Republican blogger: Can we now dispense with some myths?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Can we now dispense with some myths?

We got the results I feared. I was hoping for a different result, but in the end the pollsters were again correct and it was a 5 point win for Obama, with a devastating down ballot result. When you end the night being glad that Ted Stevens might eek out a victory, that is a bad sign.

So here are some things that I think we now know for the future. If we want to get this country back on the right track, we better learn these and act on them:

1) People are not afraid of Socialism, it is an acceptable political outcome. I'm going to be thinking a long time on why this is, but I think that it is a combination of lack of education within the electorate, a generation has passed since Carter, and the illusionary success of European socialism in our globalized economy.

2) Bi-partisanship is a waste of time. You can't make nice with the political enemy and expect them to play fair or support you in any meaningful way. The PUMAs were interesting to listen to, but they weren't a political factor. The fact that McCain and Hillary are friends means nothing, and just serves to cheapen our positions. By the same token, mavericks should be marginalized, not given our nomination.

3) Image, charisma, and articulation matters. If our candidate doesn't make the people who watch Access Hollywood say, "Hey! He/She is really hip and cool!", then we are toast. This goes for ALL of our leaders, not just our presidential candidate. We need people who can articulate our positions in terms that the voters can understand and resonate with. It took an Ohio plumber to put in simple words what was wrong with Obama's tax plan, and it came too late. At the end of the day, none of our candidates really stood a chance with this dynamic.

4) You have to fight everyday if you want to win. When the opposition makes a mistake, you have to publicize it everyday and never ever let them walk away from it. When the Dems blocked reform of Fannie/Freddie, we should have been pounding home the message that the Dems were heading us toward a disaster. In the future, we have to loudly disagree with their socialist agenda, and when they inevitably fail, loudly condemn them for their failures. Their social safety net should be daily criticized for the failure that it is.

5) Social conservatism does not trump financial conservatism. As much as it pains me to say this, abortion is not an issue that the majority of the electorate cares about, and frankly we have now lost on Roe v. Wade. The courts are lost for a generation, and there will be no turning back the clock. Social conservatism works for ballot initiatives, like Amendment 2 in Florida and Prop 8 in California. But the best we can hope for is state initiatives to enhance right to life issues on the edges. This was probably our biggest loss yesterday, and it is probably permanent.

6) The education system and the media are devastating losses for us. With no mechanism to publicize our positions fairly, the new voters are being taught lies as truths, and we lose the propaganda war. If we can't find a way to get around this problem, we will be a political minority for a very very long time. The reinstitution of the fairness doctrine must be defeated, or we will lose even that small voice.

7) Trying to fight fair, when the opposition refuses to do so, is foolish. Campaign finance reform is a crock, and using public financing is moronic. Until real reform occurs to stop voter fraud, we can't be left defenseless. In the meantime, we can either fight in the gutter, or we can lose.

8) Similar to the social conservatism, 2nd amendment rights is not a political winner. Not enough of the voters really give a damn.

So what do I think can work in the future for us?

1) A reform agenda - Palin has set the right "outside Washington" tone to benefit from the inevitable mistakes that the Dems are going to make now that they fully control all branches of government. Our congressional members need to enforce party discipline and eschew fiscal stupidity like earmarks. Then people from outside DC need to run on permanently changing the culture.

2) Fiscal education - Strong leadership in teaching the voters the truth about tax policies. We don't have to get into what the money in the treasury is going to be used FOR, as long as we teach them why lower taxes result in increased revenues. If they think giving it to the UN is the best thing to do with it, then fine. But getting people to understand what is needed for a sound economy is critical.

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

4) Grassroots - Establish a permanent and effective local political apparatus that can mutually support between states and districts. Share best practices, and provide technical and financial support between organizations.

