was worthy of censorship. Go figure.

Yes, GOP: Please keep ridiculing “hard work” and glorifying vulture-capitalist greed perpetuated by the silver-spoon crowd. Please.

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Can ya’ll kick Rove off the island yet?

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“ummm, you just spent a WHOLE paragraph on the former. I think you still have issues you want to complain about…”

Figures you would complain about getting all the pertinent information……….would you prefer I just throw out the talking point, would that be more in line with what you are used to??

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In what way do minorities not have the same opportunities as everyone else?

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We have gone from the 60’s where Kennedy told us to ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country, to today, where people say there is no reason in a great country like ours that the poor shouldn’t have healthcare, food stamps, and cell phones.

As I said earlier, it is what it is. You can debate the wisdom of why we let ourselves change, but you can’t debate the change. The GOP can no longer continue to deny that change, they have to find a way to deal with. You can’t rewind a spring.

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Bye Bye Cheesy Grits

November 8th, 2012
1:39 pm

I can’t feel too sorry for anyone that chooses to remain in a lower level position and then also chooses to complain about it………….they always have the power to do something about it.

Spoken by someone who isn’t a minority or been poor.

Sometimes its not that easy to claw your way up.

My family was poor and I grew up poor. My wife came to this country as a teenager, poor and did not speak English. We both worked hard in the classroom, received a college education and now have good careers and are no longer poor.

Being poor is not an excuse to receive and education and succeed.

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md

November 8th, 2012
1:49 pm

Very well said and I agree with you 100%.

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Watching the Republicans self destruct in a frenzy of name calling, finger pointing and insane scripture quoting will be priceless.

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Rafe,

That would be based on all current climate models that don’t involve miracles.

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Kick the religious right to the curb.

Sponsor and pass a modified Dream act as Rubio has put together.

Start lying as much about liberal positions as liberals do conservative ones.

That’s it. That’s all.

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The truth is that the Republican Party has lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential cycles. The party’s issues started long before President Obama came on the scene.

The voting majority isn’t going to suddenly fall in love with the same message just because the messenger has changed. Reading the comments and listening to conservative punditry, the party still ignores another fast-growing demographic group: Asians/Pacific Islanders. Native-Americans just provided the margin for the North Dakota Senate seat. The party has a demographic problem and will continue to have one until it stops pandering to the likes of those who post belligerent, fact-averse comments on these blogs.

Those who believe Senator Rubio is coming to the rescue obviously do not know there is a difference between Cubans and those whose roots are from Mexico, or Puerto Rico.

Policies matter. Actions matter. If the Republicans in Congress continue doing what they have done the last two years, then 2014 and 2016 will not go well for them.

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I don’t understand why the right drinks the Kool-Aid of Rush, Rove, Norquist, The Kock Bros and the rest of the GOP “leaders”. Talk radio is bad. Canada has a law that says if you can’t prove it, you can’t broadcast it. Sounds great!! What the GOP “leaders” did was become very, very wealthy and more powerful. They want the country to stay the way it was in the 60’s & 70’s. There are some things that are great from that time, respect being at the top of the list. Nothing wrong about watching you money. Why does the right in Congress allow norquist get away with blackmailing them? That’s illegal. I truly feel it’s blackmail. Blackmail if you don’t sign and blackmail if you break away. Run those people off, expose them for what they are. As a Dem, I wonder why it even got started. The right wants Americans to be honest, but that secrect was hidden for many years. I truly hope and pray that there is give on both sides. It’s what we have to have in order to heal. Nobody gets everything they want. Just some of what they want. The Koch’s will go back under a rock and wait. They are not done. The only one that can stop them is God. They have way too much money. Why the highest court in the land allowed PAC’s does not make sense. Major mistake. How can money from unknown sources be injected into a democratic process? Bad things will and did happen. That needs to be stopped. I pary for our nation, the greatest nation the world has ever known.Unity.

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Per JF:
“Only one thing needs to be done. Stop being hateful. That goes over well with the base, but flops with everyone else.

Here is you message (from outside the echo chamber) on minorities:

Black people are stupid and vote Democrat only. In addition, they are all lazy and want government assistance. Latinos are all criminals and need to be deported. They are also stealing our government services. Women aren’t smart enough to figure out what’s right for them. We need to tell them, and back that up with some rantings on Jesus. Young people are also stupid because they are young. They’ll turn Republican when they get older.

It comes off like, “We are smarter and better than everyone else, but they don’t realize it. What’s wrong with you people.””

Well lets rephrase that to see what Democrats say:
White people are stupid and don’t vote for their own interests by voting Republican. In addition, they’re bigoted and want to continue to get preferential treatment over minorities. Businessmen are all criminals and need to go to jail. They are freeloading off government infrastructure. Everything successful people have needs to be taken away because they didn’t earn that. Republican women aren’t smart enough to figure out what is right for them. We need to tell them they are narrow minded if they believe in religion and should never let anyone know if they do believe. Old people are stupid because they are stuck in their ways. They’ll die without health insurance and regret they didn’t vote Democratic.

How many times on this blog are Democrats talking about how much better educated they are than Republican voters. Of course, what the real data (USA Today) showed was Obama won those with no college by 6.4%, those with some college by .8%, lost those with a degree by 4.5% and won by 12.7% among those with advanced degrees. What that shows is he won among people with too little or too much education. Democrats keep thinking government knows better than the people. There’s no group more hateful, arrogant and condescending than “progressive” Democrats.

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Kyle,
You are not proposing that the Republicans budge a micrometer from their current positions and that is guaranteed to get the same results. The only difference would be to try to convince minorities that conservative principles could work for them without making any changes to the platform that they have been wholeheartedly rejecting. I’m sorry but if you want any hope to gain a majority there has to be some change.

