Posted on 09/19/2014 7:38:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The latest polls suggest the GOP now has only a 50–50 chance of retaking the Senate.
There needs to be a mass layoff — of highly paid GOP consultants. Otherwise we risk a repeat of 2012, when overconfident Republicans in the middle of the worst economy since the 1970s became convinced that all they had to do to win was not be Obama. And they lost.
Romney’s strategy was simple. On the social issues, avoid, downplay, mute. On the economic issues, sound vague, promise to help job creators, and wait for the other team to self-destruct.
The RNC’s “autopsy” of the 2012 election reinforced the idea that doing more of what didn’t work would be the pathway to victory. If only we add more women and more diverse ethnicities to the GOP ticket while avoiding Akin-esque gaffes, we can win. “Don’t do stupid stuff,” while always good advice, is no more a winning strategy for the GOP than it is a foreign policy for a great nation.
It didn’t work then, and it is not working now.
In the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove acknowledged that despite the horrible environment for Democrats “a GOP senate majority is still in doubt.” Why? The Architect is convinced that his model is sound — donors just need to open their wallets to the consultants to script more TV ads.
While Democrats are out-spending Republicans, and GOP donors should take notice and correct this, the relatively narrow spending gap would not make the difference in a wave election.
Take Monica Wehby’s struggling campaign in Oregon. The state is an outlier for Republicans today, so a Wehby victory there would represent a profound rejection of Democrats. Perhaps that is not to be expected. But she is the perfect test case for the RNC “autopsy” strategy:
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Staying mute on social issue won’t win you votes.
Want lines like Chick-Fil-A had? Speak out!
I have never been confident we would retake the Senate in 2014. If we hate the GOP how do you think the independents feel? Those are the voters that always make the difference.
In defense of Romney, he had no choice but to stay mute on social issues. With his well-documented track record as governor of Massachusetts, he would have been exposed as a liberal Democrat if he showed his true colors on those issues, or a complete fraud if he made a conservative case on those issues.
“...decimation for GOP political consultants.”
Indeed.
However, make it slow, painful, and public.
This is war...and the sooner we learn it the sooner we win it.
Progressives next, of course.
More slow, and very much more painful, however.
Start with Rove ....
Me neither.I think the public is at a point of no return. I mean PA governor’s race has turned into nothing but ads about who is going to give more $$ to the schools as if they don’t get enough already. There’s no debate any longer about justifying why we need to give more money to already over funded, over-administrated bloated schools.
GOPe - Conservatives = Whigs. The GOPe is DEAD. Piss on your base, reap the loss.
Ditto here. The polling data trends up and down like a Six Flags roller coaster, but when it all shakes out, look for the GOP to gain 3-4 seats. The GOP-e doesn't want the added work and responsibilities that come with majority status. It's far more comfortable to play golf and whine about Obama.
Much as I despise the dems, they know how to win. They strategize, attack, adjust, and attack again until they succeed. The GOP-e, by contrast, rests on the laurels of whatever token victories it ever achieves.
It absolutely boggles my mind that they have not offered spirited push back against Obama along with a clear message defining conservative ideals of Liberty, Free Enterprise, and Limited Government.
I am coming to hate the GOP nearly as much as the Lib-Tards.
Do independents turn out in off year elections?
yeah, but this election is not being blown by not speaking out on social issues. It’s being blown for not speaking out on any damned issue. Period.
This is an election about Obama, Reid, Obama Care and big government dominating our lives. Or at least, it should be.
Yes when it gets to a point that the only thing you hate worse than a Republican is a Democrat its hard to win elections.
In GA our choice is between an ethically challenged incumbent RINO and Jimmah’s grandson. Only the die hards will turn out to vote for that.
Our choice in the Senate election is between an uninspired unknown outsider GOP candidate and Sam Nunn’s goofy looking daughter.
GA is red so I have not doubt the two GOP candidates will win but in closer races around the country who knows?
The last time Rove was successful was in 2004. Ever since, he has lost everything he has been involved in. Yet they keep hiring him and Schmidt. His strategy is simple:
1. Avoid social issues
2. Appeal ONLY to the “moderate/undecided”, about 15-20% of voters
3. Ignore and even attack your base.
That is the way to loose elections.
Voter cheating will be the problem.
Republicans need to show there’s a real difference between them and democrats. That would mean they need to take and follow through with Conservative ideals and principles.
People don't care about bootstrap personal stories anymore, they care where you stand on the issues. It's not 1950, and the GOP refuses to recognize it.
And the author is right here. Most people don't own businesses, nor do they plan to. The fact that the GOP thinks that telling everyone they are pro-business is a winning strategy is yet another piece of evidence that they are listening too exclusively to the Chamber of Commerce, and not at all to the grassroots.
The average voter does not come out and vote for you because you run ads saying you are pro-business. They aren't at home saying, “man, if only I could find a candidate to vote for who will roll back some of these regulations on corporations.” News flash: EVERYONE who would vote for you for those reasons is ALREADY voting for you.
The Chamber of Commerce does not reflect the average American voter. Unless the GOP picks up on this FAST, they will blow another opportunity here. If Social Issues are so radioactive, why are you running so many Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay-Marriage ads in states where your candidates support those positions?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3204615/posts?page=46#46
Romney wasn’t silent on the social issues, he destroyed his election with them.
Here is Mitt Romney in August, after winning the nomination, being interviewed on CBS EVENING NEWS.
PELLEY: Well, the platform as written at this convention for the Republicans does not allow for exceptions on abortion with regard to the health of the mother or rape or incest. Is that where you are?
ROMNEY: No. My position has been clear throughout this campaign. I’m in favor of abortion being legal in the case of rape and incest, and the health and life of the mother.
Romney followed through with running pro-choice TV ads in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Virginia, and losing all three states, and restating his decades long support for gay Scout leaders.
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