5) Win the hearts and minds - Low level voter education to target the youth and independents to teach them the core principles. Work outside of the liberal school indoctrination, or better yet, force the schools to give us equal time. We have to get past ceding political education to the NEA. We need to stop mind numbed robot Democrats from just showing up at the polls and blindly pulling the lever for the D.

6) National level branding - Now is the time to begin an advertising campaign to dispel the myths about Republicans. We aren't racists, we aren't homophobes, we aren't war mongers. We need to change our public image, and that has to be done through a public relations effort. Pick a few core messages, and put them out in opposition to the socialism that Obama will be trying to push through.

7) Leadership - Finally, we need leadership, probably as the head of the RNC. Congressional leaders are fine, but a strong RNC chairman that focuses on the Republican brand is critical for success.

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/dave_in_fl...ith-some-myths/

[Dan J 277]

He is right in a few points but pretty much wrong about everything else.

He is right that social issues are not what will make the Republican party in the future. The majority will no longer flock to the Republican party solely on this issue. However, a large portion of the base still finds this important, so it cannot be ignored.

He is also right that socialism is no longer a dirty word for most people. But wrong about the reasons why. Much of it has to do with most people not really benefiting from the Republican fiscal/tax policies not some liberal propaganda. How big your paycheck is and how much food costs in the grocery store means more than what someone says.

Your not going to pursade people to like a Republican tax regime, when they have the Bush administration to look at as an example of how it works. The rich benefited greatly, everyone else, not so much. Low taxes do not increase revenue, if there is no incentive to invest in real growth such as innovation and jobs. Under the Bush tax regime, investment went primiarly into real estate and commidities, creating bubbles that have since burst, leaving us back were we started.

The Republican party needs a new leader, but its not Palin. Her record on reform is laughable, and her appeal is limited to social conservatism, and for those guys who see her as a wet dream.

A new Republican leader that would lead the party into the future, would probably be more like McCain, as he was before the 2008 election. But who will be a stronger leader to lead the party, and not let the party lead him. The question is can the party find its leader soon before it destorys itself.

[Peikko 1,575]

That was some kind of satire, wasn't it? If it wasn't, I can only say - Crikey!

[britty 1]

Can we now dispense with some myths?

We got the results I feared. I was hoping for a different result, but in the end the pollsters were again correct and it was a 5 point win for Obama, with a devastating down ballot result. When you end the night being glad that Ted Stevens might eek out a victory, that is a bad sign.

So here are some things that I think we now know for the future. If we want to get this country back on the right track, we better learn these and act on them:

1) People are not afraid of Socialism, it is an acceptable political outcome. I'm going to be thinking a long time on why this is, but I think that it is a combination of lack of education within the electorate, a generation has passed since Carter, and the illusionary success of European socialism in our globalized economy.

2) Bi-partisanship is a waste of time. You can't make nice with the political enemy and expect them to play fair or support you in any meaningful way. The PUMAs were interesting to listen to, but they weren't a political factor. The fact that McCain and Hillary are friends means nothing, and just serves to cheapen our positions. By the same token, mavericks should be marginalized, not given our nomination.

3) Image, charisma, and articulation matters. If our candidate doesn't make the people who watch Access Hollywood say, "Hey! He/She is really hip and cool!", then we are toast. This goes for ALL of our leaders, not just our presidential candidate. We need people who can articulate our positions in terms that the voters can understand and resonate with. It took an Ohio plumber to put in simple words what was wrong with Obama's tax plan, and it came too late. At the end of the day, none of our candidates really stood a chance with this dynamic.

4) You have to fight everyday if you want to win. When the opposition makes a mistake, you have to publicize it everyday and never ever let them walk away from it. When the Dems blocked reform of Fannie/Freddie, we should have been pounding home the message that the Dems were heading us toward a disaster. In the future, we have to loudly disagree with their socialist agenda, and when they inevitably fail, loudly condemn them for their failures. Their social safety net should be daily criticized for the failure that it is.

