Posted by
Doug McQuiston on Friday, November 14, 2008 12:15:26 AM
Is it just me, or are you sick of the onslaught of "experts" telling us that the GOP has "entered the wilderness," and needs to "rebrand" itself? They contend that we have lost our way, we "don't stand for anything anymore," and that we are destined for decades as a backbench party. We might as well give up.
Enough already.
We lost an election. It happens, particularly when your party's incumbent has an approval rating in the Nixonian range, the economy is in a full screaming panic, and the leadership in both your own party and its presidential campaign seem to be trying on a new "theme" every day.
It doesn't help, either, when your opponent cleverly opts out of federal financing after your guy has already locked into it. That little head fake by Sen. Obama left our guy Sen. McCain picking his jock up at the free throw line, while Obama drove the paint and laid it up. Obama outspent McCain three to one, monopolizing the airwaves and buying street organizations in all 50 states, buying so many new voters that he could have swamped Reagan himself if he were running.
They won. We lost. Get over it. There is nothing wrong with the GOP. If more of our candidates would (a) read, and (b) follow, our platform, they might actually surprise themselves and start winning elections. Oh, and a few other things that might help our new Congressional hopefuls regain the majority:
- Don't stuff earmarks into legislation like you're stuffing cocktail shrimp into your pockets at the White House reception;
- Don't play footsie in the men's room stall;
- Don't send dirty emails to Senate pages;
- Don't take money from dirty lobbyists;
- Try to avoid getting indicted, much less convicted;
- Spend more time listening to your constituents, and less time at Beltway cocktail parties;
- Remember why you were elected, and who elected you.
We're wasting our time lamenting what just happened.
Besides, if there is one constant in American politics, one thing we can always count on, no matter how many times we screw things up, it is this: the Democrats, when given the keys to the White House and full control of both houses of Congress, will overreach so dramatically, and swing so far into the pink-to-red end of the political spectrum, that they will scare the Bejeezus out of us all. When that happens (and trust me, it will), all of those "change" voters who went for Obama because they actually believed he was a "moderate" who delivered a killer speech, seemed smart, and would deliver a tax cut will snap out of it. Nothing turns voters faster than dashed expectations.
Once Obama, like Clinton before him, drops the "middle class tax cut" scam, and the voters get a load of all the bright ideas in store for them from Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Max Baucus, they'll be ready to take a fresh look at the GOP in two years.
But we will need to be ready. Let's remember who we are. We're Republicans. What we stand for still matters. Let's stick to the fundamentals and spread the good news. If we do that, rebuild our state and county organizations, and raise boatloads of cash for the midterm elections, we'll be right back in the game.