Posted by
Paul Wamack on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 4:34:36 PM
When extreme weather blows across your house, whether rain or wind or snow, what is the first thing you need to do? The first thing to do is to walk around the property, once the worst of the storm has passed, and take a dry-eyed look at what has happened and what needs fixing. Define the chores that you will need in order to fix the damages, get estimates on how much each will cost to fix, and prioritize the process so you will know which chores come first and why.
The Republican party just sustained some severe damage. Whether it was a storm of our own doing or just a matter of being outspent many multiple times over, nevertheless we need to take a walk-about to assess what needs fixing. I am never fond of the Blame-Game unless it can be used to avert future disasters, and I will leave it to others to root out those among us who are viewed as having been responsible, to some greater or lesser degree, for being part of the problem. Certainly, if there are traitors and double agents among us, there are historic methods of dealing with such types, although we probably won't be permitted to actually convene a firing squad.
But we definitely need to assess where we are if we are to rally the wagon train, regroup and move forward. There is a wonderful article from Clifford May that should be required reading for this assessment process: (http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NmExMTRkNGU3ZjkwOGM3OTdkMzVmMWNmMGM4YWEwOTQ=) Mr. May correctly identifies that the Left, the liberal Democrats now have control of the Federal Government, holding the White House and both houses of Congress and will soon be increasing their influence on the Supreme Court; they have a majority in the state governors’ mansions and state legislatures; they have an unquestionable hold in the entertainment and news media, and all levels of our public educational system.
I think it is safe to say that the Republican Party has really screwed up and we need to rethink our future. If America is still a center-right country, there is no evidence of it in our public institutions. So either conservatives are out of step with what the American people want and we really aren't a center-right nation anymore, or we are failing to persuade the populace that we are what the ones they want to choose to lead our nation in the best direction.
So let's see.... it will be increasingly difficult to get our conservative message out as a result of the self-stifling press and entertainment industry; our young people will be increasingly indoctrinated in their compulsory public school years; leaving the uphill curve of winning the war of ideas to get steeper with each passing year as the liberal mantras are chanted over and over again. I don't expect the media to ever allow any of its members to say that they have real questions about their political buddies in the Democrat party -- anyone who tries to walk that route will be properly directed by his/her editor back onto the straight and narrow path.
I disagree with the prevailing idea of compromising with the liberals, the so-called "reaching across the aisle" technique -- I don't think a semi-secret ballot for union elections will be a workable idea, and a partial war on terror isn't going to be effective (maybe partially effective?), or a medium sized tax hike, so I'm not seeing much room for meeting these people halfway. Our first plan needs to be refusing to compromise, refusing to "reach across the aisle." If anything can be learned from this last election cycle, I think that would be a big part of the message.
The news analysts continue to assert that the country is "center-right" because the various initiatives and referenda that appeared on ballots all went heavily conservative. Even as the voters cast their ballots for Obama, they voted against many of the issues he had championed. The inner meaning of voting FOR a candidate and then AGAINST his issues still eludes me, and I suspect the answer is somewhere down the hall in the "Cult of Personality" room. Democrats are not shy about assaulting their opponents personally, and far too often Republicans help them with their smears. The Republicans had their difficulties in the primaries trying to find a candidate that was "perfect enough" to rally the conservatives. Failing that, the last candidate left standing was more or less by process of elimination. The only enthusiasm injected into the campaign was the appearance of Sarah Palin -- and the resulting personal attacks on her were exceptionally shrill, vulgar and over-the-top. Even in the post-mortem interview with Greta Van Sustern, how many questions did Greta keep asking about those clothes? How do we continue to get off-message to discuss trivialities like those clothes -- so busy trying to be "perfect enough" in the details and losing the election?
In order for the Republicans to start winning elections again, we need to find an entire legion of saintly people, whose families are without blemish. Then we need to invite them to step into the public arena and get rotten tomatoes thrown at them. Even then, they will be attacked for mundane non-issues like their clothes. Somehow I fail to see why anyone would want the job. Democrats not only don't throw rotten tomatoes at other Democrats, they step into the arena to grab at power. From Harry Reid's balance sheet, it is obvious that a life of 'public service' can be very lucrative indeed. The next several years should bring much more of that.
On my local ballot, the Republican party didn't even have candidates in some of the races. It's little wonder that they didn't win. But whenever we can get the issues, the ideas onto the ballot, then we have winners. Therein is the message from this last election. Our people are imperfect, but our ideas are good. It's going to be tough to fix that in the face of the prevailing winds from the Left.