Maybe we should all stop watching Fox News!
I know that’s a bit radical, but maybe it’s a wise choice. After all, we all believed Fox News and its band of pundits such as Sean Hannity, Karl Rove and Dick Morris. We all thought we were going to win the presidential race in an electoral landslide with more than 320 electoral votes. It was told to us on a daily basis.
”The polls were wrong. They were using improper turnout models. They did not factor this. They did not factor that.”
It went on ad infinitum; every day, every hour, almost every minute. Well, my good friends and readers: The polls were right. They were right pretty much across the board. They were right on both state and national levels. And, unfortunately, I won my bet with my fellow writer on this web site, Tom Donelson. You see Tom bet me that Romney would win with more than 300 electoral votes. And, this was in May or June. I told him that if Romney won at all, it would be between 270-290. From 290-300 was a push. This was one bet, I was hoping to lose: Not this time.
I have been arguing with fellow Conservatives for the past eight days about voter fraud. Well, ladies and gentlemen, there was no voter fraud; at least, not enough to make a difference. And, if there was any, it probably cut both ways. So, let’s stop that argument. It is useless and makes us look like bad losers. We got beat. Plain and simple. I will say it again – We got beat. We got beat because they got more votes than us. They got 72% of the Hispanic vote; a majority of the women vote and a large majority of the black vote. We got old white men and a few others along the way.
And, let me throw you all for another loop: We still could have won. Those demographics are not why we lost. If we got as many votes as John McCain got in 2008, we would have won. You see, the Democrats came and voted. WE DIDN’T! End of story.
We got complacent.
Rachel Maddow
They had enthusiasm. They had turnout. They did everything necessary.
We stayed home.
The only question left is why? Now, here is where I’m going to lay a theory on you that many of you don’t want to hear and many of you are not expecting. We were complacent because of what happened in 2010. We shellacked the left in 2010. We thought we were going to do it again. We were sure we were going to to do it again. In fact, so sure, we got lazy. And, Fox News is one of the reasons why. We just bought into the bull shit they were feeding us on a daily basis.
Sean Hannity
Let’s continue this rant with a quick history lesson? After the 2008 election, Conservatives were angry. In fact, we were livid. The Republican Brand was being touted as dead, but we were actually livid. Then, came the stimulus. Then came Obamacare. Then, shortly thereafter, came the Tea Party (the best and worst thing that could have happened to the GOP). The Tea Party immediately caused a grass roots movement all over the country. There were Tea Party rallies everywhere. There were anti-government protests everywhere. Andrew Breitbart was all over the place complaining. We were going to take over and we were telling everyone we were. As a result, we had the left on the run. It kept growing and growing until the election of 2010. Not only was the Republican Party not dead, it was alive and well and people were actually saying liberalism was dead or dying.
Shortly thereafter, there wasn’t one protest or rally by anyone on the right. There was Occupy Wall Street on the left, but, it petered out and became meaningless. We were home watching Fox News and being told how wonderful and powerful we were. Meanwhile the left was fortifying. We stayed home and watched thinking we were omnipotent. I even saw it on this web site. Our readership was down more than 50% from the time of Breitbart’s death until just before the election. They continued to arm and we stayed home slapping each other on the back. Well, we were beat and we deserved it.
So, getting back to my opening comment, “Maybe we should all stop watching Fox News.” Let’s sit at home and watch Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow – Maybe a little Bill Maher. Maybe, that anger will not dissipate if we do. Maybe that anger will continue to grow. Maybe that’s what it takes. The Republican Brand is not dead. It’s just dormant. And, it is going to take constant anger and frustration to bring it back. It is going to take unwavering enthusiasm. It is going to take that to beat the left.
My original thought was to write an article similar to “A New Strategy” which Tim Ross wrote on Monday. But, I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and that is why I haven’t written in over a week. I wanted it to all sink in and germinate. I think what Tim wrote is what everyone wants us to do. That is what John Boener wants. That is what Eric Cantor wants. That is what Barack Obama wants. Yes, that is what Barack Obama wants. Then, he gets his tax increase on the rich; he gets to keep Obamacare and he gets to throw his left wing agenda at us. Meanwhile, the country slowly dies.
