Why The GOP Lost (Hey, Its The Trust, Stupid Alert)

Worldnetdaily.com ^ | 11/11/2006 | Star Parker

[goldstategop]

There's already plenty of punditry about what went wrong. What did the president and the Republican Party do and when did they do it?

Robert Novak summed up the consensus view of the Republican wipeout well, writing that "opposition to the war and the president had produced a virulent anti-Republican mood."

My point of departure from most of the analysis that I've read would be to disagree that this election was about any single issue.

I think this election was about trust. Trust is the glue that holds relationships together.

The war, rather than being THE issue, was more a deal breaker.

It's like a failed marriage. It starts off with trust and hope. Then a lot of little things happen that create tension, disappointment and disillusionment. Eventually, there is a deal breaker. Some incident that destroys any residual hope that things can be worked out, that you can rely on and trust the person with whom you once shared your dreams. That's the end.

I think this is what has happened with the relationship between our president and his party and the American people.

Americans hung tough with the president on Iraq for a good portion of these years that we have been embroiled there. Even after it seemed pretty clear that the initial intelligence that supposedly justified the war was wrong, we still hung tough with him.

But the ongoing death and chaos, with no clear and understandable picture coming from the administration about what the end of all this will look like, shook the nation's confidence.

This, coming with the nauseating string of scandals, abuses of power, undisciplined federal spending, and the failure of the president and his party to deliver on any of the major entitlement reform issues (Social Security, health care) or social issues (marriage amendment), broke the bond of trust.

Anyone knows that when the bond of trust is broken, any relationship – political, business or personal – is over.

To paraphrase an observation once made by the great political philosopher F.A. Hayek, "If politics is the art of the possible, then great leadership is the art of making the impossible possible."

However, for any leader to reach for the impossible and bring it into the arena of the possible, he must have the trust of the people. They have got to believe in him, in his integrity and his vision.

Leadership is hard to find. In my time, the only two Americans I can think of that really had these characteristics were Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King. They made the impossible possible and changed the world.

I believe these are unusual times when the need for leadership is particularly pronounced.

Great changes are taking place.

The very dangerous threat globally from Islamic extremists and terrorists is different from the types of threats we have faced before.

Domestically, the country is weighed down by dysfunctional systems we created in the last century at a time when many Americans thought that central planning had its place in our lives and when we were rich and independent enough to play these kinds of games.

Now. a good portion of our population and economy is dependent on broken retirement, health care and education systems.

We need to retool and replace the broken and the old with the new and dynamic.

We need a more deregulated health care market, private health and retirement accounts and an approach to education that allows parents to choose how they wish to educate their children.

However, leading a whole nation to abandon the old and familiar and to step into the unknown and the new is no small task. It cannot be done without leaders who have vision, who have courage, and who, like Reagan, see the truth clearly enough and believe in it deeply enough that they will capture the trust of our people.

I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the Democrats because it is so clear that they still are the peddlers of the old and the broken. I have yet to read an analysis that defined this election as an affirmation of the Democratic Party.

We know about relationships that come on the rebound. It's just a matter of needing somewhere to go. But there's no substance and no future. The Democrats will soon remind us again about what getting government into our lives really means. Telling us what we should earn, what we should produce, who we can and can't hire, what the prices of things should be, what we can and can't teach our kids, etc.

Short of a complete transformation of the Democratic Party, if our country is going to maintain its standing as a great nation – the greatest nation – it will be under Republican leadership.

But it's not going to happen without real leaders. This is the challenge for the Republican Party today – to re-articulate its vision and to re-establish the trust it has lost with the American people.

[goldstategop]

The war was more of a deal breaker than the issue. Simply put, Administration's failure to deliver victory, the excessive spending and the lack of movement on entitlement reforms and to preserve marriage broke the bond of trust between the President and the American people. When that was lost, the Administration never recovered. As Star Parker observes, we're living in a dangerous time and the Democrats, being who they are, will not defend the country or maintain its greatness. Now the task of conservatives is to find new leaders to rebuild the lost trust with the American people on behalf of the Republican Party. Its a considerable challenge and the job needs to begin yesterday. A lot is at stake.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Tax-chick]

We need a more deregulated health care market, private health and retirement accounts and an approach to education that allows parents to choose how they wish to educate their children.

However, leading a whole nation to abandon the old and familiar and to step into the unknown and the new is no small task. It cannot be done without leaders who have vision, who have courage, and who, like Reagan, see the truth clearly enough and believe in it deeply enough that they will capture the trust of our people.

Exactly dead-on. If Republicans can't get away from, "Trust us - we're the government," then they're toast. The Democrats are bigger nannies and better liars.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The GOP went through the last six years as a Donk lite spoils system, forgetting who put them in office and why.

[goldstategop]

If you run as Democrat Lite, don't be surprised if people prefer the real Democrats.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[MountainPete]

One of the basic tenants of Christianity is that man is incapable of saving himself.

Boy, howdy, the democrats are an exquisitely clear example of that premise!

