Posted on 11/05/2008 10:21:26 AM PST by RonnieFan
Consider this:
1. The most articulate and persuasive conservative on the campaign trail was a plumber from Ohio who only got there because he asked a question;
2. It was the most anti-Republican climate in recent history even before the bailout;
3. There wasn’t one positive reason provided to vote for Republicans in general.
4. Obama enjoyed the combination of a huge money advantage and the favorable MSM;
On the bright side, Republicans gains tend to come when we’re the minority party. Sadly, that’s when our politicians return to their philosophically conservative roots. The current crop of Republican politicians seems to be better at espousing conservative values than governing by them.
Hopefully, the transfusion of new blood needed because of the retirement and voting out of much of the old guard will infuse a new breed in the Palin, Jindal, Steele mold, not only in diversity but in their optimistic enthusiasm of conservative values. It’s becoming clear that symbolism matters, even if it should not. Fine, I can live with that so long as it's reflected in candidates that are conservative at their core.
Why blame McCain, it is not like he hid his liberalism.
Excellent post.
I don't disagree with the above, but considering McCain prided himself on defying the conservative element of his own party, and won the nomination by virtue of the crossover vote, it does cast doubt on the conservative credentials of his early supporters.
We had better candidates.
“Mac lost hundreds of thousands of voters the nanosecond he said the economy was “sound.”
...that, and when he said he wants to “cross the aisle” and be “bi-partisan”. If not for Palin, I would have stayed home.
McCain was a deeply flawed candidate and those flaws became more evident as the campaign wore on. Palin made it much closer than it would have been with some other VP candidate because she energized the base.
With that said, this all goes back to 2006. 1. GWB terribly timed (and position) on immigration....along with 2. Our bases response to such. To throw GWB under the bus, and thus tarnished the GOP brand image with all the undecideds. Our base allowing the MSM to constantly attack GWB day in and day out (with the direct and indirect support) of our base.......completely eroded the vast middle support for the GOP brand name.
I wish GWB did not bring up immigration the way he did. However, I also wish our bases response to such should have been more controlled (for lack of a better expression at the moment).
Immigration is an issue that is not working out well for our party, The GOP. That is a reality. Plenty of strong, anti-illegal immigration Congressmen have gone down to defeat in the past 4 years. We've not seen such candidates out perform the party (as if it is a winning issue, and such candidates are winning) Not because they are wrong, per say, on this issue (they're not) but the premise of the argument we've lost (till date). And correcting a false premise becomes terribly difficult to do....
Lastly the GOP must understand who our enemy is. That is the MSM. Not Democrats. Correcting MSM driven false premises 24/7, 365 days a year is a must. The GOP has to stop allowing false premise after false premise to take root.
Preliminary 2004-2008 vote comparisons:
| Year | Total | Republicans | Democrats |
| 2008 | 118,226,000 | 55,543000 | 62,683,000 |
| 2004 | 121,068,000 | 62,040,000 | 59,028,000 |
| Totals | -2,842,000 | -6,497,000 | 3,655,000 |
Obama appears to have increased turnout by a small margin. But overall voter turnout was less, mostly due to fewer Republican votes.
The GOP did not offer a ticket worth voting FOR. Palin rallied the base, but McCain could not rally the Independents with a policy that could win. And many decided they weren't going to vote for Obama.
BUMPED for The Truth.
MAYBE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL STOP NOMINATING DEMOCRAPS TO LEAD OUR PARTY
If it were not for the biggest CONSERVATIVE to run since Reagain (God Bless You Sarah Palin~!!) McCain would have been trounced by 25% instead of 5%
He thought that would bring more votes in — what it did was prove his strategy was a failure on a larger scale.
The Republican party with its Rinos share part of the blame
Bush must also share part of the blame
Like the perfect storm, all of these factors came together to cause this defeat.
You are exactly right on...
This nation is on a suicidal path. .
IMO, a better GOP ground game would have won the election. He lost because of poor GOP turnout and his mishandling of the bailout.
When Obamarama said he wanted to “give a tax break to 95% of the people” McCain should have said: “I’ll go 5% better and give a tax break to 100% of the people”
He would have won
And when asked how would ‘pay for’ it he should have said he would cut the size of government, freeze sepending at 2008 levels, and find and eliminated waste and fraud.
He would have won in a landslide
There’s a lot there to agree with. I do believe McCain’s campaign mishandled Sarah, tried to get her to fit the approved mold of the beltway. Sarah was fantastic and I look forward to supporting her in the future.
I don’t think so. The media would have concentrated on that evil top 5% getting a tax cut so much the 95% wouldn’t have cared what they got. It’s all about hating the rich.
The primaries should be run again and again until one candidate gets OVER 50%
That way you dont get a liberal (like McCain) with 35% beating the convservatives (all the rest) who TOTAL 65% but only had 30%, 20%, 10%... each
I THINK THIS SHOULD BE THE FIRST FOCUS OF OF RESTRUCTURING THE PARTY RULES FOR 2012
You have a run-off of anyone who got over 25%
I expect to read the Rino weasels back here any minute clamoring for more “big tent,” “me too,” and “bipartisan” nonsense. They have PTSD from all the political beatings they take. But we let them lead us into these defeats because they can yell loud.
AMEN to that. Primary should start in SC with a CLOSED primary. Then on to NH or IA. Allowing him to get the momentum early killed Romney, Hunter and the others. We should start in SC then on to WV or how about TEXAS for heavens sake? We would have had Duncan Hunter as our nominee in that case.
Hunter won the Texas straw poll and would have won Texas easily.
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