5) Social conservatism does not trump financial conservatism. As much as it pains me to say this, abortion is not an issue that the majority of the electorate cares about, and frankly we have now lost on Roe v. Wade. The courts are lost for a generation, and there will be no turning back the clock. Social conservatism works for ballot initiatives, like Amendment 2 in Florida and Prop 8 in California. But the best we can hope for is state initiatives to enhance right to life issues on the edges. This was probably our biggest loss yesterday, and it is probably permanent.

6) The education system and the media are devastating losses for us. With no mechanism to publicize our positions fairly, the new voters are being taught lies as truths, and we lose the propaganda war. If we can't find a way to get around this problem, we will be a political minority for a very very long time. The reinstitution of the fairness doctrine must be defeated, or we will lose even that small voice.

7) Trying to fight fair, when the opposition refuses to do so, is foolish. Campaign finance reform is a crock, and using public financing is moronic. Until real reform occurs to stop voter fraud, we can't be left defenseless. In the meantime, we can either fight in the gutter, or we can lose.

8) Similar to the social conservatism, 2nd amendment rights is not a political winner. Not enough of the voters really give a damn.

So what do I think can work in the future for us?

1) A reform agenda - Palin has set the right "outside Washington" tone to benefit from the inevitable mistakes that the Dems are going to make now that they fully control all branches of government. Our congressional members need to enforce party discipline and eschew fiscal stupidity like earmarks. Then people from outside DC need to run on permanently changing the culture.

2) Fiscal education - Strong leadership in teaching the voters the truth about tax policies. We don't have to get into what the money in the treasury is going to be used FOR, as long as we teach them why lower taxes result in increased revenues. If they think giving it to the UN is the best thing to do with it, then fine. But getting people to understand what is needed for a sound economy is critical.

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

4) Grassroots - Establish a permanent and effective local political apparatus that can mutually support between states and districts. Share best practices, and provide technical and financial support between organizations.

5) Win the hearts and minds - Low level voter education to target the youth and independents to teach them the core principles. Work outside of the liberal school indoctrination, or better yet, force the schools to give us equal time. We have to get past ceding political education to the NEA. We need to stop mind numbed robot Democrats from just showing up at the polls and blindly pulling the lever for the D.

6) National level branding - Now is the time to begin an advertising campaign to dispel the myths about Republicans. We aren't racists, we aren't homophobes, we aren't war mongers. We need to change our public image, and that has to be done through a public relations effort. Pick a few core messages, and put them out in opposition to the socialism that Obama will be trying to push through.

7) Leadership - Finally, we need leadership, probably as the head of the RNC. Congressional leaders are fine, but a strong RNC chairman that focuses on the Republican brand is critical for success.

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/dave_in_fl...ith-some-myths/

An intelligent, well constructed post, that was a pleasure to read. Bravo A.J.

[peejay 327]

Peejay sez: Here's another perspective from another conservative. Not all Republicans are likeminded and not all conservatives are Republicans. I'm a conservative, but I'm not really wedded to any party in particular. Anyway, I have been a fan of Pat for a while. He is a different kind of conservative from Bush. As is Ron Paul differs from other Republicans. Here is Pat's take on the Bush disaster and the McCain candidacy. Pat is no latecomer to Bush and neo-con bashing if you keep up his past op-eds.

But Where Did Bush Go Wrong?

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted 11/04/2008 ET

After losing control of the Senate and 30 House seats in 2006, the GOP is bracing for losses of six to nine in the Senate, and two dozen to three dozen additional seats in the House.

If the party "were a dog food," says Rep. Tom Davis, "they would take us off the shelf."

Bush's approval is 25 percent. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton left office with ratings more than twice as high.

But while John McCain and others have deplored the Bush failures, what, exactly, did he do wrong?

What were the policy blunders to which Republicans vehemently objected at the time?