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Media and some of the journalist reporting on the downs of the President see what a fool they have been. In fact, they were moving toward Mitt from the onset. Gloria Borger, and the rest of the CNN journalists never move forward to defend President Obama, rather, they continue to talk about the first face off where President Obama was not good; well, Mitt assume he had him in the bag and so did the rest of the journalist for CNN and the rest of the station who were reporting negative comments about President Obama. Now, when you put a person in a room and try to contain them, he find a way to get out………President Obama knew what he was doing and when he came back he put Mitt and the negative journalists in to their place. Many of those who have pounded and put the President down now knows he is a professional campaigner….he never got ugly, he held his ground and we now know that God don’t put up with all of this evil and racism values. It would have been the death of America had Mitt and Ryan won this election. Many whites would be outside looking in more than anyone because that was what they were planning on doing to make a statement. He was about to break the upper class rich folks. 12 million jobs who can do that and that was where Mitt broke his own run for the office of the President of the United States of America!

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6 pages and only 1 mention of Benghazi?

Great job! Don’t let the talk radio and Fox pundits define the narrative!

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How the GOP needs to change, and how it doesn’t

Stay the course, you’re doing just fine.

Rogue Republican
(snipped)
I have been a card-carrying Republican all my life. A signed picture of President Eisenhower hangs over my desk. I’m a veteran of the regular US army.

But today’s Republican party is no longer my Republican party. Back in the day, the GOP was run by East Coast elite of well-educated, sophisticated internationalists who exercised America’s great power with restraint.

Alas, they have been replaced by rural politicians from the deep South and West with no knowledge of the outside world and no sense of history or culture. America’s closet fascist neocons write the GOP’s foreign policies.

http://bit.ly/TopZQb

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here is something novel for republicans: stop with the hypocrisy. people see right through, whether it is a romney talking about how he cares about the middle class, repubs decrying governmental interference but supporting intrusive moral legislation on individual liberty, talking about the sanctity of the vote and then making voting as difficult as possible for certain populations, opposing govt spending and then wanting fed money for port dredging, for $2 trillion in unnecessary defense spending, for farm support programs, etc., screaming about obama and benghazi after being silent about bush and iraq and the lies that got us there, trashing government as all bad and then using it for personal gain, the list goes on and on and on. if the repubs want credibility and votes, they’d best start by looking in the mirror and asking some very fundamental questions about their positions that are inconsistent with a vision of freedom for all and smaller, effective government.

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I’m just baffled Kyle . Really all you said that you need to change is that you need to target minorities better . This state is so anti-immigration and fearful of illegal aliens its silly how hard it is to get a drivers license

My Dad needed a new one and it took him 4 trips. I’m not kidding.

All because of other peoples Xenophobia.

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Republicans are right on a whole bunch of issues but are blind to many others. I can’t for the life of me understand why these are not Republican issues except that narrow lobbying and interest groups took over the RNC at the expense of common sense.

Energy – If you are conservative, promote conservation and let the market pick the winners and losers.
Abortion – let it go
Gay Marriage – let it go
Immigration – increase legal immigration and enforcement. charge a big fine to those already here and let them become citizens. pass the dream act to provide good role models for new immigrants.
Big Business – banks, agriculture, defense, oil – this is not capitalism, it is corporate welfare. if you believe in the free market, set it free.
ObamaCare – it was a Republican idea. we’re paying anyway so making people buy their own insurance is a good thing. just make it less generous.
Election Reform – support independently-drawn congressional districts that are geographically compact and competitive
Eliminate the Electoral College – if the candidates had to compete for everyone’s vote they couldn’t pander as much to particular groups
Isreal and the Middle East – Isreal is our friend but not everything they do is right. Get the hell out of the rest of the Middle East and let them grow up.
Taxes – fix the damn tax code including the loophole allowing hedge fund managers to game the system. eliminate all deductions – they are bad social engineering.

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Same “do do” being sold by right wing commentators and websites then spewed on these blogs are the same exact talking points that freely flowed from the tongue when Clinton was elected the 1st time, the 2nd time and now Obama being elected………………………. twice.

Scare tactics and fear mongering

whatever floats your boat and makes you happy, I’m cool with it

love the laughs and comedy

It is awesome BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Kyle

The distortion is a two way street. Nothing new. Each side makes the same claims each election and each side is guilty each election. Best each side might be able to say during or after any given election, is that the other side “did it 1st” or “did it more”.

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I’d like to see McConnell, Cantor, and the rest apologize for the Bush years of deficit spending, unfunded mandates, and the wars. You can’t accuse Obama of being a big spender if you approved every budget Bush put in front of you.

At least make an effort for the black vote. On certain issues we align more w your party, but you don’t even try for our vote then call the President a muslim, Kenyan, Marxist. You bring up the constitution so much, but nowhere in there does it say you have to be a certain religion to be POTUS.

Stop listening to Hannity, Rush, et al. They’re in it for the money.

Everyone that didn’t vote for you isn’t a moocher. A good majority or better educated and make more money. You only make your party look like rubes when you argue this point (see Rubin’s article in the WashPo).

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Rescums are burnt toast because their followers are stupid redneck gap tooth goobers..

Imo, the only minorities the R party will ever attract are those toothless, bible-thumping trailer park residents. Good luck.

Ah, the enlightened, tolerant side has shown up.

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The haters are sure out in force today

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Wasn’t Jimmy Carter a goober with oversized teeth?

