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Sorry, Senator. Let's Salvage What We Can.
The Washington Pest ^ | 10/23/08 | David Frum

Posted on 10/25/2008 9:26:36 PM PDT by steve-b

There are many ways to lose a presidential election. John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.

A year ago, the Arizona senator's team made a crucial strategic decision. McCain would run on his (impressive) personal biography. On policy, he'd hew mostly to conservative orthodoxy, with a few deviations -- most notably, his support for legalization for illegal immigrants. But this strategy wasn't yielding results in the general election. So in August, McCain tried a bold new gambit: He would reach out to independents and women with an exciting and unexpected vice presidential choice.

That didn't work out so well either. Gov. Sarah Palin connected with neither independents nor women. She did, however, ignite the Republican base, which has come to support her passionately. And so, in this last month, the McCain campaign has Palinized itself to make the most of its last asset....

Sure enough, the base has responded. After months and months of wan enthusiasm among Republicans, these last weeks have at last energized the core of the party. But there's a downside: The very same campaign strategy that has belatedly mobilized the Republican core has alienated and offended the great national middle, which was the only place where the 2008 election could have been won....

Republicans need to face some strategic realities. Our resources are limited, and our message is failing. We cannot fight on all fronts. We are cannibalizing races that we must win and probably can win in order to help a national campaign that is almost certainly lost. In these final 10 days, our goal should be: senators first....

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; davidfrum; defeatism; defeatists; frum; gop; mccain; nrhomo; palin; rino; rnc; surrendermonkey
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In desperate situations with limited resources, one must resort to "triage": dividing cases into 1)will pull through without help, 2)can survive, but only with help, 3)doomed no matter what, and putting all available resources into category (2).

The GOP may have reached that point.

1 posted on 10/25/2008 9:26:37 PM PDT by steve-b
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To: steve-b

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2115325/posts?page=2#2


2 posted on 10/25/2008 9:27:41 PM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (You MUST see this website: http://www.neverfindout.org/)
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To: steve-b

David Frum is a Vichy Republican I do not care what the man says, he is a Obama supporter.


3 posted on 10/25/2008 9:28:04 PM PDT by padre35 (Sarah Palin is the one we've been waiting for..Rom 10.10..)
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To: steve-b
John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.

Rephrase that: John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire American way of life down with him.

4 posted on 10/25/2008 9:29:12 PM PDT by PressurePoint
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To: steve-b
Tammy Bruce has been railing about this column for over an hour. She's incensed at the handwringing by the DC pundit class of so-called conservatives. Meantime, Sarah Palin is selling sweeping the nation leaving the defeatists in her wake.
5 posted on 10/25/2008 9:29:31 PM PDT by HokieMom (Pacepa : Can the U.S. afford a president who can't recognize anti-Americanism?)
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To: perfect_rovian_storm

Another Bush Moron, Thanks W!


6 posted on 10/25/2008 9:29:35 PM PDT by robtrml
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To: padre35

Guys like him WANT us to lose, because they fear Palin. They want to blame Palin, when in actuality it was their damn lame ass nominee that actually was the source of most of our problems.

But funny thing. These polls that all these morons are using to call the elections over aren’t coming to fruition.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2115325/posts?page=2#2

We are going to win.


7 posted on 10/25/2008 9:30:09 PM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (You MUST see this website: http://www.neverfindout.org/)
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To: steve-b

Too many stories like this out of the MSM this weekend, I think they are trying to demoralize the voters and McCain is doing better than they want to admit.


8 posted on 10/25/2008 9:30:19 PM PDT by Arizona Carolyn
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To: steve-b
I tell you what, David Frum, you go ahead and give up, we'll be crawling through broken glass to vote on Nov. 4th, and we'll surprise a LOT of people with the outcome. Then, when McCain and Palin are in charge, I hope they don't EVER give you the chance to interview them, since you were such a weenie before their election!

Whatta bunch of wusses!

9 posted on 10/25/2008 9:31:07 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: padre35

He has been off the reservation for quite a while now.


10 posted on 10/25/2008 9:31:14 PM PDT by Arizona Carolyn
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To: steve-b

Oh, Horsesh*t.

Please note that I use only one asterisk.

The Republican party is just fine, and this election is not only winnable, it’s practically in the bag.

McCain and Palin just need to keep on doing exactly what they are doing. They are right in tune, with plenty of cowbell where needed, and by election day it will be a barn burner.

Don’t listen to people with a hidden agenda; to discourage, deflate and depress.

Remember, their purpose is to help the bad guys win.


11 posted on 10/25/2008 9:31:22 PM PDT by John Valentine
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To: steve-b

Frum is an effin idiot and one of the dolts who is responsible for the moderate Republican Presidential candidate we have today. So what’s Frums solution? Move further to the left. Well, Obama already occupies the socialist position and evidently the American voter prefers the real socialist to the faux socialist.


12 posted on 10/25/2008 9:31:30 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (MSM Lied, Journalism Died. RIP 2008)
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To: PressurePoint

B.S....


13 posted on 10/25/2008 9:31:47 PM PDT by Arizona Carolyn
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To: steve-b
I think that, with support, governor Palin will be able to drag McCain across the finish line. It's depressing that things have come to that, but it still beats the alternative.

Triage would have been far more appropriate with Bob Dole's campaign, especially since Republicans in Congress could have easily turned Clinton's advertising to their own advantage. Clinton was crowing about all the great legislation he had signed, most of which had come from the Republicans in Congress. Had Republicans simply agreed with him in their advertising, I would think they could have easily gained seats.

14 posted on 10/25/2008 9:32:13 PM PDT by supercat (Barry Soetoro == Bravo Sierra)
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To: robtrml

Thank the voters of Florida. Thank the millions of Democrats who are going to cross over to vote against the Marxist. Thank the media for depressing Obama turnout with ridiculous overconfidence. Oh, and thank them for the riots too.

My neighboring city will probably burn, but that’s okay. I’m armed and I have plenty of marshmallows.


15 posted on 10/25/2008 9:32:18 PM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (You MUST see this website: http://www.neverfindout.org/)
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To: Arizona Carolyn
B.S....

Barry Soetoro?

16 posted on 10/25/2008 9:33:13 PM PDT by supercat (Barry Soetoro == Bravo Sierra)
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To: John Valentine

The only question mark is Colorado.


17 posted on 10/25/2008 9:33:18 PM PDT by vbmoneyspender
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To: padre35

I have to agree. You have to wonder if many of these people that are speaking out this way do so because of the profession they have chosen. With the media being taken over by leftists it’s hard to tell if they are part of a “media Bradley affect” where they make these comments as a way to keep from being shut out of the business. Or have they been around the far left ideology so long they have forgotten that there is more to this country than a sound bite and a picture.


18 posted on 10/25/2008 9:34:12 PM PDT by truthluva ("Character is doing the right thing even when no one is looking" - JC Watts)
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To: steve-b

Hey Dave! YOU are not a Republican so don’t worry about it. Go vote for your “messiah”!


19 posted on 10/25/2008 9:35:25 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (I'm voting for McCain/Palin so I can look my grandchildren in the eyes when I tell them I'm sorry.)
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To: robtrml

Well, he is a W! Vichy Republican, but we know when W! is leaving the stage, unlike Frum...

Can we check him for an expiration date or something? Can W take him back to Crawford with him?


20 posted on 10/25/2008 9:35:42 PM PDT by padre35 (Sarah Palin is the one we've been waiting for..Rom 10.10..)
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