In the post mortem of the recent election, several people have opined about why they think the McCain-Palin ticket when down in flames faster than the Hindenburg airship. I, too, can not resist adding in my two cents.
There are several specific reasons which I will list below. The over-arching reason this: Republicans have moved so far away from the principles of limited government, limited interference and laisse-faire economics that, aside from social issues, one can hardly distinguish their policies from those of the Democrats. There were a number of reasons we lost. We had a host of problems this year. For starters:
1. We had a flawed, old, uninspired candidate.
2. McCain got saddled with Bush’s bail-out fiasco.
3. While Palin was an inspired pick, she was made to look like an empty-headed buffoon on SNL and most of the news networks.
4. McCain never did articulate how and why he was different than GWB.
5. The RNC offered zero leadership. (Sorry, but it has to be said: Mike Duncan is as nice a man as you’ll ever meet but listening to him articulate his ideas for the Republican party was about as fun as watching paint dry. He generated about as much excitement as spoon.)
6. The maverick McCain never did connect with the Reagan Democrats. He never gave them a reason to vote for him.
7. Republicans were out spent.
8. The GOP ground organization and GOTV efforts weren’t as strong as they had been in 2000 or 2004.
1. We had a flawed, old, uninspired candidate.
2. McCain got saddled with Bush’s bail-out fiasco.
3. While Palin was an inspired pick, she was made to look like an empty-headed buffoon on SNL and most of the news networks.
4. McCain never did articulate how and why he was different than GWB.
5. The RNC offered zero leadership. (Sorry, but it has to be said: Mike Duncan is as nice a man as you’ll ever meet but listening to him articulate his ideas for the Republican party was about as fun as watching paint dry. He generated about as much excitement as spoon.)
6. The maverick McCain never did connect with the Reagan Democrats. He never gave them a reason to vote for him.
7. Republicans were out spent.
8. The GOP ground organization and GOTV efforts weren’t as strong as they had been in 2000 or 2004.
9. The market crashed happened on the Republican watch so it must have be the Republican’s fault.
10. The housing market happened on the Republican’s watch so it must have be the Republican’s fault.
10. The housing market happened on the Republican’s watch so it must have be the Republican’s fault.
If we are to have any hope of winning in 2012, we will need to address some of the concerns listed above. More importantly, we will need to return to the bedrock conservative principles that led us to the White House in 1980, 1984, 2000 and 2004. By looking to the past we can see the future.
k2
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