Last Tuesday’s election was a terrible one for the Republican Party nationally. By a wide electoral vote margin, and a sizable chunk of the popular vote, liberal Democrat Barack Obama was elected President. In the U.S. Senate, Republicans lost at least five seats. House Republicans saw their number shrink by 20 seats. Clearly the message being delivered by Obama and Democrats across the country is resonating with a majority of American voters. And it is equally clear that the message of Republicans is clearly not attracting enough votes to translate to electoral victories.
As of today, the Grand Old Party stands at a crossroads. Why is the GOP losing “market share” amongst voters? Have we lost our way? What do we do now? What must the GOP do to once again be the majority party?
These are all critical questions, and must be the central theme for a serious discussion about where the GOP needs to go from here.
In order to help foster and facilitate a dialogue on this subject, FR will be featuring a two-week “discussion” of this issue right here on this website. We have reached out to a group of prominent California Republican leaders, asking them to contribute their thoughts in a series of columns.
Today we feature our first two columns.
California’s Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner pens a piece entitled, REPUBLICANS SHOULD LOOK IN A MIRROR WHEN LOOKING FOR ANSWERS TO TUESDAY’S LOSS
Orange County Lincoln Club leaders Rich Wagner and Chip Hanlon have authored a column entitled, MEMO TO REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: CHANGE YOUR LEADERSHIP NOW.
I hope that you will read them, and find them to be helpful as you work to draw your own conclusions about the future for the GOP.
Feel free to comment on these columns here.
IF ANY FR READER WOULD LIKE TO PEN THEIR OPINION ON THIS SUBJECT IN A MINI-COLUMN OF BETWEEN 350-400 WORDS IN LENGTH, JUST SEND IT TO US (along with a once-sentence biographical statement and, if you have one, a .jpg headshot of yourself) AND WE’LL PUBLISH IT!
Sincerely,
Publisher and Editor-In-Chief
THE FLASHREPORT
November 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Tisk Tisk….what to be done….come on….same drill every time these prenniel losers come back to Sacramento for more whippings from the socialists in the legislature…if your only program is voting against something your known as an obstructionist….time for concrete definitive cost cutting programs dept. by dept. and massive communication of the waste and overpaid people in government…you may be in the miniority but you can bark like a junk yard dog for fiscal responsibility each and every day and minute and second….of course, this will not happen as the California Republican party is full of shiny pants attornies, incompetent lobbyists, moderate blue bloods lining their personnal pockets while we eat cake awaiting the elimination of Prop 13, the final desperate act of a failed state government.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
The WSJ said it best in this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122593328956303419.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This was not a mandate as much as it was a “throw all the bums out” election.
The Republican party is not in the best shape, but we are still in the fight. We did not get routed anywhere near as badly as they predicted here in the state and at the national level.
Also keep in mind that 71% of people earning under $20,000 voted for obama – the dredges of society turned out for him because of his promise that, as one woman so famously said, “he will pay my mortgage.”
November 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Why is the Republican Party failing? Well, with comments like “dredges of society” we will never dig out of this hole. Those “dredges” vote. Also, we can’t spin the results of the last election with “nearly as bad.”
If the Republican Party was a business we would be calling for the heads of management (party leaders). The Republican Party has lost 20% of its market (Congressional/Senate Seats) in the last couple of years, the White House, and Republican States.
As long as we continue to allow the same leaders to run the Republican Party with the same poor execution of good ideas and even worse results – well we will continue to decline.
Too many of our leaders win as Republicans, then govern as Democrats. Look at the national debt and the bail-out.
Let’s stop blaming the Dems, afterall, we had Congress and did nothing with it.
We have a message, now present it in a positive fashion – that is what Ronald Reagan did and he won. People will follow a leader. Who are our leaders – most are Monday morning quarterbacks.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
The problem with invoking Ronald Reagan is, times change. Reagan built his presidency on opposition to communism and building a strong defense. Those days are gone. Now, instead of fighting communism, the Republican Party is fighting abortion. And losing elections in the process. As Governor Schwarzenegger said, when you are losing box office and your theater is populated by empty seats, it’s time to rethink what you are doing – or leave the stage.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Come on, Bob! The Republican Party had just as strong a pro-life stance when we won big in 1994, 2002, and 2004. Instead of using that as an excuse for our failures, we need to look at what has changed about the way the public perceives our party between then and now.
The Republican Party has always presented itself as the party of limited, effective, and results-oriented government. That message earned us victories from 1994-2004. Now, thanks to people like Duke Cunningham, Tom DeLay, and Ted Stevens, rank and file voters now perceive us as the party of greed, corruption, and patronage.
As Senator (soon to be Congressman) Tom McClintock repeatedly tells us, “We do not need to redefine our principles, we need to return to them!” Watering down our core beliefs will simply drive away our most loyal donors, volunteers, and voters.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Terms like that should obviously not be used in our party platform, but I stand by my words: the poor and uneducated voted for obama in droves because he promised to give them money that he will steal from other hard-working Americans.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Frankly, I think that conservatives nowadays have no backbone: For some reason, our “leaders” are afraid to stand up and say it how it is.
With a few exceptions, such as when Dick Cheney basically said “screw public opinion on Iraq” because you do not run wars based on ever-changing public whim. I was happy he said that!
I see a lack of a clear, consistent and LOUD message being our biggest handicap.
I think that part of what went wrong this time around is that so many conservatives view McCain as the left-leaning republican that he is – and rightfully so. He has never been considered a true conservative, and I think nominating him pissed off a lot of our base.
Further, he put on such a weak campaign – they should have hammered the Rev. Wright connection, the “spread the wealth” statement, and everything else – obama gave us so much to work with, and McCain played with kid gloves, to make an understatement.
Let’s use the next few years to regroup and come back stronger than ever.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
OK, Rohit, I will come on. When Governor Reagan came out against the Briggs Amendment (removing gay teachers from public schools) he showed he was a moderate. When Governor Reagan signed the law allowing abortion on demand, he showed he was a moderate. Only in the last few years have the far right wing-nuts made Ronald Reagan into a far right wing-nut. If you want to return to basic principles, consider these actions of Governor Reagan. Tolerance for gays and compassion for a woman to choose. And as far as basic Republican principles are concerned, consider the fact that President Theodor Roosevelt broke up illegal business combinations, gave us the national park system we enjoy today and other moderate policies and programs. And President Lincoln gave the nation the railroads (by giving railroad companies land they could sell to raise capital to build the road) and land bank colleges, among other things. And which party gave us freedom from slavery? Give up? It’s the Republican Party; yet now the Republican Party supports denial of basic civil rights to a significant segment of our population. So the Republican Party has a lot of work ahead of itself if it is to come into the modern era.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Gov. Ronald Reagan did NOT sign an abortion-on-demand bill.
The measure he signed included a provision that allowed abortion if the
mother’s mental health might be affected. Some abortionists used that
as a loophole to proceed with many abortions.
Gov. Reagan was angered by that outcome, and this experience was a
milestone in his path to a strong Pro-Life position thereafter.