November 6, 2001: A Wake-Up Call for the GOP

On November 6, 2001 the voters and the Democrats issued a clear wake-up call to Republicans everywhere.

Here in North Carolina, three Republican Mayors went down to defeat: Paul Coble in Raleigh, Nick Tennyson in Durham, and Jack Cavanaugh in Winston-Salem. In addition, Democrat Glen Lang's anti-growth coalition strengthened its grip on the Cary Town Council. Although Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican, was handily re-elected, the net result for North Carolina's Republicans was not a good one. At the beginning of the day, we held the Mayor's seat in four of the state's five largest cities; at the end of the day, we were down to one.

Nationally, Democrats claimed the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia; both seats were previously held by Republicans.

The Democrats' victories should serve as a call to arms for Republicans everywhere. Our opponents on the left have shown that they will not stand idly by and allow us to claim easy victories. They have shown us that they will not take a break from politics during this time of war. They have shown us that they understand Politics 101: how to get their voters to the polls when it counts. Our party's candidates, leaders, and voters should hear and understand these loud, clear messages.

There is one additional lesson to be learned from the Democrats' victories of November 6th: high approval ratings for President Bush do not necessarily translate into votes cast for other Republican candidates. The voting public is as fickle as ever, and as a result the president's coattails are not very long at this point in time. In 2002, every candidate at every level must roll up their sleeves and work hard to earn the support of the voters.

Off-year elections have often served as harbingers of things to come in the ensuing congressional elections. In 1993, Republicans scored some surprise victories in gubernatorial races. Here in North Carolina, Tom Fetzer shocked the world when he became Raleigh's first Republican Mayor of the 20th Century. These surprise victories were the precursors of the Republican Revolution of 1994. As Republicans, we must work hard to ensure that the Democrats' victories of November 6, 2001 are not the precursors to a Donkey Resurgence in 2002.

As party leaders and activists, we must take an honest look at our situation. While President Bush has sky-high approval ratings, we hold a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House. The Democrats hold an even thinner majority in the Senate.

If historical trends are any indication, the Republican Party is in for the fight of its life in 2002. Historically, the party which controls the White House loses seats in Congress in mid-term elections. When you throw redistricting into the mix, the balance of power in Congress becomes even more uncertain.

Candidates and party organizations should already be working to build strong, active grassroots networks which will help drive Republican voters to the polls on Election Day 2002. Auxiliary clubs such as the Young Republicans, College Republicans, Republican Women and Republican Men should be aggressively recruiting new members and equipping them to be more effective ambassadors for the conservative movement.

Party organizations and candidates should already be raising funds to fight the media wars.

Finally -- and most importantly -- our party's leaders should already be communicating a message which defines our candidates in the voters' minds. If we wait until the Democrats have misled the voters into believing that all Republicans are evil, mean-spirited people who are in the back pockets of big corporations, it will be too late. We must define ourselves today.

The Republican Party's surprise victories in the off-year elections of 1993 proved to be the precursors to the Republican Revolution of 1994. If we are to prevent the Democrats' victories of 2001 from becoming the precursors to a Donkey Resurgence of 2002 we must be aggressive, and we must start now. We cannot rely on the president's popularity to carry our party banner, as voters may not necessarily transfer their support for him over to our party's other candidates. If we Republicans can learn from past mistakes -- both our own and those of our opponents -- we can and will be victorious in 2002.

We cannot rely on the president's popularity to carry our party banner, as voters may not necessarily transfer their support for him over to our party's other candidates.

This is definitely the case where I live. In fact, his popularity scares the libs to death so they come out to vote their baseless fears. But then, there isn't anything that W. could do here in this state to change the liberal mindset of the blue zone on the left side of the state. Well, I take that back. He could denounce the "R" party, become a registered DEM, divorce his wife to marry a man, deny his faith in Jesus, and personally perform a partial birth abortion in their midst. Even then, it might not be enough.

"We must define ourselves today." This is all well and good, but the reality is that when Sen. Dashallhope or the multi-millionaire Rep. Gephardt spreads lies to "the media," Ol' John and Jane Q. Public listen, form an opinion very quickly and "move on."

Republicans come out weeks or months later with a well-reasoned factual report and are viewed by the public as just more political excuse-making by the Republicans.

Unless our Republican leadership (are you listening Dick Armey?) accuses the offending democrat of outright lying within the hour following a democrat lie, we stand little chance of winning the hearts and minds of those who still care enough to vote.

I cannot comprehend why it is so difficult to get Republicans to vote. One would think after what we have been through the last several years we would see them crawling on their knees over glass to get to the polls as was predicted for 2000 election.
That didn't happen, and I have great fear it will not happen again in 2002.
I am sure a lot of people don't want to hear this, but we also have to factor in the number of illegal ballots cast by democrats across the country. That seems nearly impossible to overcome since no one seems willing to enforce election law.
We have our work cut out for us, and it is so much harder for the elephants than it is for the donkeys because we do not have the media carrying water for us as the donks do.

Every ridiculous claim the Democrats make needs to be countered. They now beleive thir own BS now. That Chelsea article and how she didn't think NY didn't have a chance to recover because of the Bush tax cut. Preposterous! Yet, millions have started to think like that. When people think "If Chelsea thinks it, must be some truth to it", that kind of crap has to be debunked loud and clear. Repubicans underestimate the stupidity that a lot of the people carry around.

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.