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“You know your party is in trouble when people ask did the rape guy win, and you have to ask which one?” Alec Baldwin

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If there was any way for Republicans to appeal to the grifters on welfare we could have it in the bag. Or if Republicans really spoke the truth about what is happening to the country heading rapidly toward totalitarian socialism, maybe the grifters would understand that the golden goose is dying and that if they kill it, there won’t be enough money to spread around, then maybe Repubs would get their vote. Ah well. Maybe in time, we will be the United States of Mexico anyway and I will be dead.

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@Kyle:”Both major national parties include people who think about various issues differently. To your point about abortion and the MSM: Why did Obama’s opposition to a ban on partial-birth abortion not make it into the headlines the way Akin’s and Mourdock’s comments did?”

That’s the problem for conservatives. You see false comparison between Akin/Mourdoch and Obama on abortion. Keep it up and the GOP is doomed.

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Kyle, yours was a thoughtful piece that deserves a thoughtful reply. My take?

Item one–we’ll have to disagree, obviously I’d like to see the country, and hence both its national parties, become more progressive.

Item two, specifically:

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

True, it hasn’t, but frankly I think GOP supporters put entirely too much stock in an off-year election where discouraged Obama voters just flat-out didn’t show up. Being that it was a census year, though, it came at an excellent time for the GOP, and the redistricting that resulted from the state takovers will distort the influence of the GOP for the next eight years relative to the actual support that they have.

Item three: 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?

Agree completely. Sonny Perdue had promised to transport those in need to obtain ID, but it turned out to be more expensive/difficult than he’d planned (I’m sure everyone here remembers the problems with the buses that they did commission for that purpose). A suggestion: If you made secure online voter registration / ID available to everyone in states across the nation, that’d go a long way toward convincing people that you’re not trying to stop legitimate voters from voting.

the pro-life position is as strong as it’s been since Roe v. Wade.

Which, frankly, is to say it’s not that strong. I’ve looked at polling through the years and the majority that want R v W to remain intact hasn’t changed. What HAS changed though is the personal self-identification of those who say they are personally pro-life, but (I would argue) that is a very long way off from the kind of prohibition on abortion that the personhood amendment would dictate. Bottom line is, GOPers cannot continue to demonize those people who feel it is poor public policy to keep first-trimester abortion legal; not if they want to expand their base. The GOP used to have no problem with this, but they certainly do now.

Otherwise, I think you’ve seen things clearly, both on marriage equality becoming the new normal, and GA GOPers needing to heed the national message.

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“My Dad needed a new one and it took him 4 trips. I’m not kidding. All because of other peoples Xenophobia.”

No, that isn’t the cause . . .

Georgia, just as all other states, is attempting to comply with federal law regarding “Real ID” requirements with reference to Homeland Security.

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Well, I see liberals are still here patting themselves on the back. I don’t know for what. They certainly have not given us anybody who has done anything much for the country. Not the conditions I see.

If you like debt. be a Dem. If you like dependency, be a Dem. If you like foreclosures, be a Dem. If you want to blame others for police and intelligence surveillance, be a Dem. If you despise rich people, be a Dem. If you blame others for your job loss, be a Dem. If you hate banks and credit cards ’cause you can’ t pay what you owe, be a Dem. If you hate religion ’cause you don’t have any, be a Dem. If the union got you a big raise but the company shut down, be a Dem. If you never bothered to get citizenship after you crossed the border, be a Dem If you want to change the constitution at your convenience, be a Dem. If you want to talk about your sex life, contraceptives, drug life and marijuana dependency IN PUBLIC, be a Dem.. If you want “free” cheap healthcare by semi-professionals, be a Democrat. If you want to sneer at patriotism, be a Democrat.

Should I want Republicans to move towards the above characteristics? Nope! Not any more than I want to be in a socialist country that takes half of my income for their “projects” and wants to run my life. No way I want America to be American for everybody, just as our Constitution directs. I don’t think that is asking too much.

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The very thing that won Bush the White House twice.

Moving to the right and appealing to Evangelicals.

Is killing the Republican party now.

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Election memes
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-2012-election-victory.htm

car mechanic sign: “Will Remove Romney Bumper Stickers for Free”

picture of Romney with a caption: “Game Over. Insert $250 million to play again.”

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Dusty,
Maybe you are not comprehending this but at least half the posts excoriating the Republican party are Republicans, former Republicans, or people who would like to become Republicans.

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Hillbilly D:

I know . . . bureaucracy at its very best!

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Picture of Obama with a caption: “Hey Colorado, pass that stash to the left!”

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Ronald Reagan raises taxes 10 times and raised the debt ceiling 11 times, RR started “trickle down” or “Voodoo Economics” that ruined this country. Regan started the downward progression of this country all while being praised by rescums. As far as Georgia is concerned, take away Atlanta and your left with Utah, a state full of inbred, gap tooth, bible thumpin, cousin humpin, racist rednecks.

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Kyle,
I usually don’t agree with you, but there are some kernels of truth in this one. Pleasantly surprised you think gay marriage is beyond arguing. I think you should have added that compromise is not a sin. Can’t wait to read the follow-up piece.

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I think the GOP has already created a strategy concerning the homegrown terrorist group(s) known as the “tea party” (klansmen, skinheads, militia’s, birther’s, etc.). The GOP conceded defeat when they allowed Romney to select Ryan (tea party) as his running mate. This decision allowed the GOP to get rid of all the right wing extremist who have held the GOP and the American People hostage over the past 4 years as well as guaranteed victory for President Obama in 2012.

The GOP can know focus on recruiting “moderate” GOP candidates with the goal of retaining as many seats in the House and Senate as possible in the 2014 midterm elections. Hopefully the GOP will not let any extreme group(s) dictate how the American People will be governed in the future.