So, please stop watching Fox News. Well, maybe not all the time – watch the other side just enough to stay angry.
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We got our ass whooped plan and simple key points most of the women votes and 72% of the Hispanic. If the Republican Party would give up on the idea of Abortion and let the church argue it’s own religious values how many independent women votes would swing right! Seems to me that single women might be more apt to vote for less taxation since many single women are single mothers! I am going out on a limb here and bet probably more than 75% of single parents are Mothers, but that is only a guess! seems to me that the Republican Party could gain a lot of support, and if it lost the old guy (not my 80 year old dad though) by being the party of inclusion instead of the party of exclusion!
I am a 45 year old, single, white woman who has never voted for a liberal and never will. I understand there are those who want to shift our party to the left and throw out our values so we can more easily win. But the truth is, if we do that we have won nothing. We become a version of the Democratic party. I want to see a better, stronger nation and we can’t do that by throwing our values to the wind. Ours IS a party of inclusion. The problem is that the left has done a great job of vilifying us and we’ve let them. Heck, those who want to move us left might as well become defrauds and join the effort. I pray that when this is done there still is arepublican part. If we keep shifting left then I know myself, and many others will be left sitting at home on election day because both parties are without soul and will be destructive to our country. Throw away our values, the republican party will simply die out and meld with the democrats.
You are so correct. I appreciate the comment. But, how do we deal with the apathy we faced in this election?
Tim I agree with you 100%!! Like Reagan did when he went against Carter Reagan stayed on message about the economy and how if the American people gave HIM the chance how he would make it better! Yes Romney spoke of love of country and while I am sure that might have helped it was not enough. Why not enough? Because Romney feel for the trap that he forgot who was IN OFFICE! The election was not for Romney to defend hos record it SHOULD have been about what Obama and the DEMS did for 4 years! But no the GOP ALWAYS falls for the abortion arguement, then any and everything else they can bring up. Anything but Obama’s record which is what the election SHOULD have been about. Now you say Fox news is one fo the reasons the GOP lost…I don’t think so at all but I do have to say that I do not Fox like I did BEFORE the election. But I think I have got to the point where I am going to move to a state that see things the same way I do instead of the liberal sesspool I am at!! Once there maybe then and only then will I finally have seantor and reps that will think the same way I do! BTW there is talk of succession by one of the states I am looking at…While some pipe say “pipe dream” of it ever happening, the succession, it at least sends a VERY CLEAR message to the Liberals on DC and around the rest of the country. That message is that NOT all of US are koll aid drinker, brain dead, MSNBC Watching follower that they all think we are and that there is ANOTHER SIDE!!
I agree. The “right” already has a mix of thoughts regarding abortion, I cannot fathom accepting the Dem platform, but the Libertarian one is more like me now than the R party. I dont’ like abortion, but I don’t like the idea of outlawing it at a national level – topmost reason because it’s NOT in the COTUS for the fed gov’t to do! And neither is marriage. There is a group called the Log Cabin Republicans – they’re a gay conservative group. They agree with conservative values asides from the religious part (that gays’ are “bad”). I have gay relatives, gay friends…. I want them to feel comfortable being conservative, not ostricized.
I, for one, am a 69 yr old woman. I did NOT vote for Obama either time. Not a whole lot of women I know did. I bowl one day a week and only 2 women on the league were supporters of Obama. I don’t want top be lumped into a group to which I do not belong.
If the Republican Party supports abortion, I will simply leave the Republican Party. I guess they could take a chance on doing that and hope they pick up enough women for every Christian that leaves the party. If a party supports allowing millions of innocent unborn children to be murdered every year, I cannot be a part of that party. If there is no party that supports life, I will not vote. I will just become part of some other movement against abortion, because in my heart and soul, it is the mass murder of innocents and must be stopped. I regularly contribute to conservative movements, but if they leave the pro-life stance behind, they are leaving me behind and I will just become unpolitical. I have always voted and contributed. If the Republicans don’t need people like me perhaps it is a good strategy for them to drop the pro-life stance. Especially if it is just a political ploy.
