Originally Posted by
Talen
A prime example of some one being blind to the facts.
Obama won. He got a lower vote than in 2008, but he won. He won over 300 EC votes.
He was a president who ran on an unemployment rate of over 8% for 40+ months, who presided over a sluggish economy....and he still won.
And the popular vote, sad to say, is essentially meaningless. The parties base their campaigns on the EC system. Not the popular vote.
They won the Presidency.
They secured their hold on the Senate.
Obama won the popular vote
And the Democrats even appear to have picked up some seats in the House. Not totally un-noteworthy given how gerrymandered that body is.
That looks like a fairly substantial win to me. And if he lost two states, the big fact the Republians can't ignore is the increasing Democratisation of traditional Republican states.
The Republicans, conversely, have campaigned on a set of policies that while attractive to white, middle aged males alienates just about every other demographic in the country. Even if they HAD won, few of their policies would have lasted long. In a way, the Republicans losing is good for them...because it gives them a chance to reflect and try to engage with the modern world instead of enacting policies that would drive them out of power for a generation.
Republicans have a long history and much to be proud of. But their drift to the extreme right has hurt them, and it has hurt their credibility. The electorate is not naive enough to think Romneys uncosted plans based on wishful thinking are going to help the nation. They electorate are smart enough to realise Romneys plans didn't work too well when Bush enacted them. The electorate is smart enough to recognise that Romneys foreign policy essentially mirrored Obamas.
Obama may not be better in many regards, but he at least is a known quantity this time around. But the Republicans need to realise that they live in the world that is, not the world as they wish it to be. European style austerity measures may be the Holy grail to the Tea Party, but can the nation really afford the 2% hit to growth such policies have caused Europe?
Will the Republicans win in 2016? It is possible. But they have a long road to convince those who voted Democrat this time that the GOP are a party vote voting for. If they continue to treat the elctorate like dirt, they're going to lose again. Heck...if the trends contine, it won't be that long before TEXAS is democratic.
Obama did not win because of Sandy or Christie
Obama did not win because of a media conspiracy
Obama did not win because of voter suppression or electral fraud.
Obama won because he ran a better campaign against a weak opponent who wasn't fully supported or embraced by his party.
He won because the policies he is following, the policies he said he would follow, are more in tune with what the electorate want
He won because the electorate still blames Republicans for the economic mess the nation is in and for the obstructionism that cost the nation so dearly in recent years.
He won because the policies Romney and the GOP espoused scares many voters away from a party they have much in common with.
Until the GOP recognise this, until they realise that their dreams of immigration control are essentially dead, that their economic plans turn off more people than they attract, that their foreign, defence and security policies scare many people, until they undo the taint of corrupt business that follows them, they are not likely to be truly successful at a national level for many years. The GOP has time to wed their traditional and admirable beliefs of small government and fiscal responsibility into a framework acceptable to the nation. But it has to want to do that.
And burying its head in the sand, in a manner akin to this post, is not going to do it, or its supporters any favors. Until then, we can at least rest assured that they will strive to succeed in their goal of ensuring Obama is a two-term president. We all know thats more important than dealing with the economic mess.
EJL