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Georgia (Without Atlanta), the other Utah. Bible thumpin & cousin humpin our way to Irrelevancy

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“Keep with the opinions and thinking of I Report, td, md, and Dusty.”

Oh Goody, I’ve been singled out…….care to elaborate on your problem with my position cutty, or is the drive by mention good enough in your book??

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Democratic voters:
55% of women
68% of unmarried women

How does the Republican Party reverse these numbers?

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Dusty:

“Maybe you have forgotten the meaning of “Stand up for what you believe.in .” I think you will find that to be the MANTRA of most Republicans, not mollify for the moment. . .”

That is definitely the mantra of the true conservative. The ONLY viable vehicle available for a conservative is the Republican Party!

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jconservative
November 8th, 2012
3:54 pm

Democratic voters:
55% of women
68% of unmarried women

How does the Republican Party reverse these numbers?
_______________

Marry more women?
Stop trading your wives in for newer models?

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Georgia; A state too busy hating to be taken seriously.
Georgia; a state so red, we can only be inbred.
Georgia: Home of the (Rebublician) Slaves not the braves
Georgia: Always on my (racist) Mind
Georgia: We are Utah!!!!

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Hey Finn…those are hilarious! My favorite was a Borowitz tweet…

BREAKING NEWS: Man who told half the country to #$*% themselves somehow loses election.

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Dusty

November 8th, 2012
4:01 pm

It was Harry S. Truman who said it…..

http://www.alan.com/2012/02/26/if-you-want-to-live-like-a-republican/

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Rachel Maddow explains why the country needs a well informed Republican party:

http://www.salon.com/2012/11/08/must_see_monologue/

or just go back to the Hannity and the Rush….

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JDW, i liked the picture of the woman voting with the caption:

“If a candidate threatens women’s choices, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. ”

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The GOP nominated its most electable candidate – the others were plain out nut cases whose nomination would have allowed the Dems to run up the numbers even more. Thanks to the tea party wingnuts the GOP lost more ground in the Senate when it could have gained control.

We are seeing the death throes of a dying party, as ever fewer become shriller, more reactionary and more irrelevant. Even radical gerrymandering in red states, million dollar donations by cynical right wing billionaires and the lunacy of Fox “news” and talk radio have only slightly slowed the tide.

It is impossible for the GOP to “reach out” to those it plots to disenfranchise and villify. Nixon’s Southern strategy has come home to roost.

Goodbye and good riddance.

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cc

You are obviously unhappy and still crying like a baby because Obama won the election.

“Have you ever considered moving?”

Delta is ready when you are. More international destinations than any domestic career.

Thought so. Big Talk, no walk

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Georgia (Without Atlanta), the other Utah. Bible thumpin & cousin humpin our way to Irrelevancy

Your romantic life is no concern of ours. Maybe your just braggin’?

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HDB
So Truman wrote his. I wrote mine. Do you have a thought of your own?

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I’ve been sitting here taking inventory of my diverse group of friends. Not all, just some.

There are my gay friends (couples & singles) who are more concerned about the fiscal health of our country than their right to marry.

There’s my Asian friend (small business owner) who’s more concerned about the fiscal health of our country and overbearing regulations on her business than she is about being a minority.

There’s my black TP conservative neighbor who’s more concerned about the government taking more than they deserve than he is about being black.

Then there’s my Cuban friend (widowed) who’s more concerned about government oppression than she is about her minority status. She grew up in Cuba…she’s unwilling to sacrifice her freedoms yet again.

No single-issue voters in THAT bunch. They care more about the country than they do identity politics. Pigeonholes ain’t their thing.

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Carving…PUHLEEZE

I’ve heard that “whine” line on wine so many times, my monitor groans when it shows. That’s inhumane!,

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They need to change and put country(USA)before their stubborness,and pettiness.

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“And at the end of the day, if you are against abortion (not sure if you are or are not, don’t really care), do not have one.”

You seem to have missed my point……the definitions used to allow abortion are all man made and based on science (viability).

As that viability changes, and those same scientists change the definitions, odds are that “choice” you are speaking of becomes something else entirely……….

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…56 according to your president…

cc, YOUR president, and not OUR president?

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We need to learn to campaign like the Democrats – smear, demagogue, lie, espouse fear of a false bogeyman, play on old stereotypes, divide, play on fear of losing govt goodies and then double down.

It would also help if we actively add to the deficit in the trillions, double gas prices in 4 years, increase unemployment by 1/3, make sure we get an ambassador killed while we watch it happen and do nothing and when a national disaster happens – show up, say something strong on TV, get your picture taken and leave and never bother with it again…

Oh yeah, lets treat our allies terribly, but tell our enemies we will be flexible with them.

America has spoken and this is what we want. It is clearly how you win national elections.

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opps magic

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Just passing through,this is being corrected.Will take time for the good results of Charter schools to show.

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@Carving…”Delta is ready when you are. More international destinations than any domestic career. ”

That is great advice for lots of these folks…just remind them if they are considering Canada best not…they have “socialized medicine” and gay marriage is legal.

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JDW

The will say you can leave GA if you say anything about the Republicans who run the state, but none are leaving the US. Yet they cry like babies and rant about Obama.

I would say the glaring hypocrisy goes over their heads, however they are fully aware of it an don’t care.

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Bye-bye, brucie wilcox, keep on singing O’ Canada but Fidel and Hugo will surely feel you have betrayed them.

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So, at the end of the day, your answer (singular) is to help get voter I.D.s to minorities. The rest of the issues presented stay the same. Good luck with that one Repubs. If that is your take, forget winning any national elections in the near and far future. Now, stick your head back in the sand and pretend it is all going away. It won’t but feel free to pretend.

