Posted on 02/07/2013 12:31:40 AM PST by Rummyfan
Having just lost an election, many Republicans are anxious to remake our party in the image of Democrats. The theory seems to be that whatever we're doing isn't working, so we better change everything.
But in fact, whatever Republicans did in 2012 -- other than an overly long primary fight -- worked amazingly well, given the circumstances.
In a detailed analysis of the 2012 election, William A. Galston, a fellow with the liberal Brookings Institution, makes a number of fascinating observations that Republicans would do well to consider before embracing amnesty, abortion, gay marriage and Beyonce.
In my analysis of his analysis, the single most important factor in the election was simply that Obama was an incumbent. As Galston notes, beating an incumbent president is a feat that has happened only five times since the turn of the last century. Republicans have done it only once.
On closer examination, in all these cases the incumbent president faced a primary challenge. In three of the five, the incumbent also had a third-party challenger in the general election.
-- In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran against incumbent William Howard Taft and, failing to win the Republican nomination, ran on a third-party "Bull Moose" ticket against him.
-- In 1932, President Herbert Hoover faced a number of primary opponents, including Calvin Coolidge and John Blaine (and it was also a few years into the Great Depression).
-- In 1976, Ronald Reagan nearly beat a never-elected incumbent, Gerald Ford, in the primary, losing narrowly on the convention floor, 1,070 to 1,187. (And Ford still almost pulled it out!)
-- In 1980, Teddy Kennedy ran a primary campaign against President Jimmy Carter all the way to the convention, and John Anderson ran as a liberal third-party candidate in the general election.
(Excerpt) Read more at anncoulter.com ...
The Republicans' Primary Problem
Please correct thank you.
Huh?
Dah!
“But in fact, whatever Republicans did in 2012 — other than an overly long primary fight — worked amazingly well, given the circumstances”.
Huh!?¡¿
Coulter’s part of the GOP-E problem. She needs to shut up and go back to sipping her cocktails with Maher.
Well Ms. Coulter had promoted one RINO after another. Romney and her darling Chris Christy, who actually gave Obama a boost.
The only left out was booing the name of God..But then that’s obvious once the GOPES accept their agenda.
Nuts to Roves RINOS !
You can not legislate from a position of compromise.
Democrats are not conservatives enemy. The GOPe/republicans are the dire nemesis of conservatism and we have to defeat this LOSER mentality.
“Indeed, had the election been held a week earlier, Obama probably would have lost.”
This assertion is dubious.
Those votes did not turn into Republican votes BTW.
You win elections by registering your supporters and turning them out to vote.
You never win elections by arguing positions and policies during a campaign ~ that stuff is already settled in folks' minds long before the campaign anyway.
So, who was it DID NOT TURN OUT TWICE TO VOTE FOR OBAMA?
That's actually an easy question to answer. Demographics got rid of a good 2 million of his voters between 2008 and 2012 (minority death rates are higher unless you're Japanese). He lost 4 million in the aggregate, which means he failed to make up for the dead people AND discouraged another 2 million ~ probably mostly young black men without jobs but having college degrees.
He also lost another 2 million new voters who would usually have registered to vote for the first time but didn't ~ again, another body of disaffected people.
WE CAN GET THOSE VOTERS! That's 4 million to 6 million potential Republicans ~ and with them we can win any election.
We must beware of any politician who tells us we can get new voters during the campaign ~ does not happen! We need to find and register new Republican voters long before the campaign. The primaries may well provide us with the best method to stir their interest hence we must BEHAVE OURSELVES ~ that nominating petition BS in Virginia probably alienated all of our potential new Republican voters for a generation. It's going to be very tough to undo the damage Bolling and Romney did in this state!
“Those votes did not turn into Republican votes BTW. “
Riebus couldn’t even get previous Republican voters out. Possibley because they have been disenfranchised by the party of RINOs. Where the heck were any conservative values? Romney already supported a form of obamacare, abortions and amnesty. And now Rove and Priebus want to further step into the pile of crap they manufactured for the party of the “values”?
@11. Sirchtruth: “You can not legislate from a position of compromise.”
As some wit once said, “It’s impossible to look up to someone who has their ear to the ground.”
????
Christie was her first pick, he wouldnt run so she endorsed Romney as being ‘the most electable’.
I guess she like Rush expects her loyal fans to have no memories.
The GOP primary process isn’t working because the elites have too much control and keep forcing losers like them on the party.
“I guess she like Rush expects her loyal fans to have no memories. “
That is exactly why I don’t listen to either one of them now. Makes my life a whole lot more calm & peaceful too. BTW, they both expect support for the crap they write and any product they endorse like the awful tea Rush claims to have created, nasty tasting & expensive.
Ann Coulter is as dead to me as Fredo was to Michael.
Rush is like :
“Bla-bla-bla conservative... bla-bla-bla ...Romney will win....bla-bla-bla.. I told you so folks as I am always right ...bla-bla-bla....Obama will cave if.....bla-bla-bla... our principles...bla-bla-bla... YOU need Life-lock call this #...”
Those sneak in commercials he weaves into the end of his ‘bla-bla-bla's’ monologs are especially annoying. I can make it through 5 to 10 minutes of his BS
He is too successful for ‘our’ own good.
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.