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Many years ago I saw a play, Other People's Money. A corporate raider wants to take over a wire and cable company and sell it off into pieces. The company is not doing too badly, but the corporate raider observes that the company is getting a bigger and bigger piece of a smaller and smaller market. "It's a death spiral", he says.

Mitt Romney won the largest percentage of white voters of any candidate in history who lost the Presidency.

It could be said that there is no reason to panic. The makeup of the GOP and the House remain basically the same. The popular vote total was very close. But such thinking ignores the fact that, by all measures, this should have been a big win for the GOP. No President since Roosevelt has won re-election with the unemployment rate this high.

The GOP base is very loyal, but they are a shrinking demographic. Increasingly GOP voters are white, male and old. The changing demographics of the country do not favor the party. Nearly 70% of Hispanics, two thirds of single women, and 55% of women voted for Obama.

Where does the GOP go from here?

• Did the GOP lose because Romney was perceived as not being principled? Would candidate who as more of a 'true believer' won?
• Was the problem not that he wasn't a true believer, but rather that the GOP in general is too far to the right for most Americans?
• What will the GOP do to close the gender gap?
• How will the GOP reach out to Hispanics and other minority voters?
• Can the GOP broaden its appeal without alienating its base?

it's going to be very interesting to see the Party's internal post-mortem.

I think one obvious lesson is that race-baiting no longer will work.

(The race baiting of the Romney campaign was disgusting, by the way)

MeDotOrg wrote:It could be said that there is no reason to panic. The makeup of the GOP and the House remain basically the same. The popular vote total was very close. But such thinking ignores the fact that, by all measures, this should have been a big win for the GOP. No President since Roosevelt has won re-election with the unemployment rate this high.

It's not the absolute unemployment rate that moves voters, but rather the trend. The trend in this case was barely above stagnation, which polisci models translate into a slight incumbent victory. That's what happened.

A bigger piece of a smaller pie

This is the Democrat's economic plan.

This is probably just a pendulum swing to the left. The american public likes to switch parties every now and then. Since 1980 we've had 3 straight GOP terms, followed by 2 clinton terms, 2 Bush terms, and now 2 Obama terms. If you look at the historical patterns, the GOP will have 2 terms starting in 2016. At least I hope.....

However, there are troubling trends that will force the GOP to re-evaluate their platform. If Ohio and Florida become blue states the GOP is screwed on the Electoral map. What happened to the Republican party of Reagan that carried 49 states? Their platform has pushed out many of the old Reagan voters. Working class whites have moved to the democrat party. The GOP used to be the party of old fashioned american values, while the democrats were the party of liberal fringe groups. The GOP has moved so far to the right, they are now the party of right wing fringe groups, while the democrats now claim to be the party of old fashioned american values. The democrats now appeal to working class whites because they talk about blue collar jobs, and american manufacturing, while the republicans talk about corporations, and dividend income. Republicans claim to be the party of old fashioned values because of their platform on social issues, but their fiscal platform has turned off the white working class they used to rely on.

My advice to the GOP, become fiscally conservative again, and put social issues on the back burner. Talk jobs, jobs, jobs all the time. Romney tried, but nobody believed him. Stop talking about abortion and gays. Take away Rush Limbaugh's golden EIB microphone. Use Fox News to push fiscal issues. You were unable to beat one of the most incompetent Presidents in recent memory who ran on a record of >8% unemployment for most of his 4 year term with no recovery in sight, and whose administration terribly mishandled the Benghazi assault that left 4 Americans dead including the American ambassador. Defeating Obama should have been like shooting fish in a barrel. Not only did the GOP lose to Obama, but the last 2 elections might have flipped Florida and Ohio to the Democrats, leaving an impossible electoral path for the next GOP nominee.

MeDotOrg wrote:Many years ago I saw a play, Other People's Money. A corporate raider wants to take over a wire and cable company and sell it off into pieces. The company is not doing too badly, but the corporate raider observes that the company is getting a bigger and bigger piece of a smaller and smaller market. "It's a death spiral", he says.

Mitt Romney won the largest percentage of white voters of any candidate in history who lost the Presidency.

It could be said that there is no reason to panic. The makeup of the GOP and the House remain basically the same. The popular vote total was very close. But such thinking ignores the fact that, by all measures, this should have been a big win for the GOP. No President since Roosevelt has won re-election with the unemployment rate this high.

The GOP base is very loyal, but they are a shrinking demographic. Increasingly GOP voters are white, male and old. The changing demographics of the country do not favor the party. Nearly 70% of Hispanics, two thirds of single women, and 55% of women voted for Obama.

Where does the GOP go from here?

• Did the GOP lose because Romney was perceived as not being principled? Would candidate who as more of a 'true believer' won?
• Was the problem not that he wasn't a true believer, but rather that the GOP in general is too far to the right for most Americans?
• What will the GOP do to close the gender gap?
• How will the GOP reach out to Hispanics and other minority voters?
• Can the GOP broaden its appeal without alienating its base?

it's going to be very interesting to see the Party's internal post-mortem.

Obama was able to use illegal immigrants and minorities to his benefit.
He turns a blind eye to illegal immigration despite the lessons learned by France and others
He scares women into thinking they can't be careless with their bodies anymore
and he kept blacks in "their place" (as chumps)

Unfortunately his burden is larger than the GOP...the GOP has 2 to 4 years to provide incentive for minorities in a more pandering manner...not that hard.
Obama on the other hand is currently just the President of minorities and in order to achieve anything meaningful he is actually going to have be the President of old white people too...something he has no interest in doing as of yet...and quite frankly no real ability.
The next four years will be placid and bordering on dismal...but the phoenix will need ashes.

