[Miss Marple]

As promised, here is my vanity post. I rarely do this, but I have really been thinking about this over the last week.

I will only be on the computer for another hour, and any posts to me after that will have to wait until I return around 6PM.

This is an effort to move the discussion to productive areas. All sides could use some improvement, including the President, whom I think counted too much on Karl and failed to see what was happening.

[TheLion]

Good post. I think you nailed quite a few points!

The Democrats worked hard to beat us and we stood around in disbelief as they succeeded.

Now Republicans are blaming the border bots, conservatives or anyone else they can think of.

I think that there has been a huge disconnect with the American public with the WOT and the Iraq war,on one hand, and on the other, letting people, possible terrorists, swarm, unimpeded across our borders, caused many people to turn off, not show up to vote, or to vote Democrat in protest.

I think that many people are upset about illegal immigration and logically, can't see why we've been prosceuting one war but don't seem to give two hoots about this problem.

[nopardons]

Thanks for the ping.

[advertising guy]

bump for bedtime but will revisit this thread Miss Marple

[metesky]

Very good post, MM. You put a lot of thought into it.

Rove is an excellent political strategist, but no matter how good someone is, there one day arrives someone better, and right now this person is Rahm Emmanuel.

I think Rove was entirely too complacent and detached from the task at hand and as you say, Emmanuel worked hard and organized on a local level rather than the way the CFA nationalized the election of '94.

I think a lot of folks here are losing sight of the fact that this game goes on and on, and one loss is no excuse to pick up your glove and go home. The Dems and Emannuel may be the Yankees today, but through hard work and faith in the conservative cause we can make them the Red Sox next time around.

A sixth year by-election loss is no reason to think we'll never win a game again, as so many on this forum seem to be thinking.

Hang on tight because in my opinion, the next two years are gonna be a hell of a ride and I'll be here for it and I know you too will be here, MM.

[azhenfud]

Good read, MM. I agree GOP needs to "think small" to "win big". I only have one exception to make.

"1. No dissension within the party should be aired on national media. Anyone who does this would be stripped of committee assignments and campaign cash."

I don't see GOP or any other party can do that. As long as a person has a free choice of which "party" they choose, as long as political parties are not privately owned, and as long as "contributed funds" are their source of income, restricting members' "speech" is a direct violation of the First Amendment, a violation that would almost certainly result with dragging the party and its leadership into court, further dividing them. This would be especially pronounced if a popular candidate were openly denied party funds or favor because they "dissent" on regionally unpopular party stances on one or two issues.

Now, should the GOP wish to initiate membership screening based upon personal ideology and results of a "litmus test", it'd first best be willing to cull some very prominent names from its roster - those not aligning themselves squarely with party dictates (Rudy and McCain coming to mind). Once it does that and it's made public, the GOP or any other party doing the "culling" will immediately become defunct. Americans won't tolerate the perception of a "communist-style" major party in power.

Besides - count Conservatives "first out" of a party that can't and won't stand for open scrutiny of unfavorable policy or unacceptable candidates. It's our "duty" to mercilessly beat RINO's.

Other than that, excellent read and assesment!

[sauropod]

This is how the democrats won. They looked at each area and chose the issues which would get them enough crossover voters to get them over the top.

In the People's Republic of Maryland, they won by using black racism. There was a story the day of the election about Steele waiting in line to vote in Largo and it had quite a few blacks on the Democratic plantation comments in it.

Very telling.

[Sal]

Interesting and thought provoking as I would expect from you.

Anyone who does this would be stripped of committee assignments ...

I've been wondering why the worst Benedict Arnold in the Republican party is still sitting on a committee where he can stonewall the vote on John Bolton. Strip him, replace him and take the bleepin' vote.

[Gaffer]

I believe the Democrats were extraordinarily organized, purposeful and devious to the point of putting together a line up of scandals for their willing goons in the MSM to harp about. However, I don't believe that Rahm E is the genius you think him to be. They, like rats in the cage have had 12 years to learn, and they learned, simple. That coupled with what I believe to have been targeted massive voter fraud ala t he likes of ACORN and myriad other "nonpartisan voter signup drives" in the key districts have secured their victories. The Pubs have been to "womanly" to pursue this.

They have also done an extreme amount of opposition research, a good deal of it probably gathered here....

[Sunsong]

Thanks for your vanity. I enjoyed reading it and many of the responses to it. The devastating loss for the GOP cannot be explained in a simple way. There are truly complex factors that all played a part in it. I like your focus on the individual races. That is a wise thing to do just as a matter of course.

One of the things I disagree with you on is the Iraq war. Unfortunately, the Iraq situation was a very big factor. Americans do not like war. And that is a good quality in us. And President Bush – (nor his administration) – has not done a good job of explaining what really is going there and why and what we are doing about it and why it will work or what exactly victory will look like.

There seems to be a lack of understanding and respect for the mindset and culture of the people of the Middle East. The Sunnis really hate the Shia and feel that they are superior to them and the Kurds. The Shia really hate the Sunnis. And neither is ashamed that they hate – they are proud that they hate and they consider it perfectly fine to kill – to brutally kill those they hate. The idea that they would welcome a democratic country where they all would get along is tragically naïve.

These kind of things don’t seem to have been factored in and the American people are weary of the conflict and the brutality. They are not sure that the war is winnable. They are not sure that war and killing and bombing and intimidating and threatening etc are the best course in our approach to terrorism. Many Americans are questioning whether we are making more enemies than we need to. There is a malaise in the country – that I think has to do with the times we are living in. President Bush has been unfairly blamed for that malaise – for the worry – for the fear that people experience.