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Mitt to Underwear: Majic my A$$!

Strange that I’ve never heard a similar comment about Harry Reid, who is of the same faith as Mitt.

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I move from Atlanta to Orlando in ‘06 before the redneck inbreds completly took over the place, Thank God!

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“All your twisting and turning is not going to change anything. It might make you feel better about yourself, but don’t be the farm.”

Hmmm……..twisting and turning? There seems to be a disconnect on your end…….I’ll try it one last time.

Yes, abortions are legal…….WITH restrictions. Following me? Sure, you can have one now if you choose………AND the child is less than 24/28 weeks……..

SO, all abortions are not legal, just those within the first 7 months based on the scientific definition of “viability”.

“The Court later rejected Roe’s trimester framework, while affirming Roe’s central holding that a person has a right to abortion until viability.[1] The Roe decision defined “viable” as being “potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb, albeit with artificial aid”, adding that viability “is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks”

So it doesn’t matter what I or You believe, in the future, it will still be based on the ever changing definition of viability…….unless the SC changes that.

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I couldn’t stand to read ALL the left wing socialists crowing about their win and how the Republicans are all wrong. Well, I got news for you guys – when the Democrats and Obama spend more money than we can borrow from China and bankrupt this country by appeasing all the groups who want something for nothing, there will be a back lash and the voters will come to the Republicans to save their bacon. It happened in 1980 and it will happen again. And not every one is happy with being told not only do we have to pay for everyone’s different lifestyle choices, but we have to accept it and like it. The pendulum will swing the other way. For those who don’t realize it, it’s because you haven’t lived long enough.

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Oh, and Todd?

They’re all white!

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“That is great advice for lots of these folks…just remind them if they are considering Canada best not…they have “socialized medicine” and gay marriage is legal.”

True, but they also currently have a conservative Prime Minister and do not have 16 trillion in debt……and are drilling their way to prosperity and independence.

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“Don’t bet the farm, but keep up your little word games if that makes you happy.”

Word games? You mean the accepted scientific methods used to define the law?

Too funny……..

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Bruno @ 4:32,

ABSO-FRIGGIN-LUTELY, I would, and I have. Do you know where we are? Do you realize the Dems in Georgia have lost every single constitutional office in this state, and control of both houses of our legislature? What do you think we talk about at our meetings… how freaking awesome we are? Please.

Can’t fix what you’re scared to face. Most of the Dems I know are more than willing to face and own up to our failures, and trust, when people like Nathan SHADY Deal are running this state, YES, that is OUR failure. 100%.

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md

Are you hoping your little theory brings about an overturn of R v W?

Or you just pooping at the mouth

And again, do not have one, if you are against it

Put keep up your wishful thinking.

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How do you spell debt: B-U-S-H (2) Two unfunded wars and tax cuts to the rich.

IF YOU VOTED FOR BUSH TWICE…

YOU ARE THE PROBLEM AND WE ARE THE SOLUTION. DEAL WITH IT!!!

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JDW–I don’t care about gay marriage!! I never said anything about gay marriage or health care. I don’t care. I am only worried the economy spiraling downward. Or paying more in taxes so that I have to leave and go somewhere else.

Good luck to everyone and I hope the Obama presidency goes well. If it does, then I will probably continue to make more money here.

India, South Africa, Norway, S. Korea…I don’t care. Like I said we spent some time in Wales they are a pretty Liberal country.

My ultimate goal is to build a scholarship fund to help other hard working people. Not fund welfare.

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Hillbilly D 4:31

What what?? You mean Harry Reid THE Democrtic leader of the Senate? You mean the one that blocked all legislature passed over from the House of Representatives?

Magic underwear? He needs a magic mouthpiece.

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I’m thinkin’ it’ll go down EXACTLY as Michael H. predicts @ 4:47.

Dems should be happy with the compromise. It’s increased revenue absent the revenge factor.

You dems can’t have everything. Take the increased revenue and be happy.

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jconservative

You can’t beat those numbers, that is what I have been saying. You have to deal with the landscape as it exists not as you wish. I saw where the new numbers coming from the exit polls on how people ID themselves, something like (from memory) 37 Conservative, 22 Liberal, and 41 or so Independent. Republicans have gone on the assumption that most of those Independents could be closet Republicans. I don’t think so at this point. I think they are Dems, just embarrassed that they actually approve of the ideology of the Dems. I do not see any way the GOP ever wins a national election again without moving to the left. The numbers just aren’t there, you can’t win with 44% or so of the population. As the Dems say the demographics have caught up with us. Don’t know what the answer is for conservatives at this point, as their is no clear solution. I’m in the grab a life raft, save yourself mode at present.

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The GOP has to EARN the vote of non-white voters!!!!

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Bruno!

How goes it?!

Let’s go to a rock show and I can rib you about the election, buddy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU_2oNF9CZE

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It’s pretty simple: The Republicans need to ditch the crazies! When a portion, even a small one, of your membership says outrageous things about science and rape and conspiracy theories, and the party doesn’t reject them, it drags the whole party down. And speaking as a moderate who has voted straight Democrat for a number of years, I actually would PREFER a stronger GOP. I hate feeling like I only ever have one option when I go to vote.

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What do pigs, Hannah Montanna, Elvis & Obama have in common? They all cause(d) squeals.

The GOP’s failure was not to consider that a huge segment of Americans is absolutely in love with Obama, regardless of what he says or does. Period. His campaigns & presidency have been based on lies, distortions, deception & scandals. Clinton said that O’s campaign was the “biggest fairy tale” he’d ever seen.

