Thursday, November 8, 2012

Post-Mortem on the 2012 GOP Presidential Election Loss: Rush-bo and Huff-Po Were Wrong


In a Nation of Children, Santa Claus Wins
By Rush Limbaugh

...Mitt Romney and his family would have been the essence of exactly what this country needs.  But what was Romney's recipe?  Romney's recipe was the old standby: American route to success, hard work.  That gets sneered at.  I'm sorry.  In a country of children where the option is Santa Claus or work, what wins?  And say what you want, but Romney did offer a vision of traditional America.  In his way, he put forth a great vision of traditional America, and it was rejected. It was rejected in favor of a guy who thinks that those who are working aren't doing enough to help those who aren't.  And that resonated.

Top Ten Reasons Romney Lost
By Bob Burnett

...Romney had to tack to the right to secure his base and this turned off self-defined centrist voters. Obama overwhelmingly carried both liberal and centrist voters. The electorate has gotten wise to the Republican Party; they understand that they are radical conservatives -- out-of-touch with the middle class. Ultimately, that's why Romney lost. It indicates that no Republican presidential candidate would have been electable.
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Commentary by walford

I only agree with a small amount of both assessments. The roots of the GOP's loss in the Presidential election are deep. The NEA has had a near monopoly on our childrens' education for several generations now and its self-serving secular humanist, collectivist agenda has had its effect. The continually declining test scores stand as testament. Each succeeding generation must struggle independently to be fully informed on American history and our role in the world. Most cannot be bothered and should not be blamed for that.

Beyond that, the Left and the Democrat Party that it dominates considers politics to be a blood sport. They play for keeps and for them, the end justifies any means. They played what in basketball is called a full-court press. They utilized their domination of the media and entertainment industry to full advantage, making sure that any facts that would undermine the Obama/Biden campaign would be suppressed and any that would harm the GOP challengers would be distorted and exaggerated. Out-right lies were not off the table.

The moderator insinuating selective "fact-checking" in real-time during one of the debates -- thus making herself a third participant -- stands as an example. The fact that her assertions [about Obama specifically labeling the Benghazi attacks as terrorism on Sept. 12, 2012] were later debunked made no difference. Most people didn't see that because the mainstream media didn't cover it, so for most Americans, this and many other factual falsehoods -- as well as policies that have impoverished us at home and made us unsafe abroad -- simply didn’t happen.

If a tree falls in the forest and the mainstream doesn't cover it, it doesn't make a sound.

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Obama and Biden used techniques that are well-established in the advertizing and marketing industry, knowing their audience well enough to package their message targeting specific demographics. They played a non-factual campaign, preferring instead to pander to fear, envy and other base emotions. It was effective.

For their part, the Republicans were naive, thinking that sticking to the facts in response would be sufficient. Romney and Ryan in particular were too polite when it came to challenging their opponents when they evaded exposure of their numerous flaws with respect to foreign and domestic policy. Romney failed to confront Obama and his minions touting a video that nobody had seen when the attacks were underway. The President bleated about this "horrible" video that "we had nothing to do with" six times during his Sept. 25 UN speech and also added that "the future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam." Romney failed to point out how one of the makers of video was paraded before the cameras in a handcuffed “perp-walk” a few days after the attacks, thus giving the impression that Shari’a Law is being enforced at the expense of our Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.

Huffington Post’s Bob Burnett said that Romney “blew his chance to score points on Benghazi.” During the Vice-Presidential debate, Ryan also allowed Biden to slither away with the curt dismissal of “mistakes were made and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again” and “we didn’t know” without pressing for specifics and offering what should have been done if an effective administration were in charge.Most importantly, Romney/Ryan failed to make the case as to why all Americans have been put into danger by demonstrating weakness to a culture that regards such behavior as an invitation for further bloodshed.

They were not asked who decided to immediately blame a video that nobody had seen being the cause of “spontaneous demonstrations” when in fact a coordinated attack took place. And fewer still have looked into how the inflammation of deadly protests in at least twenty predominantly Islamic countries may have any relationship with Obama’s repeated statements of mea culpa on America’s behalf. Of course, the media should have been pressing Obama/Biden on this, but when the question was [meekly] asked, the President responded, “we’re conducting an investigation” and reporters took this as sufficient and did not press the issue further.
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Obama has been repeatedly allowed to get away with his allegation that the “failed policies of the past” weakened the U.S. economy that he inherited at the end of 2008. Nobody in the press has asked him which policies they were and why. The implication is that it was too much freedom and not enough government, which has been swallowed whole.

The GOP challengers also did not bring this up, which surrendered the issue to those who are actually responsible for the housing bubble and the financial crisis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pushed mortgages to people who demonstrably could not make the payments. In 2005, Republicans warned of this and were dismissed by Barney Frank and the Democrats as doom-sayers.

After Obama was sworn in, the Democrat Congress pushed through a “financial reform” package that not only left Fannie and Freddie conspicuously exempt, it put the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for a blank check on their behalf.

