Posted on 11/09/2008 3:37:09 AM PST by gusopol3
Head Strong: Ignoring suburbs doomed the GOP To win Pa., it must appeal to moderates. By Michael Smerconish - Inquirer
Inquirer Currents Columnist
If retail politicking alone determined the election outcome in Pennsylvania, McCain-Palin would have won in a landslide. Speaking on MSNBC election night, Gov. Rendell joked that the GOP ticket had spent so much time in the state that he was thinking of assessing them with a state income tax.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Hm, wasn’t it the moderates who managed, ran, and planned the entire 08 presidential campaign, promising they could deliver the centrists and independents?
How’d that work out again?
****
Before you try to appeal to indies and the moderates, first you MUST get the support of the base. Failure to do so is like building a house without a foundation - it doesn’t stay standing for long.
However, I do agree that the GOP should not have bothered wasting a single penny campaigning anywhere in the northeast (Maryland on up) and instead focused more on Ohio and Florida instead.
That’s true but if his message wasn’t working in PA, it wasn’t working anywhere. It was an indication of a failed message.
There are many who would love to move the GOP to the left. Deep down, these people actually liked what Bush and the GOP did over the last 8 years, they were just upset these people had an ‘R’ after their name.
Once the GOP returns to its conservative roots and proves it can lead by cutting the size of gov’t, it will be a majority party again.
After all, Obama had to run on tax cuts and fiscal responsibility in order to get elected....just like Clinton did.
Conservatism has won the argument. We just can’t seem to get it implemented due to softees in our party.
Can we please ignore the tripe this turncaot has to peddle? Nobody is interested in his egotistical analysis of Republicans. The fact is, outside of Gov. Sarah Palin, there was no Conservative voice. McCain did not want Conservatives, and that’s exactly what he got.
This guy is no more qualified to comment on the Republican Party than a Mohammedan critiquing the Bible.
Money and time spent in states where there were Republican Senate seats in jeopardy might have at least been of some benefit, rather than PA. A huuuuge miscalculation.
I do not plan to be taking any advice from an Obamatron like Smerconish.
I agree with you, his support of Obama has been greatly to the benefit of Bill Bennett who competes in the Philly market (not sure but I thought I heard a woman introduce herself as Smerconish's mom call in to Bennett). also note that he's still trying to sell tickets to his up-coming Book Club that usually sell out on the first day, it seems.
Smerconjob is neither a Republican, nor a moderate, nor an Obama man (even though he voted for The One).
Smerconjob is an opportunist with no principles whatsoever.
And, since he is a man without honor or principle, why should we take his “advice”?
...and I think you have to have a message, M A V R I C K isn’t it. He was all over the same map as Mr Obama with somewhat less ability to energize anyone due to the age difference. It was obvious early on, that there wasn’t much there to recommend him as a Republican Candidate. He just happened to be a nominee of the party, the msm or whomever. There was no one to rally around until Sarah Barracuda.
What I would like to know, is if he was bitten in any way by the results of his own misguided legislation McCain/Feingold.
‘Moderate’ is just another word for self-hating Republican.
What the GOP needs to do is appeal to common sense conservatism again, tending to the business of governing while always remembering that the government that governs least governs best.
Republicans need to return to making courageous stands against the expansion of government, explaining to people why they don’t want government having more control over their lives and their decision, instead of going along with massive expansions just because they think opposing it would be “bad politics.”
Remember the RNC claiming that they could do that because they didn’t have enough money?
I wonder why that would be, considering that Republicans typically outraise Democrats by quite a bit.... Could it be that they failed to gain the support of the base by being “Democrat Lite”?
in being superficial, maybe he embodies the suburban voter that he speaks of, that the GOP has lost over the last 20 years. These people don’t know how badly the Democrat/ Socialists can hurt them.
We need to run a canadidate that supports global warming wealth confiscation, camapaign finance reform and can reach across the aisle to moderate fascists and Marxists.
Maybe someone like McCain can run.
Me neither....
my guess is that he was helped by it in the primaries, where none of the competitors had a lot of money (except Romney with his own) as I remember it. On the other hand, if there were any provisions in it that limited the Obama money machine, I don't know what they were.
More “they don’t get it” analysis.
McCain had “late volunteers” because he was late to the conservative base.