There’s yet to be one significant success under this president. He’s yet to create one single net job. The U3 unemployment rate is higher today than when he took office & the U6 rate reveals more Americans are out of work than at any time in decades. His adm. has added $6 T in new debt with nothing to show for it. His signature Obamacare bill is as unpopular today as it was when it was passed. Bush sent the 1st check to bail out the auto companies. The SEALS killed OBL. Etc., etc., etc.

Obama has a nice family, a charming personality, charisma, a great smile & a super walk. He’s handsome, smart & had the best speech coaches. He’s treated like Moses without the tablets. If he can stop the rise of the oceans, he can probably part the sea. “Lie to me!” “Gimme!” “We love your!” The segments of the voters his policies hurt the most were the largest segments who voted for him.

Like any other addict, America needs to reach rock bottom to get help & heal. The greatest threat to our natl. security is our natl. debt, caused by our leaders we elected. Therefore, our worst enemies are ourselves.

There has never been a time more important for the GOP to stand firm on it’s core principles of fiscal responsibility & limited govt. & to be there when the country fails.

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@Red @4:57p.m.:

Well said!

And they will never be able to do that unless they purge the party in its entirety of current members and adherents, and replace them with entirely new ones, total outsiders with a drastically different world view.

But then, in that case, why even bother to maintain the GOP?

As an aside, one is reminded of Bertolt Brecht’s famous poem, entitled “The Solution”, about the Uprising of 1953 in the former East Germany:

After the uprising of the 17th of June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

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Linda,

You’re not owning it. Where’s the personal responsibility? Sad….

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I think several folks nailed it earlier so I’ll include my two cents in since everyone else is…

First of all, if the GOP has any desire to win back the White House (other than hoping that Obama fails and the country tanks in his second term), it has to now and forever wean their base from the pacifier of Fox News and talk radio. It’s perfectly fine to be fiscally and socially conservative but when you have the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, and O’Reilly demonizing everyone in sight who doesn’t echo their words as gospel while espousing themselves as the de facto voices of your party, not too many folks are going to see things your way. Sure, the base, Tea Partiers, and religious right, who were going to vote Republican anyway, will fall into line, but how did that strategy work out this past Tuesday? When this country’s surplus was spiraling into a massive deficit under Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress, where was Hannity and O’Reilly then? You can’t have it both ways, where you cry for fiscal restraint until you get control of the wheel, then spend like Brewster’s Millions to accomplish the social agenda you’ve always wanted. These guys and gals should’ve been banging the drum for restaint over a decade ago, not seconds after Obama was sworn into office. It wouldn’t be a better time than any for the GOP to dump-truck these guys and have FOX put on more moderate folks with REAL solutions to the issues that most of America cares about (the deficit, economy, unemployment) instead of divisive stuff that garner ratings but not much more in terms of having a sensible dialogue. Enough with giving Donald Trump an open mic to talk about birth certificates.

Secondly, if your party is as ‘inclusive’ as guys like O’Reilly claim it was yesterday, how come Hispanics are voting the other way 70-30 and Blacks 93-7? Something is amiss here. Is it the message that those who don’t look like us who aren’t also as old and angry as we are (see Cain, Herman) are criminals, drug users/dealers, or deadbeats looking for a handout? Is it the asinine immigration laws that GOP leaders in Arizona and Georgia keep pushing through? Why isn’t Marco Rubio or some of the ’stars’ you claim to have on the roster not piping up when they see their party obviously excluding and marginalizing minorities? Are they scared to take a stand against the extreme-right of the party after seeing what they did to Jeb Bush when he brought it up earlier?

Finally, it’s high time to start separating the wheat from the chaff. While folks have the right to run for president, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the party they are trying to win the nomination from should be spending valuable time and resources on them. How many needless resources were spent by Romney on fighting off the likes of those who had NO SHOT WHATSOEVER OF WINNING THE WHITE HOUSE (and yes, I’m talking to you, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum). You might want to put some qualifiers out there; if you don’t have the position(s) of Governor or Senator on your resume, you cannot run for president on our dime. You have to go back to the days of Ford to find the last president who didn’t hold those titles. I’m pretty sure that others who haven’t have great ideas of how things should be run. However, that’s why the President have cabinets.

Okay, I’m done. I have work to do…

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Hey schnirter!

How many did your loser get?

You just got your ugly neocon clock cleaned!

I told you, but you wouldn’t listen!

You see, an angel of the Lord of Israel came to me in a dream and told me that Mitt the Anti-Christ would only get 200 Electoral College Votes. The angel said that millions of people would be fooled by him and his severely conservative charms and would vote for him! But I should hold fast and vote for a man of conscience. A real man.

But you Sodomites and Gomorreans paid no heed.

Now you shall live in the Rush Limbaugh’s Fake Conservative Land of Nod, to the East of Eden…

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Yeah!!!

More tibby meltdowns!

Go tibby, Go! Go tibby, Go! Go tibby, Go!

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Tibby!

I’ve got a great idea for you!

Why don’t you pull your own tail?!

Off.

Schnort.

For you and Mssrs. Romney, Ryan, West, Walsh, Mourdock, Akin, Brown, Allen, Berg, et al.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE

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I think everyone expected Obama to get fewer total votes this time, given the economy and the reduced enthusiasm, but who would have thought Romney would get fewer votes than McCain? Ryan apparently brought nothing to the ticket (look at Wisconsin results.)
I think it was simple: Romney=Mr. Wall Street. I haven’t any seen exit polls on the question, but given the fact that exit polls revealed the majority still blame Bush more than Obama for the economy, I’d bet an even bigger majority blames Wall Street.

