I keep hearing this and find it quite ridiculous, even in my best hopes. I heard this same baloney in 2004 about the Democrats when it was simply a case of a bad candidate. However, I do see the need for Republicans to affect more serious change in order to remain relevant than the Democrats needed 8 years ago. They definitely have some more serious issues than did the Democrats. These are some things they need to consider in the future: 1. Stop lamenting the demographics changes. Bill O'Reilly whining on TV about "traditional America" and people "wanting things" does not help as a general attitude. You can't insult people into voting your way. The Republican Party has done a terrible job at courting minority voters because they tend to tell people what they should think instead of listening, plus years of coded welfare references and discussing building walls on the border to keep out "criminals" has created resentment among people who think they are being demonized. At this rate, even the mythical Republican deity Reagan would've lost to Obama the way Republicans approach the changing demographics. 2. Realize that you lost the culture war. Gay marriage and legalization votes showed that the wave, as usual, in terms of social issues is rarely going to favor the status quo. Why bother? Focus on a winning issue like fiscal conservatism and less on the fleeting successes of the Moral Majority, unless you want to become just the regional party of the Deep South. 3. Find a charismatic candidate. I told my right wing family in April that Obama would win because those candidates who people vote for will win out over those who are voting against a candidate every time. Also, candidates like Kerry and Romney don't win because they conform to the electorate instead of creating their own identity, as Bush and Obama were successful in doing. 4. Get out of the Fox News bubble. The amount of conservatives stunned by the election on Tuesday is ridiculous. The information was out there, yet an entertainment news channel is feeding bogus stories of faulty polls and pushing stories like Benghazi 24 hours a day that not even Romney cared about to mention. Yes, MSNBC is the same, but liberals don't watch much. We do listen to NPR. There are real news agencies that conservatives can get their info that isn't the "#1 news channel" of entertainment crap. 5. Organize. Obama revolutionized the GOTV effort. Learn it or come up with something better, but Republicans are already at a numbers disadvantage already and need to figure out a way to defeat Democrats if they are hitting their numbers. Obviously, the Republican Party isn't hiring me as an advisor anytime soon, but I think they need to do the above things if they want to remain relevant in presidential election years. Every 4 years, the demise of the losing party is predicted, but the Republicans are more vulnerable than the Democrats were in 2004. They banked on the Southern Strategy identity for votes with solid results. However, this isn't 1980 and Democrats have won the last 5 of 6 popular votes with the electorate changes going away, the Lee Atwater tactics aren't going to work. All this, though, and, still, the Democrats could screw up royally in the next 4 years or someone like Chris Christie is able to use his personality to garner the White House in 2016. Things change quickly and parties adapt, so you never know.
Republicans will tweak their positions, reprioritize, and come back stronger than ever. They'll be fine.
As Droski said, the country is getting older over the next 4 years. Taking just some of your advice will have a major effect for the GOP. It isn't like they got blown out of the election, or lost the House. They need to find a way to get to Hispanics, and not alienate non-church goers and they'd be frontrunners.
Not so sure redesigning the party to appeal more to liberal voters is going to make a lot of difference.
This is the key IMO. They've got to set forth a legit immigration policy that deals with illegals in a decent way. I even think that a lot of the party believes it, but they are afrais of the backlash of sections of the base for it to happen.
We have an increasing aging population. Old farts vote at a much higher percentage than young people. These old people will be the richest old people in american history with the greatest gap in income between the old and young in american history. Old people lean republican. No chance the GOP is done.
I'm not sure its that easy. Reagan gave them blanket amnesty and they still didn't vote Republican. How is doing it again going to be any different? For the record, I don't care what we do with those that are here. Give them legal residence and make them apply for citizenship if they want to vote. But this open border thing is utter BS.
True, but I think it's changed a bit. I think a genuine plan for dealing with all is a solution. Honestly, I'd be fine with giving them legal residence, but the one caveat no illegal is ever allowed to vote. JMO.
All I know is a lot of the Hispanics in Colorado have been ranching and living here for 100 to 200 years. They definitely made the difference in this state for Obama (along with women), and they aren't a bunch of illegals. Precisely the tendency of the GOP rhetoric to paint in broad strokes is their problem.
I disagree. Want to get the border state republicans to come out and vote? Tell them you are going to start fining people who hire illegals. Hell I know quite a few hispanics that think illegal immigration is ruining this country.
It's politics who doesn't paint in broad strokes? I don't see how the GOP suffers for doing yet Democrats are immune from it. When 93% and 70% of a demographic votes the same way you're asking for broad generalizations.
lumberjack, referring to hispanics, said they were given blanket amnesty. This implies they all needed it. He then went on to talk about the border.