It seems the Republicans have by and large been seduced by the concept of government as The Answer (and a permanent place at the public trough) and haven't the cods to recognize a serious enemy even if they fly airplanes into buildings.

Well, whoever that "leader" might be, he'll have to be a warrior, or, as my mother-in-law would've said, "Stick a fork in it, we're done."

[trek]

Wow, of all the punditry I have inflicted upon myself since the election, the article you found is the first piece that really resonates.

Thanks for finding and posting it.

[BurtSB]

the wh and repub allowed the dems and the dem media to peddle the same lies over and over and over again and did not challenge them . lynne cheney was the first wh person to go after them. the dems use the old nazi , tell lies long enough and people will believe them. the wh, frist, and hastert did not set up a war room to counter attack . they should have demanded equal time or no wh access and no congress press passes . the wh and repub gave them access and allowed them to destroy there credibility with out a fight. its was unreal and stupid .the repub party has to treat the media like an enemy and take them head on.

[daniel boob]

I have earned some political capital and intend to use it."
- GW Bush after 2004 win

Here lies the problem. We went to the mat for Bush and wanted to see an aggressive stance on immigration, WOT, social issues, Social Security, etc. and we saw nothing.

We have squandered an amazing opportunity to continue to push the Reagan revolution towards political domination.

And now Pelosi is energized.

[Tax-chick]

I agree. I hope that we can have some candidates in two years who really believe in smaller government.

[Kimberly GG]

IMO, Republicans, historically strong on defense, must unite immediately to stop the bipartisan Open Borders Lobby so that we can EFFECTIVELY secure our borders from terrorists, or else we will lose the WOT in our own backyards. Everything else, though important issues, is a mute point otherwise. Had Bush taken this position, rather than risking it ALL for the OBL, Republicans would have rallied and we'd have had a much different election outcome. Now he is going to use Pelosi and Calderone, in the spirit of post election bipartisan compromise, to further the OBL agenda which, as a party, we must unite to stop in spite of him.

[radar101]

Star Parker is the founder and president of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education, a 501c3 non-profit think tank that provides a national voice of reason on issues of race and poverty in the media, inner city neighborhoods, and public policy.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

As a social policy consultant, Star Parker gives regular testimony before the United States Congress, and is a national expert on major television and radio shows across the country.

Currently, Star is a regular commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has debated Jesse Jackson on BET; fought for school choice on Larry King Live; and defended welfare reform on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Star Parker’s personal transformation from welfare fraud to conservative crusader has been chronicled by ABC’s 20/20; Rush Limbaugh; Readers Digest; Dr. James Dobson; The 700 Club; Dr. George Grant; the Washington Times; Christianity Today; Charisma, and World Magazine. Articles and quotes by Star have appeared in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Star has written three books, “Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats” (1996), “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” (2003), and “White Ghetto” (2006), resides in Southern California.

Today, in addition to heading CURE, Star is a syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard News Service, offering weekly op-eds to more than 400 newspapers worldwide.

She left out Bush's NON-ENFORCEMENT of beneficiaries: Illegal Immgration, Clinton sacking the White House, Sandy Berger, playing along with the 9-11 commission,The Wall, brought to you by the Clintons which facilitated 911, cozying up to CAIR (Guided tours of Airport Security), and the list goes on.

[goldstategop]

Yeah Bush had political capital and failed to use it over the past two years. Plus, the Republican Congress frittered its gains away playing Washington insider games rather than fixing Social Security and entitlements, confirming conservative judges and pressuring the Administration to move to win the war in Iraq. What a blown opportunity.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Stallone]

Republican turnout was ultimately the deciding factor in the election. It was the lowest since 1990, and lower than the Democrats.

Therefore, anyone concluding the Republicans lost because they didn't move to the center is dead wrong.

Republicans lost because they didn't govern like Conservatives.

[goldstategop]

I agree. The other thing about social issues is defending marriage is a political winner but the Senate GOP could not even bring itself to bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to a formal vote. They allowed the Democrats to kill it on a procedural vote. So there was something that left a large part of the base feeling betrayed and like the party didn't care to act on their concerns. So here we are.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[goldstategop]

Give the American people credit for being smart. If they have to choose between phony liberals and real liberals, they voted in the latter. Hopefully, this will give the GOP a much-needed wakeup call.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[goldstategop]

It all depends on whether the GOP learns the lessons of the election. If they take the media's and Democrats' advice to move Left, they'll be out of power for the next 40 years.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[backhoe]

Thanks for posting this. It makes more sense to me than most of the screeds I have read so far.

[RKV]

Interesting. Got a link to those turnout numbers?

[Son House]

"Pelosi is energized"

And not going to give up that throne easy, either.

Too many folks thought 'vote against the war"

was on the ballot,

Democrates have 2 choices if they don't 'stay the course':

1. Strenghthen the Troops,

2. or not.

I think Democrate supporters' are going to get what they wished for,

and not like it.