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John:

@@ – I’m thinking you probably thought Myth Robme would win.

Actually, I didn’t. You’ll not find one post where I predicted a GOP win.

Also, what’s up with the “schnirt”? I’ve seen you use it from time to time and it’s, well, juvenile.

Couldn’t care less what you think about my “schnirt”.

Myth Robme is what…..more grown up?

schnirt

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There’s a lot of chatter about what the Republican party should change and do but I heard one pundit discuss it and I tend to agree. He said we need to consider that there was a lot of enthusiasm about Obama in 08 and many people were excited about America’s first viable candidate of color and a lot of people voted for him. We know now that a lot of people who voted for him in 08 didn’t vote for him this time around. In fact Obama lost 6 points in the electorate against Romney just one point over as compared to 7 points over in 08 against McCain. It’s quite probable that many people who voted for Obama in 08 did so reluctantly this time not feeling that he deserved reelection but also knowing that if he lost it would mean our first president of color would be deemed a failed one term president in the history books. The Democrats did a great job of winning the ground game in the swing states and Obama got elected to a second term. This doesn’t mean that he’s popular or that he’s been given a mandate by the voters because the national election was too close. It also doesn’t mean that Romney was a poor candidate or that Republicans are now close to political extinction as some on the left are gleefully predicting and it doesn’t mean that the country has moved ideologically far-left. Should the Republicans do some introspection as what improvements are needed like reaching out effectively to non-whites? Of course but there’s no need to panic and abandon conservative values.

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All groups of non-whites have made strides to improve themselves (generally speaking, statistically) while outpacing the whites in America in population browth.
Meanwhile, the whites sit around and fail math and get dumb jobs and a bunch of credit card debt.
Then the dumb whites complain about national debt and call the President (Harvard lawyer) dumb.
Then they say minorities are the ones with the “entitlement” mentality.
I’m a white male, and I’m proud to be American, but I have to thank the Lord Jesus every day that I am smart enough not to think like a Southern Republican.

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I would suggest moving to the farthest reaches of conservatism, as far right as gravity will permit. Continue to sign pledges with Grover Norquist. Put Ann Coulter in front of as many cameras as she can bear. Keep telling non-conservatives how they must live their lives. Start wars. Lots of wars. Bring back Sarah Palin. Continue the quest to prove that the President is a foreigner. More evangelists. More gridlock. People respect gridlock. That should get you through the mid-terms.

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Hillbilly @ 5:05, well said, anyone depending on government or a politician is destined to get disappointed. The only person, you can absolutely trust to look out for you and yourn, is yourself.

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Oh. And more cowbell.

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Did anyone notice that the more educated parts of the country went to the Democrats while the least educated parts of the country went to the republicans?

The Republican party preys on people that don’t spend the time to acutally study the issues. All that matters is that the candidate is a “good christian man” who will save our country from the minorities.

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Del / Recon 0311 2533
June 21st, 2012
9:41 pm
Jm,
jay and his libs on this blog won’t have anything to do with the outcome of Novembers election. They only think they have influence. Of course any influence that exists is only among themselves. I think the aftermath of this upcoming election will cause much crying and gnashing of teeth among jay’s faithful. It should be pathetic yet amusing to observe.

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Dems have all but dropped the gun control rhetoric. GOP needs to learn the same lesson with abortion. Once a right or privilege is given, stripping it away is political suicide.

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@Bruno…”Let’s say that Romney won the election by 1% of the popular vote instead of Obama. Would any of you be here participating in a “What’s Wrong With the Democrat Party” discussion??”

First off actual numbers were a margin of about 2.5% of the vote and apparently 332 EV’s to 206.

That is not a “small margin” Second off…if my candidate:

Lost the West 88 EV’s to 27
Lost the Midwest 80 Ev’s to 38
Lost the Northeast 122 EV’s to 0
But
Won the South 141 to 42

I would be damn worried for a long time.

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Did Anyone notice

What you posted was incorrect. Check the exit polls, people with less than a HS education voted overwhelmingly our charming Mistake, those with only a HS education voted overwhelmingly for O, those with some college voted about even and those with a college degree voted overwhelmingly for Romney, the people with advanced degrees voted for O, but not overwhelmingly.

So, it seems to me that overwhelmingly the low information voters flocked to the Mistake.

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I’ve said this before but I’ve lived through “the impending demise” of the Democratic Party two or three times, already, and I’ve lived through “the impending demise” of the Republican Party two or three times. Didn’t happen any of those times and it won’t happen this time. The two parties are firmly entrenched and they each have a stake in seeing that they’re the only two. The players come and go but the game doesn’t change.

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Did any of you guys see the article about Karl Rove’s failures? Ohhhh that is priceless. The GOP lost 9 out of 10 senate races that his PAC donated to.

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AmVet:

How many did your loser get?

I couldn’t tell ‘ya. Woke up to the results and haven’t thought about it much since.

I told you, but you wouldn’t listen!

I’m not in the habit of listening to blowhards like you.

Now you shall live in the Rush Limbaugh’s Fake Conservative Land of Nod

Obviously it’s you that doesn’t read. I don’t listen to anything radio…music or otherwise. After spending a day among noisy children, I cherish the sound of silence.

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I would say allowing the word “compromise” to repopulate your dictionary might be helpful. Standing on principles is one thing, but allowing principles to outweigh pragmatism at all costs has turned the American people against the Republican Party. You may say that the Dems are intransigent, and to an extent that’s correct, but an obstructionist House has been our greatest foil, and that’s in the hands of the GOP.

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Tib,

I didn’t say that the Republicans shouldn’t rethink some positions or that they shouldn’t consider ways to improve. I’m saying that this loss wasn’t a blow out that should require abandoning conservative principals and tacking left.