Hindsite is almost useless after the fact. IMHO thing most certainly could’ve been done better. As far as where, when, and how money got spent, I think it has far less impact when you take the MSM into consideration. To me this contest was about integrity vs lie, When enough people belive a liar because he goes completely unchallanged by the obviously tilted media, this is what you get.
Obama backed out on a campaign finance pledge, That was my first hint the pubs would have a very hard time.
B-b-b-b-but, we NEED moderates to win elections. Look how well McCain did with them this year.
I strongly believe this will be a silver lining, since McCain was going to embrace that collapsing hypothesis for the GOP. These suburban voters who were so impressed at politically correct depth by that fear-mongering will have the Democrats to scorn as the global warming joins cold fusion as pseudo-science.
well, you do need 50% + 1. By some definition, that’s gotta include “moderates.” the question is, do you alter you arguments to match their propagandized points of view, or do you convince them to move your way . Obviously, FReepers choose the latter course.
I gree, that's all you really need to know about him, though the way thing went down, he'd have probably won anyway. The decitfulness is why I'm calling him "Cokehead President."
Absolutely 100% correct! I would much rather lose with a true conservative agenda and canidate, than the absolute rino loser which almost ensures a loss. If McCain had won, conservatives would still have lost.(except for Palin)
McCain 208, Obama 195 in our very rural township here in northern PA. I was a poll worker and I was shocked that that many people who are mostly Republican voted for him. I knew McCain was finished! Idiots! We did have a very large turnout with 61% of registered voters voting. To be honest, all day I thought it was busy because people were voting AGAINST Obama. I was wrong! It made me sick!
wow, that is sad. Probably a lot of folks scared by the financial mess and thinking Democrats will be better able to handle it.
Only way is voter ID clean up the fraud.
Perhaps if Smerconish had endorsed McCain rather than Obama, he might have been worth listening to.
How can he give advice when he supported Obama?
Vichy Republican.
Smernikov thinks that if the GOP will just embrace abortion on demand, everything will be hunky-dory.
Wrong again Michael.
mrs
believe it or not, I heard Katie Couric giving advice to Republicans the other day. oh well , turn about is fair play, we’ve given her plenty of advice, like “go get another job.” Smerconish has lost a lot of listeners to Bill Bennett, the # of calls coming to his radio show from Philly area is very high.
believe it or not also believes in legalizing prostitution. Shows a perverted stupidity with the absence of thought. Can you imagine a family struggling to keep a daughter on an academic track of any type having to debate the argument, “I can just become a sex worker?”
As well as Ronald Reagan and pre-1995 Newt Gingrich.
Coming from a state where Photo ID is required to vote, and saw two people turned away to go fetch the ID, I agree that something needs to be done in states that still have no requirement.
One method of simplifying the system could be to return to the male property owner requirement, but that might not sit well with some.
Only way is voter ID to clean up the fraud.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
A ‘purple’ digit would also work but I can just picture marauding hordes of ‘others’ forcing opposing parties people’s digit in a bucket of ‘purple’ paint......
Amazing when the Iraqi elections seem cleaner than ours.
That's a consequence of voters believing that the mess we are in was caused by the Republicans, as well as the failure of the elected Republicans to live up to their name. Why bother electing Republicans if they overspend and expand government when you can elect Democrats who are real pros at doing it? Why vote for McCain if his position on the bailout is the same as Obama's?
And finally, why vote for a guy who says he'll tax your health insurance, offset by some tax credit. Everybody knows that within ten years the tax credit will be gone, or phased out with income, but the tax on the value of your health insurance will remain -- and counting health insurance as income would push you up into a higher bracket and cost you money.
What kind of a Republican makes a vital part of his campaign platform raising taxes -- on your health insurance of all things?? Oh, I forgot, a "Maverick" like John McCain.
The age old aregument of moving to the center is bogus. Sarah Palin is proving that argument wrong as we speak.
For sure,he was and is a lousy candidate.
Smerconish is a Democratic operative. He pushed for McCain to win the primary and when McCain won, he switched support to Obama. He was among those who derided Palin.
the next Republican candidate will have to cut through the ever more complicating and tightening knot with something like the fair tax.
"Moderate" is a dirty word.
No, the Reps should be pursuing white blue collar Dems.
he’s also going to be one of the big losers of the election, as his audience listens to Bill Bennett.
If he is not registered Democrat he certainly is close enough in all practical effect.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.