Also, the corruption hurt us badly. And, in truth, we deserved to be punished for that. The GOP Congress was awful! The pork and earmarks – the corruption and use of power was inexcusable. Some of that is due to the fact that government is just too big and is expected to do too much. Making decisions over a two trillion dollar budget and the most powerful military in the world as well as making laws that 300 million people have to abide by – is a powerful temptation to corruption. The GOP succumbed…

Thirdly, a lot of Americans are tired of and worried about the lack of civility – the polarization of the country. They want leaders who can engage in healthy debate but be civil and who can work together. They really want to see someone emerge who can unite us. I am very concerned that Barak Obama may present himself as that person. We need leaders who can capture our imagination and inspire us to believe in a positive future. We need new ideas. Sadly, neither side presented any news ideas in the election. Hopefully the 2008 election can be an election of ideas.

Anyway – those are some of my thoughts in response to this very interesting thread.

[WalterSkinner]

..well done MM

Senator Coburn and Congressman Blunt on C-Span this week had some very good "gloves off" post-election analysis as well.

It is frightening when the American electorate views both political parties as being of the same cloth...

Combined with anger at the White House--voila!

Roy Blunt really sounds like he's putting on the brass knuckles--it should be an interesting 2 years...

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Hey MM:

This is as close as possible to my feelings about what happened. Where there was a PRO CHOICE Pubbie the Rats ran a PRO LIFE one. If a Pubbie voted against guns, the Rats ran a pro gun rat, ect.

It happened time and time again throughout the country.

[VRWC For Truth]

No dissension within the party should be aired on national media.

McLame can't help himself. RINOs never listen.

You also failed to blame Bush, domestically he is weak. No veto, no bully pulpit.

It's time to clean out the leadership ... all of it.

[ggekko60506]

Super analysis.

It is good idea to take stock of things after a sound "thumping".

What happened on Tuesday should be thought of as a Democratic "mini-wave". It was not an election that signifies realignment but it does reveal serious fissures in the Center-Right coalition.

The main driver of failure on Tuesday was Political Mismanagement. Unfortunately I am beginning to see discomfiting parallels between Bush II and Clinton with regard to party building issues. I believe that President has shown great leadership in War on Terror and his critics have acted treasonous hypocrites and intellectually dishonest ciphers but on the Domestic Policy side the President has badly fractured his own coalition.

The leitmotif that runs throughout the political failures ably chronicled in these threads is a lack of idealogical unity within the Governing coalition. I have been shocked at some of the insulting and incendiary rhetoric directed against Religious Conservatives by Libertarians and other Secular Conservatives. This situation is analogous to Organized Labor going after Environmentalists as being eco-fascist nuts (which they are, of course). They might think something like this but Coalition Discipline should forbid ever saying anything like that in public. It is undisciplined and stupid to do something like that. How do we expect the voting public to react to such infighting in our coalition before an election?

I relate the drift of the Conservative Movement as starting with Newt Gingrich's retirement from politics. Since Newt left the scene the Conservative Movement has lacked a charismatic spokesman with a positive vision and agenda. A Political Movement needs both a Positive and a Negative Program. The Republican's program in this cycle was almost entirely negative and it lost badly.

An agenda for reviving the movement should include the following items:

*Party Discipline:

Weak candidates should be ruthlessly pruned
and stronger candidates should be put forward.
Numerous House races and the Florida and Montana
Senate races illustrate the importance of this
item.

*The "Vision" thing:

A positive program consisting of specific
Legislative accomplishments should be put
forward every election cycle. The Contract
With America is the perfect template for this
item.


*Coalition Discipline:

Libertarians need to decide if they want to
spend their political capital on noble, losing
efforts getting 3% of the vote.

If they want a more substantive role they should
run some their candidates in Republican
Primaries. Religious Conservatives should seek
to focus on achievable goals within a
Congressional Session rather than looking toward
more sweeping changes. The Culture War will not
be won politically. Incremenatlism is the way to
go.

*Winning by Losing:

Taking Legislative risks pays off in the long
run. This Congress was both timid and
incompetent. Social Security Reform should have
been put to a vote even if it lost. The ground
would have been softened by a losing
effort.

*Recognize the reality of the "Press Party":

The MSM has become a subsidiary unit of the
Democrats. This needs to be recognized and
managed with a consistently applied counter-
strategy. This reality will not change any
time in the near future.

I estimate that MSM cost the GOP at least
one Senate seat and 5 - 10 House Seats in
this cycle.

I hope the GOP takes up some or all of these issues. For now it is important to play good defense to prevent the Democrats from implementing any of the disastrous policy ideas.

The good news is that the Democratic idea bank is empty. When the public realizes this there will be a new opportunity to move the Center-Right coalition forward into a permanent leadership position again.

[Grampa Dave]

My tagline sums up this election.

The Bush haters on both sides have elected the government they have dreamed of!

That is the same suicidal idealogue that gave us the 8 years of the Clintoons.

[pollyannaish]

Miss Marple...you are a treasure. Correct and a grown up to boot.

THANK YOU! I concur on all points.

Now, I have to sit down and quit applauding and jumping up and down before my family thinks I have truly gone over the edge...but if I didn't have to do that, I would be screaming for an encore! ;-)

[12th_Monkey]

The answer is simple, pure evil never dies and it was time for the pendulum to swing the other way.

[Lazamataz]

Normally, I've read your posts and been somewhere between violent disagreement and amazement at the Bush-sycophancy.

However, Miss: This is truly an excellent analysis.

Kudos, kiddo.

[Guenevere]

I missed seeing this when it was first posted...

Excellent assessment, IMO...

I was just about to post a Joel Belz piece from World Magazine...(& I still may)...

..but after reading this I think Joel needs to read it too :))

Kudos MM

[Enterprise]

This deserves another bump.