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Michael H. Smith:

“forced to accept with the Republicans giving him increased revenues via deduction eliminations in lieu of tax rate increases.”

I do not disagree with this at all, but depending on the depth of the cut in the home mortgage interest deduction, this may result in many more homeowners walking away from their outstanding mortgagees thereby further depressing the housing values and industry. It certainly may bring about more bankruptcies placing increased pressure on lending institutions,

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Kyle:

Agree GOP shouldn’t abandon the original Tea Party mission. Even I though don’t agree with many of their solutions, I share their concern over deficits. Unfortunately, many of the same old social conservatives took up the banner of the Tea Party after having ignored the debt while Bush was in office.
Along with the need to appeal to non-whites, I see a growing consensus among Republicans that it’s time to reduce focus on the social issues as policy matters and leave them to the realm of personal beliefs.

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“First of all you are wrong because it is a state license you are talking about so it is not the State GOP getting into anyone’s private life, it is quite the opposite, these individuals are getting into the rights of the State when they demand a license to officially sanction their private lives. And a so-called gay marriage is a long ways from being termed “getting closer and closer” to any societal or legal norm.”

Michael, never have I seen such a tortured explanation for continuing the losing proposition of national GOP candidates, and given the fact that such luminaries as JDW, Finn, and AmVet post here, that’s saying something.

Where do you think that stupid War on Women came from, Michael? It didn’t come from FEDERAL proposals by the GOP, but STATE proposals which were then exaggerated and extrapolated into Federal issues that didn’t actually exist.

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First, the GOP needs to cut taxes on the top 1%. Then, they should adopt a stance that not only bans abortion and supports the personhood amendment, but also bans any birth control other than the rhythm method, so they can align with the church. Then, the GOP needs to support candidates who want to cut taxes on the top 1%. Only candidates that understand that rape is sometimes not legitimate should be nominated. Also, the GOP needs to support candidates who will cut taxes for the top 1%. Paul Broun’s positions on evolution science need to officiallly be included in the party platform. Cutting taxes for the top 1% is a must do. Plus, they need to continue to deny that man made CO2 is impacting the climate. If, and this is a big “if,” the climate is changing, it needs to be acknowledged that it is just something intended by God. The GOP needs to make sure that those who do not earn enough to owe taxes are just moochers and should know (or be shown) their place. Finally, they need to support candidates who will cut taxes on the top 1%. That ought to do it.

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Tiberius – you said the GOP needs better liars, not me. That means that you are admitting your boys were liars but not clever ones.
Pretty dumb to write the administration asking for green stimulus money for your district and then say you were against the stimulus and never requested any stimulus money. Did the pork fairy sign those letters?

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blackbird, i agree with you there. If the GOP would get away from the social issues, they would most likely dominate the democrats.

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I don’t think the GOP should change at all. I like winning by electoral landslides and my side having control of the country.

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I guess since your “side” is in charge, we know who to blame our various messes on.

Deficits, debt, poverty, unemployment…four years of failure going on eight.

Congrats!

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On the eve of the election, Rocky Anderson was protesting in front of the WH?

Anderson, a lawyer who served as mayor of Salt Lake City from 2000 to 2008, says people support an image of Obama that is not consistent with his voting record.

“There’s this us vs. them phenomenon, where you attribute all the good virtues to those on your team and all the bad ones to the other,…

Sounds like AmVet, don’t it?

even when it’s shown that people on your team are doing the kinds of things that you would be up in arms about.

Rarely does AmVet say anything specifically negative about the dems.

“And because it’s President Obama doing this, it really makes him not the lesser of two evils but the more effective of the evils

More effective of the evils? That oughta rile AmVet up BIG TIME…but it doesn’t.

because now the Democrats line up silently behind him, accepting these abuses because Obama’s a member of their team. They’ve sacrificed principle for partisanship.

We never hear AmVet ridiculing his liberal friends. To the contrary, he’s more often than not, in agreement with ‘em.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/rocky_anderson_decides_not_to_get_arrested_20121106/

Go figure.

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Winning the popular vote by 2.5%, as Obama ultimately will in 2012, is not a small margin in a presidential race. No Republican has won by a larger margin than that in a generation, since GHW Bush in 1988.

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Lynnie,

Add-
stop allowing themselves to be indoctrinated into Faux News’ bs
stop trying to push their phony religious bs on the rest of us

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Yes heard they will be coming after your guns,just after you get the new ones for Xmas.Got to by more stock in glock.

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” I like winning by electoral landslides and my side having control of the country.”

Hate to rain on your parade but your party doesn’t have control of the country for more than just a few reasons, but here’s one it’s called the deficit and it’s going to loom very large very soon with your party in control of the executive branch and one chamber of congress. It’s called being under the microscope to produce solutions and thus far your party hasn’t been very good at producing solutions.

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Progressive Humanist, 2 1/2 % is an insignificant number in ANY conversation.

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“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?”

That seems like a reasonable idea, but I don’t see it happening. And you didn’t mention the fact that Republicans in some swing states were also trying to limit early voting, and it was obvious why. I think there was a backlash against this that probably cost Romney the state of Florida (not that it mattered to the end result).

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2 1/2 % is an insignificant number in ANY conversation.

Mitt Romney might disagree with your statement.

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Tib, I would say your opinions are an insignificant addition to any conversation, and if you knew anything about statistics you’d know that 2.5% is often a statistically significant margin, and it always is if you have a sample size of more than one million.

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And in this case we have a sample size of more than 100 million, so your idea of “significance” is just another one of your silly and inaccurate opinions.

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