That Bush is a Big Government Republican is undeniable. His two great social spending initiatives, prescription drug benefits for seniors under Medicare and No Child Left Behind, so testify. But how many Republicans opposed Bush on these initiatives? How many have called for the abolition of either program, or for raising payroll taxes to pay for prescription drugs?

McCain now supports the Bush judges and justices and the Bush tax cuts, as do almost all Republicans.

True, Bush sought amnesty for illegal aliens and backs the free-trade globalism that exported our manufacturing base and 3 million to 4 million jobs. But McCain is even more enthusiastic about both.

Does the party dissent on free trade and mass immigration?

Two-thirds of Americans now believe the Iraq war a mistake. Yet, all but a few Republicans backed the war. At the time of "Mission Accomplished!" in May 2003, the nation gave Bush a 90 percent approval rating, as his father had after Desert Storm.

What turned America against the war was not the decision to invade, oust Saddam, destroy the weapons of mass destruction and depart, but the long, bloody slog, the five-year war, with nearly 5,000 dead, that Iraq became. It was not the lightning war of Tommy Franks, with journalists riding tanks into Baghdad, that soured America, but the unanticipated duration and cost of the war.

Yet, Republicans still believe that the war was not a mistake, only mishandled. And now that Gen. Petraeus got it right in Iraq, they say, we should pursue the Petraeus policy in Afghanistan.

How many Republicans have repudiated the Bush Doctrine that got us into Iraq -- the belief that only by making the world democratic can we keep America secure and free?

Americans no longer believe that, if ever they did. And history proves them right. For Iraq has never been democratic, and America has always been free. Yet, the Republican Party has never renounced the Bush Doctrine

Indeed, it is being applied today in Afghanistan.

That war, too, after we failed at Tora Bora to capture or kill bin Laden, has become a long slog to create a democratic Afghanistan, which, like a democratic Iraq, has never before existed.

In Afghanistan, we are entering the eighth year of war with victory further away than ever. The Taliban grows stronger. U.S. casualties are surging. Opium exports are breaking records. Our NATO allies grow weary. Even the Brits are talking of reconciliation with the Taliban, perhaps accepting a dictator.

These two wars helped to cripple the Bush presidency and end the GOP ascendancy. Yet, at the highest levels of the party, one hears no serious questioning of the ideology that produced these wars. McCain has pledged to stay in Iraq until "victory" and send 10,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Nor have Republicans objected to the U.S. air strikes that have killed hundreds of Afghans, or the Predator strikes that have inflamed Pakistan or the helicopter raid into Syria that humiliated Damascus and enraged the population. If Republicans disagree with these policies and actions, their voices are muted.

Bush is for facing down Russia and bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Does any Republican disagree? For McCain is more hawkish than Bush when it come to Moscow.

The party says it is losing because the economy went south. But who caused that? Was it not because Republicans colluded with Democrats in pushing "affordable housing," subprime mortgages, for folks who could not afford houses?

Is the GOP prepared to demand tough terms for home loans?

Was it not GOP presidents who appointed the Fed chairmen who pumped up the money supply and created the bubble? How many Republicans objected to the easy money when the going was good?

The country wishes to be rid of the Bush policies and the Bush presidency. But where does the Republican Party think Bush went wrong, other than to be asleep at the wheel during Katrina?

The GOP needs to confront the truth: The failure of the Bush presidency lies not in a failed execution of policy but in the policies themselves and the neoconservative ideology that informed them.

Yet, still, the party remains in denial, refusing to come to terms with the causes of its misfortune. One expects they will be given the time and opportunity for reflection soon.

"The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?pri...es&id=29343

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

That was some kind of satire, wasn't it? If it wasn't, I can only say - Crikey!

No, not satire.

The Republican post-mortem is just getting warmed up. For all the kooks in the party, the one's we hear from the most, the loud voices, the shrill voices, there's also a ton of quiet intellect and I'm looking forward to reading what they have to say about all this. The next year will be interesting, the GOP will reshape itself, I only hope they do so in a way that makes them a competitive force in the Northeast once again.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Dimocrats shouldn't be so smug. What's happened to the Republicans this year has happened to the Dims more than once in my lifetime. It will happen again; the pendulum swings both ways.