This is probably just a pendulum swing to the left. The american public likes to switch parties every now and then. Since 1980 we've had 3 straight GOP terms, followed by 2 clinton terms, 2 Bush terms, and now 2 Obama terms. If you look at the historical patterns, the GOP will have 2 terms starting in 2016. At least I hope.....

Me too.

However, there are troubling trends that will force the GOP to re-evaluate their platform. If Ohio and Florida become blue states the GOP is screwed on the Electoral map. What happened to the Republican party of Reagan that carried 49 states? Their platform has pushed out many of the old Reagan voters. Working class whites have moved to the democrat party. The GOP used to be the party of old fashioned american values, while the democrats were the party of liberal fringe groups. The GOP has moved so far to the right, they are now the party of right wing fringe groups, while the democrats now claim to be the party of old fashioned american values. The democrats now appeal to working class whites because they talk about blue collar jobs, and american manufacturing, while the republicans talk about corporations, and dividend income. Republicans claim to be the party of old fashioned values because of their platform on social issues, but their fiscal platform has turned off the white working class they used to rely on.

Romney seemed to make significant gains among the working class and women. The fact that this was nearly a tie means the GOP did some things right. Romney was actually a great candidate. I agree the Republicans must appeal to a broader range of people. I still can't understand why they don't court blacks and hispanics whose voters are often fiscally conservative and even socially conservative (blacks). The Republican party is and remains the party of Lincoln and civil rights.

Romney was speaking truth about the 47%. The Democrats are buying the vote but it's resulting in the nation's wealth being invested in the unproductive part of the economy thereby decreasing the pie.

My advice to the GOP, become fiscally conservative again,

They largely seemed to be this election. We take in 2.5 trillion. I would like to see a $2 trillion budget proposal with the 500 billion going to debt principle. This can actually be done without cutting social programs in terms of how much money actually reaches the needy or cutting defense much and such needs to be communicated. Once in office, we can begin the business of truly cutting unneeded and inefficient social program.

and put social issues on the back burner. Talk jobs, jobs, jobs all the time. Romney tried, but nobody believed him.

Agreed. I think social conservatives can read, just like liberals do, that their candidate will do the right thing on social issues even though it's unspoken.

Stop talking about abortion and gays. Take away Rush Limbaugh's golden EIB microphone.

Unnecessary imho. Use him to get out the base.

and whose administration terribly mishandled the Benghazi assault that left 4 Americans dead including the American ambassador.

The Muslim Brotherhood connection in Obama's Mideast policy should have been explained and hammered. Obama is surrounding Israel with Islamic states that do not recognize the peace accords and that will result in more war.

Defeating Obama should have been like shooting fish in a barrel.

So one would think. But the Democrat voter has become more ignorant, blind, and uneducated. They have also been bought as they have learn to vote themselves largesse from the treasury.

Not only did the GOP lose to Obama, but the last 2 elections might have flipped Florida and Ohio to the Democrats, leaving an impossible electoral path for the next GOP nominee.

Yep. The GOP must outspend this last election for the next years years, investing in Democratic strongholds and then sustain it for years. They need a never ending low level drumbeat that doesn't just preach to the choir. The Democrats use the media for this, we need to create more than just Fox News and AM Radio.

Last night when the race was called, the local network affiliate showed Obama's party in Chicago--tens of thousands of young, racially diversed people celebrating.

Then they said, "Now let's see what's going on Mitt Romney's Election Watch party." The election watch party they chose to go to was in Lee Summitt, MO. It looked like 15 minutes after the bingo tournement ended at the cultural hall at the local assisted living facility--about 20 really old white men with confused looks on their faces were wandering around, not knowing where they were, how they got there, or how to get back home.

Two competing theories: the "cyclical" theory which posits that voters will swing back towards Republicans after a few terms with a democrat President, or the "changing demographic" theory which says that the shift in the makeup of the population favors the Democrats (and it isn't a temporary shift).

While I can see the historical argument for the former, I think the reality is the latter. But I think the answer isn't very complicated. It's not platforms and policies and focus groups. It's simply a matter of picking the right candidate.

I have consistently maintained that Mitt Romney was the wrong candidate to run against Obama. It was a mistake to choose him, and while I was surprised at the shift in momentum after the first debate, I never thought for a second that he would win.

Republicans have to figure out a way to nominate candidates that can beat Democrats. If they can't figure that out, unless the Democrats totally drop the ball and nominate an unelectable doofus, future elections will be more predictable than yesterday's was, and worse for the Republicans.

cinepro wrote:
While I can see the historical argument for the former, I think the reality is the latter. But I think the answer isn't very complicated. It's not platforms and policies and focus groups. It's simply a matter of picking the right candidate.

I have consistently maintained that Mitt Romney was the wrong candidate to run against Obama. It was a mistake to choose him, and while I was surprised at the shift in momentum after the first debate, I never thought for a second that he would win.

I actually think Romney is likeable. I realize I'm in the minority. People call him, stiff, out of touch, etc. his 47% comment really killed him. in my opinion, I think that cost him the election. That video represents some of the things I think are wrong with the current republican party. I understand he was talking about campaign strategy and not policy, but he still came across as completely out of touch with the average American.

Republicans have to figure out a way to nominate candidates that can beat Democrats. If they can't figure that out, unless the Democrats totally drop the ball and nominate an unelectable doofus, future elections will be more predictable than yesterday's was, and worse for the Republicans.

Marco Rubio is the GOP golden boy right now. I mentioned Chris Christie and I was told he was too fat. It seems part of the job of president is being cool and good looking.