Well, nothing makes a political party think more than losing a winnable presidential election than, well losing.
Sure, the Republican party did gain ground in governor races in 2012.
And expanded on their majority of state legislatures.
But, as mentioned, they lost the presidential race. They lost winnable senate seats and thus are in the minority. And they did lose eight seats in the House of Representatives.
So this week, the Republican National Committee is meeting and judging by what the leadership of the party is suggesting, it is time not just to come up with a new playbook, but a new way of reaching beyond the reliable Republican voter.
While the party reelected the chair, Reince Priebus (what sick parents would actually name their child REINCE?!), some conservatives will grumble that under his leadership, the party did not take back the White House as many expected in 2012.
I will defend Mr. Priebus in this respect.
Once Mitt Romney won the nomination, he pretty much assimilated his team with the RNC. In reality, Mr. Priebus was but a face and more figurehead while Team Romney ended up on a crash and burn.
Now let us see if he can actually lead the party on his own.
It appears that he is on the right track.
Michael Walsh over at National Review Online highlights this from the RNC chair:
"It’s time to stop looking at elections through the lens of “battleground states.” We have four years till the next presidential election, and being a “blue state” is NOT a permanent diagnosis.
Simple “outreach” a few months before an election will not suffice. In fact, let’s stop talking about “reaching out”—and start working on welcoming in. Political support is cultivated over time—not collected on Election Day."
BANG!
Mr. P is totally spot on!
And Mr. Walsh goes on to state the obvious.
That the RNC basically writes off states and whole regions now before an national election even begins.
The Great Litany of states the Republicans did not even bother with:
California
Oregon
Washington
The three above states make up the Pacific Coast.
Illinois
That is one Midwest state the GOP seems to give a big fat "Meh" to in every election since Reagan.
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Maine
Rhode Island
Vermont
And there is most of New England save for New Hampshire which is becoming hard to figure out.
New York
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
The mid-Atlantic region. The GOP only plays for Pennsylvania and Virginia is not totally Blue just yet.
And my friends, the Republican party starts off a presidential election about 204 electoral seats that they simply give to the Democrats because they have decided most of these states are lost for the foreseeable future.
Why?
Mr. Walsh blames the permanent consultant class that many in the GOP think are Gods. And his big bugaboo is one Karl Rove.
And I do think that he is on to something there.
Yes, there are some states that maybe the GOP can't win now. But if the party stays at least competitive and builds up from the areas of a said state kind of out of the GOP orbit. Really, there is no reason for the Republican party to not be more competitive in California. Look at the map from the just concluded 2012 presidential death march, er election. There is a lot of Red in there. Imagine if the Cali GOP had the money and or resources to compete in San Bernardino county? San Diego county? And yes, even in my dreaded county, Los Angeles? Maybe Mr. Romney would have racked up better numbers here in Los Angeles county. Maybe he could have got as much as 40%. And maybe he would have won San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Had larger margins in Orange and Riverside counties.
It is doable.
But, here is a reality.
We know that the only time Republicans come to California, they leave with a boatload of cash and that is all. And many, many Republicans that I know personally shrug their shoulders and say that their vote does not matter because the Democrat will win. It is a self-suppression of voting. And I am certain that is how Republicans feel in many of the aforementioned states above.
That has to stop.
That is why we must hold Mr. P accountable that he is going to go balls-to-the-wall to fight in every single state, every single possible race and fight using the same successful tools that the Democrats used to win. And even the liberal daily Holy Bible, The New York Times, is noticing what the GOP is about to embark on.
And Ace over at the Ace Of Spades explains it right here. That yes, there are Republicans behind enemy lines. It is just that they have to be courted and looong before presidential election day if there is to be any chance of building up and getting said voters motivated and voting.
And this does dove tail nicely to this very interesting and worthwhile article by Aaron Renn for New Geography. Mr. Renn makes a good case why Republicans need to begin to look at, and yes, retake the cities. I think there are some good ideas, but Mr. Renn is setting up the conversation, not saying it is his way or the highway.
Remember that it was not a lifetime ago but the mid 1990s when Republicans mayors were leading in Los Angeles (Richard Riordan) and New York City (Rudy Giuliani). Now they are as Mr Renn wrote, Democrat cesspools with no end to the corruption in sight.
And the best is for last as Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, makes the case that it is time to stop worrying so much about Washington D. C., political cesspool central, and worry about getting the conservative, Republican message to the masses.
Here are some remarks from Gov. Jindal made to the RNC meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina:
“We do not need to change what we believe as conservatives – our principles are timeless. But we do need to re-orient our focus to the place where conservatism thrives: in the real world beyond the Washington Beltway.
“Today’s conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs. We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping. This is a rigged game, and it is the wrong game for us to play."
“The Republican Party must become the party of growth, the party of a prosperous future that is based in our economic growth and opportunity that is based in every community in this great country and that is not based in Washington, D.C.."
I could not agree more with Gov. Jindal.
It will be up to people like Gov. Jindal, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, the new governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, people like that to take common sense conservatism to the people. They have to go over the heads of the Obamawhore media. They have to show Blue America why common sense conservatism works.
I think that finally, the Republican party is waking up and realizing that shrinking the field is not a way to win elections and thus not a way to govern this nation.
Hope is on the way.
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