This is one of the most important points from the OP that needs to be addressed immediately:

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Dimocrats shouldn't be so smug. What's happened to the Republicans this year has happened to the Dims more than once in my lifetime. It will happen again; the pendulum swings both ways.

This is one of the most important points from the OP that needs to be addressed immediately:

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

Are you saying Faux News failed?

[Dan J 277]

This is one of the most important points from the OP that needs to be addressed immediately:

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

In a democratic society, especially with the openness of the internet, that will definitely not work. If you buy a popular media source and give it your bias, most people will abandon it for something else. The media landscape is too large to control without resorting to a China-like censorship regime, which in the US would be unconstitutional.

If you want people to support the GOP, forcing them to through propaganda is a poor way to do it. It will just generate more resentment. Instead the party needs to find a message that appeals to more people.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Instead the party needs to find a message that appeals to more people.

Yes, and I hope they do. There's little more harmful to our democracy than the same states voting for the same parties every cycle. Obama flipped a few 'red' (as of 2004) states, I'd like to see more states flip next time - both ways. Mix it up a little bit!

[Peikko 1,575]

That was some kind of satire, wasn't it? If it wasn't, I can only say - Crikey!

No, not satire.

The Republican post-mortem is just getting warmed up. For all the kooks in the party, the one's we hear from the most, the loud voices, the shrill voices, there's also a ton of quiet intellect and I'm looking forward to reading what they have to say about all this. The next year will be interesting, the GOP will reshape itself, I only hope they do so in a way that makes them a competitive force in the Northeast once again.

That's scary then, that people really think that is the way the US is, and needs to be changed.

As for the educated and intellectual GOP, I believe they are there and they need to reshape to be properly competitive. We don't need a one party state.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We don't need a one party state.

Agreed!

The demise of the GOP in the northeast worries me. We need an opposition up here but as long the GOP continues to toe a hard line on certain social issues with limited regional appeal, they'll effectively be in the position of being non-competitive up here.

Frankly, I am very surprised they didn't use immigration this cycle. Pro-border fence + anti-amnesty would have gotten them quite a bit of support up north, they lost the Latino vote anyway.

[Pooky 3,786]

This is one of the most important points from the OP that needs to be addressed immediately:

3) Media - We need to destroy the current media. They must be punished for their abdication of their duties within a free society. Establish alternative sources to reach the voters with our message. Financially ruin the mouthpieces of the Democrats. Buy the New York Times and fire their editorial board, replacing it with one leaning right.

In a democratic society, especially with the openness of the internet, that will definitely not work. If you buy a popular media source and give it your bias, most people will abandon it for something else. The media landscape is too large to control without resorting to a China-like censorship regime, which in the US would be unconstitutional.

If you want people to support the GOP, forcing them to through propaganda is a poor way to do it. It will just generate more resentment. Instead the party needs to find a message that appeals to more people.

The message is one thing, but if you cannot find an outlet in the mainstream media to carry that message, as should be obvious to any objective observer in the current climate, then you must target the media itself.

And I disagree that people would abandon a publication like the NYT. In the UK, the Times used to lean to the right, but now leans the other way. Have its readers deserted it? No. Where else can you get The Times crossword? It's small things like this that can endear the loyalty of many readers to a publication such as the NYT, or The Times.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... but if you cannot find an outlet in the mainstream media to carry that message, as should be obvious to any objective observer in the current climate...

The highest rated cable news network is conservative!

[dalegg 143]

... but if you cannot find an outlet in the mainstream media to carry that message, as should be obvious to any objective observer in the current climate...

The highest rated cable news network is conservative!

We need to figure out how to get hippies to watch though. We need more boobies.