How to lose elections
By rjd27 Posted in 2008 — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Maybe the times of changed so much, that this isn’t true anymore – though I’d sure as hell like to see it in practice…
If Conservatives, represented by the Republican Party, want to win elections, then as candidates, run as a Conservative. Not a moderate. Not center-right. A Conservative: Individual freedom, strong military, low taxes, pro-life, gun rights, property rights, constructionist judges. This works. This is why Liberals and Democrats run to the center during an election and present themselves as moderate or even Conservative. The American voter wants Conservatism. When a Liberal moves to the center, they move toward Conservative principals. When a Conservative moves to the center, they start sounding Liberal. This should be evident. But Republican candidates have yet to understand this, or if they do, they are not Conservative.
I also believe, to win elections as a party, you must stand by your president. I know President Bush is weak right now – in part because he won’t fight back – but if the Republican Party wants to win, then it must be united. Be strong and stand by the President. Why would the electorate vote for a party that abandons its own in times of trouble?
These two reasons: Republican candidates running centrist campaigns and Republican candidates moving away from President Bush are why the 2006 election was lost. These two reasons will be why the 2008 election is lost.
Be a Conservative. And if you want to be reelected – and this is very important – govern as a Conservative.
R.J.
rjd27,
Interesting points, but who are you talking about? Giuliani? I'm not sure how many other GOP candidates are sounding liberal.
GOPaisano,
Dead on with #2, just ask VP Quayle.
It is not their rhetoric that matters (see most RINOs). It is their actions that truly count, and more than a few of the current candidates are suspect in the action department.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
but the mid term elections were not lost because of "running" to the left or abandoning Bush. They were lost due to an abysmal tax, spend, and otherwise do nothing record and the war.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I’ve read a bunch of columns and articles trying to explain the reasons behind the Republican losses in 2006. The Iraq War, spending, government expansion and corruption seem to be the leading causes. And they were, to one extend or another. But, the overriding factor behind those reasons is the near total abandonment of Core Conservative Principals.
I also believe that, after 12 years of Congressional power, the GOP forgot how to fight back (if it ever really knew how to in the first place).
For all the talk and accusations against the biased, Liberal MSM, the Republican Party has done very little to counter that message, and is now falling behind in the New Media front.
I sense the GOP has tired of the Conservative mantel. So then, I ask, what does it mean to be Republican, if Conservatism is no longer the guiding ideology?
R.J.
1. Straying from their true conservative values.
2. Spelling.
(Hint: Edit title)