Is there anything in this article that suggests we compromise on anything. That is not the point of the article at all. The point is that we cannot become complacent. And, we must do whatever is necessary to not be complacent.
I apologize. I should have posted under the first comment above from Tim. I agree with your article. I disagree with Tim’s comment on dropping the abortion issue from the Republican platform. I am definitely not for compromising our convictions. But if abortion is not actually a conviction of the Republican party, but simply a ploy to get Christians to cling to the party, I am in agreement that the Republican Party should drop it. I’m just trying to get real.
What exactly has the Republican party done to suggest that its pro-life other then say so?
How many times has it challenged roe v wade ruling?
How many times has it introduced legislation during the several times since the 70s that it held the president, house and senate?
The Republicans are only pro-life because they get a free voting block by simply saying they are pro-life. The article is spot on, quit listening to Rush and watching Fox. Do your own research. You’ll be supprised by everything you’ll learn if you actually do the looking instead of having it fed to you.
We were not complacent – we were energized. Somehow our conservative vote was suppressed – either thru robo-calls to voters in Florida telling them to vote on Wednesday or by downright voter fraud in the states that do not require photo ID including my own state of Colorado. Republican crowds beat Democrat crowds everywhere, and we wanted change desperately. Yes, the talking heads were wrong at Fox – but we were out, and we voted. This was a crooked election. Will they ever be honest again???
Axelrod’s Chicago-style thug politics was evident in his “divide-and-conquer” strategy…it worked.
Coupled to this was all media’s incessant dirge of how Republicans did this an’ that. It was ABC,NBC,CBS,MSNBC, HBOGO, DISCOVERY,NATGEO, BLOOMBERG. Then Charlie Rose, NPR a steady 24 hours, seven days a week onslaught of rehashing of Axelrod’s TV ads in podunk county, wherever – across America (talking points).Evening shows of Letterman, Leno, BTV and Stock Market guru’s ( this last, direct beneficiaries of all Obama’s/Bernanke’s Quantitative Easing) contributed to the fray.
Then social media(Facebook, Twitter,et al) just trashing, in expletive ridden language, every utterance by any opposition to Obama. Serious arguments and reasoned statements were tossed out as so much lies and falsehoods.
Reminded one of Joseph Goebbels “Principles of Propaganda” by L.W. Doob. Repeating negativity will eventually become a reality (truth). Worked in 1925 and as would happenstance, did again in 2012…87 years of history repeating itself.
I dont agree.The Republican party has done everything it can to demean the Tea party and real conservatives.The Republican establishment is not conservative.A lot of real conservatives refused to vote for Romney.They wanted a real conservative.
And, Jean, what did that do? Got us four more years of Obama.
Of course we want a real conserve, but that’s not what we had to work with. So instead we lost our moderate choice and went straight to the most liberal destroyer we knew about.
I’ve been “debating” politics for the past 4 yrs with a group of mixed ideologies (more arguing than debating…that’s all the left know how to do). I was the only conservative that knew Obama would win. I very rarely watch Fox news, I don’t care for bias either direction, I prefer the truth. It’s not that I “like” the truth, but it’s the only way to really deal and prepare for reality. I went out and voted…I wished my conserve brothers and sisters would’ve done the same. Shame on all of you that didn’t.
I guess I support the COTUS. My Christian values are mine….they weren’t pushed on me to accept, and I don’t feel the need to do that to others either. I was free to decide for myself, and abiding by the COTUS, want to leave that same freedom to others.
You know, ppl complain about unions (and rightly so), but they do exactly the same things unions do, only for different reasons and in different arenas. The bakers union refused to compromise (again) on their wages/benefits, even though the big union (the Teamsters) came to an agreement, with Hostess. Because of the bakers union stubborness to not compromise, all 18,500 Hostess employees are losing their jobs. That’s what I see our stubborn conserve “siblings” did to our entire country – remained stubborn according to what THEY wanted, and allowed the closest thing to a dictator remain in office over the entire country.