In wake of the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, there is no time like the present to evaluate what went wrong for the Republicans and where the Grand Ol' Party goes from here.
First, no question, we nominated the next in line and in this election, it may have been the best that could have been done.
Sen. John McCain was at the end the last man standing. There were quite a lot of Republicans that were running for president. There was from the Republican left former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. And from the right side of the GOP, there was former senator Fred Thompson. In the center was the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney and the former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee.
In the end, Sen. McCain divided and conquered to win the Republican nod and could not do much more.
I think that the best thing that he did was chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is not going anywhere because now she is no longer under the shadow of her political godfather, Sen. McCain.
But, it was a perfect storm and everything was against them this election cycle. And yet, this is in no way a blowout by President-elect Obama. And maybe the Democrats will not get the gains in congress that they anticipated.
But, it is time for the Republican party to get serious and clean house in Washington, D. C. and throughout the states.
First, we need a new Republican National Committee chairman. I right here and now want that chair to be former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. He has been there and done that and has been out of elected politics. He would do a great job presenting the message and recruiting good candidates at all levels.
Second, time to get rid of the fossils in congressional leadership. House minority leader, John Bohener, gone. Roy Blunt, gone. Move up Eric Cantor to minority leader. bring in new blood in some young Turks such as Adam Putnam from Florida. Kevin McCarthy from here in California.
And in the senate, keep Sen Mitch McConnell in charge. But get some aggressive whips under him. He will need a united senate to keep the majority Democrats from going over the edge.
Third, get with the modern age in campaigning. We have to give it to the Obama campaign that they were not afraid to use anything at their disposal.
Fourth, is that the great Republican governors out there, led by Gov. Palin and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford in South Carolina need to unite as they represent the three-stools of the Republican-conservative movement. All three are the future of the party and it is time that they take advantage of the carnage that was this election to show how to win and govern at the national level.
Fifth, we need to be much more aggressive about registering new voters and getting them to the polls. We can not keep complaining and whining that oh the unions have an unfair advantage. Or, rightfully, blame a group like ACORN. If we do not get aggressive in this regard, we will keep shrinking and not have much of a base left.
Sixth. The Republican party has a lot of people of color that can win elections. I mean black and Hispanic and Asians. But, if we do not get serious and have these people running in areas that they can win elections, like J. C. Watts did in Oklahoma in the 1990s, then we will be the party of Whitey and again we will shrink.
Most important, do not, I repeat, do not think that we need to go to the Bush family well anytime soon. It is too bad because Jeb Bush would have made a great president. But, I do not think we will see that happen anytime soon.
We have been here before. It was called the Clinton years. And, it was under the leadership of those like Newt Gingrich that led to the Republican ascendancy in 1994. And, they can do it again.
The Republican party has to be aggressive with out being offensive. And that is not always easy to do in modern politics.
But, these are some suggestions to get back to at the very least even in 2010. And we can do it.
The McCain era is gone and what he did right was introduce America to a new leader in Gov. Palin. As noted, she is not going away and will be leading the way back from the wilderness on her own.
But, we will not win another election and we should not if we try the George W. Bush big-government conservatism.
That is the overarching message of the 2008 election season.
8 comments:
I don't think Palin will have much of a future. She hitched her wagon to the wrong star. I wouldn't be surprised if we learned the Jindal, or Sanford, or Pawlenty just flat out refused the VP nod because they saw what was coming. Of course that just makes them all the more attractive as leaders.
You don't think this was a blowout?
Dude, get real.
This was a clear across-the-board repudiation of all things repub, going back to St. Ronnie and Dick Nixon.
Dead and buried under running water, with their heads cut off, their mouths stuffed with garlic, and big fat wooden stakes driven through what some have called their hearts.
The national repubs have effectively been pushed back to that handful of states best known for their high levels of ignorance and obesity.
You know, the oldest of the old south.
Add to that mix the states dominated by crazy-ass mormons, along with Alaska (with its nation-leading rates of alcohol abuse and rape), and you've got the repub base.
And that's not a base that wins national elections.
There's still more to be done in consolidating Democratic gains and expanding the party's reach into the libertarian-leaning west (most notably Montana, with Texas as a longer-term project).
Add in Arizona, on the basis of its Hispanic population; and Georgia, on the basis of the Atlanta megopolis.
You're looking at a generation in the wilderness, my friend. At least a generation, and likely more.
As for the repub's second stringers - it's a sorry ass bench, indeed.
By all means, bring back Newt. He's full enough of himself to be blind to the loathing and animosity so many harbor towards him. There'll be many long knives unsheathed the moment he walks in the door, and much chaos once he's disposed of.
It'll be a bloodbath, though fun to watch from this side of the fence. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow.
Bring back Caribou Barbie, of course. I mean, she did such a terrific job her first time out, didn't she?
Mad Jack might just as well have tied two boat anchors, several anvils, a large boulder, and an old DeSoto to his ankles with a big fat chain, and jumped right into the middle of Big Bear Lake for all the good that Miss Alaska did to his final shot at The Prize.
She'll be available in 2010, because she sure isn't going to stand for re-election in the face of certain defeat. Mitt Romney can fill her in on the wisdom of that course.
As for old three-hundred-million dollar Mitt, man of the people - I suspect that the moneyed bigots who backed Prop 8 (congrats, by the way, on enshrining hate into the California State Constitution) were also laying the groundwork for a field organization to support his second run for the gold in 2012.
Ya gotta hand it to the mormons - even though their religion is about the wackiest around, they've figured out ways to make lots of money, and they don't give up easily.
Anywhoozle, I'm gonna go light up the big fat cigar I've been saving just for this day. It was hand-rolled from the finest aged Cuban filler and binder, with the sweetest shade-grown Connecticut River valley wrapper. I got it from my compadre, Eduardo, who's also supplied cigars to that drug-abusing pedophile with the radio show, what's his name...Rush?
But Eduardo says he's packed that man's most recent supply with a few little surprises.
Big storm sure came, eh?
I still love Romney...I think he would have whipped Obama's ass. He would have owned the economy and could talk circles around his ignorance. We shall have plenty of blogging material my friend and that is a good thing! :)N
well done 64!! and i could not agree more with your assessment of the house leadership!!... but this is the second election in a row were conservative voters have used the ballot box as a way of protest, and twice now we have seen the lib margins grow. and this type of attitude does disturb me! conservatives need to hold officials to the fire instead of believing they need to exact some punishment on the party!!
Snarky, I hear Obama is looking for a new lap dog, and you seem to fit the bill. Good boy! *pats snarky on the head*
"... the three-stools of the Republican-conservative movement."
Unless you intended a scatological reference, I believe you meant "the three legs" of the stool. ;)
Frankly, I have NO idea what an Obama Presidency will bring, but what I do know is that I have little confidence that a leader will emerge from the Republican party. Gingrich did it once before, but the subsequent savage beating he took from the left's propaganda machine may keep him where he's at now (if it's even possible to "recapture" past glory).
Doorhold, good observation! When I am trying to get a post quickly, sometimes I do not nessecarily read over but to check the spelling mistakes! I think Newt would be good, but I have also thought of another name. Michael Steele. I think that now that there is a black president, maybe not right away, but within the next couple elections cycles it is possible that higher-income blacks will take a look at the GOP. If we have a reason for them to look at the GOP that is!
You had me at Gingrich.
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