Obama touted the taxpayer-funded and federal government-managed bailout of the auto industry -- basically as a Shining Example of the virtues of central planning. He successfully smeared Romney with advocating GM and Chrysler being dismantled, with the plant and equipment sold off and all of the employees fired. Romney did not effectively counter this, explaining in layman’s’ terms that the auto bailout was actually done for political reasons and accomplished the very political end of preserving union jobs and leaving their exorbitant contracts off-the-table when costs and efficiencies were evaluated. Romney did not explain that if these automakers had been allowed to go into bankruptcy, the courts would have husbanded decisions being made for economic reasons rather than political ones and that the result would have been companies that were more efficient, producing vehicles that people would want to buy -- and would not have cost the U.S. taxpayer a cent.
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The Party of Abraham Lincoln failed to make the case to people of color that they have a much brighter future being empowered to see to their own needs rather than accepting the Party of Jim Crow’s seduction of Thirty Pieces of Silver in the form of the false security of dependency in exchange for their freedom. Consequently, too many of them bought the notion that cutting taxes means that they would get less than if they earned a living with good paying jobs in a free economy. Some even accepted the very dangerous and divisive bill of goods that tax cuts are racist because those who are exploiting them are keeping too much of a finite collective pie.

With respect to illegal immigration, the Democrats successfully perpetuated the canard that Republicans want soldiers knocking on doors in the middle of the night, rounding up families and sending them anywhere, so long as it’s south of the border. [Given that many here illegally come from places where this is a real possibility, this fear is palpable to them.] The GOP does not at this time have a coherent response and policy. Some say to put up a fence and militarize the border. Others say the local police should round up illegals and keep them until the Federal government gets around to doing something with them. Still others slouch toward amnesty masked as “immigration reform.”

A simple, humane and cost-free solution would be to reserve taxpayer-funded benefits for U.S. citizens and summarily deport anyone arrested committing a crime while being here illegally. Also, the incentive for the cruel spectacle of pregnant women braving the desert to give birth to a taxpayer-funded meal ticket should be removed. The spirit and purpose of the 14th Amendment should be honored by making it so those born to non-citizens are legally considered citizens of their parents’ native lands -- which is how it is in most countries in the world, including Mexico. The Republican leadership must make it clear that they are not beholden to commercial interests addicted to cheap, easily exploitable labor. They must make it clear that they will do what is best for the American people so wages will not continue to be kept flat in part by a huge labor glut fueled by millions of economic refugees.
***
The Democrats brought the issue of abortion and contraception to the fore, alleging that Republicans want to break into women’s medicine cabinets and “punish,” as Obama said, girls like his daughter “with a baby” should they “make a mistake.” The GOP does not have a coherent response to this either and Romney/Ryan failed to see the importance of clearly addressing it.

The Supreme Court had no business issuing legislation from the bench on the subject of abortion in 1973, making it so only other unelected judges with life tenure can change the ruling. [This is why the Democrats are so hysterical about which President is appointing Supreme Court justices.] The American people are divided on this issue and this matter should therefore be left to the states, with the respective legislatures making law that is subject to review and revision based upon popular will as it evolves. Adding contraception to the mix, the First Amendment guarantees not only free speech, but freedom of religion as well. That means that Catholics, Muslims and Jews should not be compelled to pay for someone else’s abortions and contraceptives.

I have found some of Rush Limbaugh observations on the Democrat rank-and-file's mindset to be insightful, regarding how it compares to that of the Republicans. He points out that the Democrat Party is actually more diverse in perspectives on various issues, many are conflicting in fact. Black Democrats might not want Heather’s Two Mommies imposed on their children in the classroom -- which is why may of them are increasingly drawn to vouchers -- but they are willing to hold their noses and vote for the Party of Jim Crow anyway because nearly all Democrats are united on the prospect that government is the solution for just about anything.

But I disagree with Rush on his observation that the majority of the American people have chosen government as Santa Claus because that is more attractive than being told the truth and that it involves thinking and working for yourself.

The fact that Romney/Ryan got a significant bump in the aftermath of the first debate demonstrates that there are enough Americans who are willing to keep an open mind and will revise their opinions if given relevant facts.
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Bob Burnett is among the harpies of the Left who are trotting out their favorite “friendly advice”  that the Republican Party needs to basically become the Democrat Party-lite. The implication is that the majority of the American people want collectivism at home and surrender abroad. Let us be more than skeptical of the motives of such advice.

The Republican Party certainly needs to do some soul-searching now if we are to remain relevant -- and if America is to have a chance at recovering prosperity and security. We must not listen to those who call on the GOP to emulate an European conservative party by touting that we could more efficiently manage a social welfare state. Those within our ranks who think this way must be identified and unceremoniously purged.

We must unabashedly stand for freedom and courageously expose our opponents as standing for poverty, oppression and ignorance -- intentionally or not. And I urge our Libertarian friends to stop dividing those who advocate for freedom and re-join the Party of Abraham Lincoln.

We have struggles ahead and must be united in purpose and clear in resolve if freedom is to have a chance. If your way is right, your ideas being implemented means everybody wins. If your way is wrong, everybody loses -- including you!

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