Posted on 11/21/2013 8:26:20 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Many Republicans, with eyes trained on the presidential election in 2016, have sorted through the wreckage of the 2012 elections to figure out how and why the GOP suffered such heavy losses, including the White House.
But at the Republican Governors Association conference in Arizona on Wednesday, one theory dominated at an early panel discussion: That the X-factor Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lacked might have been a more compassionate tone.
"People have to know that you care about them," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the governors believed to be weighing a presidential bid in 2016. Voters, he said, have to believe that "if they’re stuck in a ditch, you’ll ... push them out."
"If we can demonstrate more of that, people will say, 'That’s a new kind of Republican.' Create jobs, compassion and care."
Alex Castellanos, a Republican consultant, echoed Kasich's remarks, saying that in the eyes of voters the GOP has become the "pass-the-Grey-Poupon party."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
I think you’ve probably hit the right note. Compassion can take many forms, but making a person dependent on government handouts really isn’t compassionate when you take the long view. We aren’t doing people any favors by making them think that government can solve all their problems. I have nothing against helping someone out who is down on their luck through no fault of their own, but the compassionate thing to do is help them back on their feet and then they have the chance to succeed (or fail, don’t take that away from them, either).
Sounds like libtardism. If he says they need to be more empathetic, and show more concern and fairness, I will throw up.
I'm thinking more about 2006 and 2008.
How about a set of BALLs! John&Mitt no balls! If you go to war bring your balls and every weapon you can find.
Yeah, all the Republican candidates from GHW Bush to Romney showed “compassion”.
George W. Bush was the only one elected since 1988, and that just barely both times.
GHW Bush got dumped for reneging on his “Read my lips: No new taxes” pledge, even though Klintoon enacted the largest tax increase in history as his first act of office. Romney was panned as a squish by the base.
Without the base, there is no race.
Create jobs. Pull people out of ditches. Give them taxpayer-funded healthcare. Raise the temperature of the oceans because the water's three degrees too cold at the beach.
Alex Castellanos, a Cuban consultant who thinks Cubans represent all immigrants.
I’d take him aside and ask him what he thinks of the new City Council member in Seattle.
...and then slap him.
Conservatives are going to have to acknowledge the demographics. The minority birth rates are far above the majority and every year more Dem voters turn 18 than GOP voters. Yup, they have ancestors who were illegals. That was 40 years ago. Now, their kids are born in the USA citizens and vote Democrat.
It’s a hard thing to accept, but winning may now require talking about things you don’t want to hear.
Ronald Reagan showed compassion as well as reflecting the values of those of us on this board. I don’t see any contradiction.
Agreed. But don't get too upset. This headline is completely bogus. Governors?! They only quote quisling Kasich and some Karl Rovian consultant clone named castellanos. And they're still trying to push the tired old Rovian "compassionate conservatism" rhetoric?!
This is merely Rove push polling. The Tea Party Movement (i.e. "The Base") will have NONE of it. Authentic CONSERVATISM is compassionate.
Anyone who expects to get “compassion” from government is an idiot. I want government to protect my liberty, our borders, the currency, and provide public safety.
Damned right Republicans must show compassion -- compassion for Americans currently enslaved by "benevolent" government tyranny! The best compassion Republicans can show is to return RESPONSIBILITY and RIGHTS to individuals, such as their RIGHT to be responsible for their own medical care, their RIGHT to exercise charity (as opposed to having the government confiscate that right under the auspices of "welfare") and their RIGHT to produce food, goods, and energy (which government now prohibits in everything from labor laws to environmental tyranny).
Absolutely -- COMPASSION FOR FREEDOM, and contempt for government tyranny!!!! Compassionate Republicans will work to GET RID OF government tyranny that presumes to force Americans into "benevolent" slavery "for their own good."
I personally think the GOP spends too much time threatening to cut entitlements and not enough time working toward job creation through easing regulation and industry/production level tax cuts. We need some carrot to go with the stick.
The entitlements do need to be cut but the people will need jobs. In the civil war we made a mistake of stripping dependent people of their source of food and housing without a means of becoming independent. Things are far worse now because dependent people don’t even have the most basic skills and they face the same mountain of taxation and regulation we do. Being largely urban makes it even worse.
clueless governors.
romney lost for the same reason as mccain for the same reason as kerry as gore as dole... They were all insiders with no public personality.
I’ve had it up to my eyeballs in freaking “compassion”. Their idea of compassion usually means I take it in the wallet and a little bit more of America is lost.
I guess she figures their "compassionate tone" isn't really giving them a distinct advantage anymore.
The GoP is dead. Stick a fork in ‘em.
They have gone soft.
Bump!
Exactly!
There is truth in what you say but this kind pandering must be confronted.
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