Republican Strategy for 2012

[mrbob]

Originally Posted by luzianne

I agree about the bailout. McCain should have spoken out against it and refused to vote for it. That would have made a big difference. Like most other conservatives, I wasn't thrilled with McCain as the GOP candidate but he was still a much better choice than the Dem candidate. Barry has already broken 2 campaign promises and he's not even in office yet, so by 2012 everyone may be ready to throw him out of office.

You know - I do believe that in November 2016, towards the end of Obama's 2nd term, and after Hillary is elected President, you'll still be talking about the 2 campaign promises that Obama broke!!!

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by mrbob

I agree - but they are in a real quandry...

They can't run as the party of fiscal responsibility - because they spent like drunken sailors and more than doubled the national debt in 8 years...

They can't run on family values - they've had so many congressmen banging interns or cheating on their wives that people would be laughing all the way to the polling booth.

They can't run as the party of small government - because they grew non-defense spending at an incredible rate over the past 8 years.

They can't run as the party of inclusiveness - just ask the gays or hispanics if you need an explanation...

They can't run a populist campaign - because they only benefited the rich, and the working man is not as stupid or forgetful as they hope..

I think their only hope is to adopt a party slogan of 'We're not that stupid any more' - and name a few sewage treatment plants after Dubya.

Originally Posted by FinkieMcGee

Yeah but this is how the GOP has been for like 30 or 40 years. They don't offer their own platform, they're more concerned with winning a race so they run on minor issues instead of focusing on larger issues like the federal government is supposed to do. I honestly don't think this is going to change for a while, and next election they'll run another bad values candidate.

To answer both of these... I am in agreement and the Republican Party lost its way some time ago.

However the clues to getting back in the game are right in front of them. Look back to 2000 when it was Gore verses Bush. Gore was, well, a bore and part of Clinton's giving America a black eye on a moral level as well as charges of being too interventionist in foreign policy. Bush ran on a platform of "Compassionate Conservatism", and frequently stated things like, "No new nation building", along with all the other traditional calls for lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, blah blah blah... Ok, Bush lied and used the pretext of 9-11 to do the exact opposite of what he said he would do. Point is, those planks of less intervention in foreign affairs, a toned down, softer religious aspect, etc... are what got him elected.

Then moving forward to this past primary season in the GOP, we need only to look at Ron Paul. Paul never stood a chance, but his message sent a whole segment of youthful conservative minded people to support him fanatically. They filled his campaign coffers, they took to the streets, they were everywhere. Yet, the GOP snubbed the guy and what he represented, which was the future of the party, or at least a good segment of it. The GOP blew it and big time.

This is not to say that Paul or his ideas were ripe for today political landscape, but a good number of his ideas are. Those people who supported him are the ones who are now making up large numbers of the ranks on the more intellectual or secular side of the conservative movement. These are also the people who like the Obama campaign, understood how to use the new medium of the internet, video, etc... as a means to be effective.

What the GOP will choose as its primary course of action or message is anyone's guess at this point as the culling and gutting of the party is far from over. I believe it is going to take at least four to six years to even get a viable game plan and make up lost ground. I don't believe the GOP will be very effective for at least two complete election cycles, unless something drastic happens with Obama.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Pimpy

I think if Romney had been the nominee rather than McCain, he would have won by double-digits. His economic track record would have been hard to turn away from in this climate, and he could have (and probably would have) spoken out against that idiotic bailout package of which 85% of Americans disapproved and Obama (and McCain) voted in favor.

Hindsight is 20/20. (Or foresight in my case, as I supported Romney from the beginning )

Part of Romney's "success" was exporting American jobs to foreign countries. That fact would have bombed in the Midwestern states b/c the Dems would have pounded it fiercely into the airwaves and media. His mormon religion would have also been a factor among some evangelicals.

[TnHilltopper]

Seems that pesky slight feller from Texas is at it again!

Commentary: GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track - CNN.com

My rhetorical answer at the time was simple: Why should one be excluded from the Republican Party for believing and always voting for:

• Limited government power

• A balanced budget

• Personal liberty

• Strict adherence to the Constitution

• Sound money

• A strong defense while avoiding all undeclared wars

• No nation-building and no policing the world

How can a party that still pretends to be the party of limited government distance itself outright from these views and expect to maintain credibility? Since the credibility of the Republican Party has now been lost, how can it regain credibility without embracing these views, or at least showing respect for them?

[Joe_Ryder]

One of the best things the Republican Party could do to win an election would be to run an actual Republican.

[LibertyandJusticeforAll]

You need a republican against the war, against intervention, against the bailouts, against the taxes and for liberty and personal freedom. Help if we would be for shuting down the IRS and the income tax.
Then you have a republican.
Other wise its Obama in 2012 and another Bush neocon clone.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by LibertyandJusticeforAll

You need a republican against the war, against intervention, against the bailouts, against the taxes and for liberty and personal freedom. Help if we would be for shuting down the IRS and the income tax.
Then you have a republican.

Good luck with that.