Well I was obviously way off in my election prediction. In the aftermath a lot of conservatives, including myself are feeling some doubt as to our idea of who are country is anymore. It is a fair question to have when we review the two campaigns. Romney's sought to stay above the fray, championed bipartisanship and gave out plans on how a Romney Presidency would improve the country. Obama's campaign was negative from the start, alleging Romney was a felon, had allowed a woman to die of cancer, hadn't paid taxes in ten years, and in the final moments of the campaign Obama urged his voters to vote for "revenge." Such horrible themes and yet he won re-election easily.
What does that say about our country? For me, I think it says Obama still has broad appeal amongst key demographics including the youth vote, single women, and minorities. Romney unfortunately didn't due enough to blunt this advantage to make the difference and so now we are saddled with the most incompetent President ever for another four years. For us as conservatives, while the loss is huge, our goals must remain the same, to put forward candidates for election and retake the country.
How do we do this? We start with short term goals which are the 2014 elections. Odds are good we can deepen the the Republican majority in these races, as well as possibly take the Senate. The odds are good because those lazy bums who voted for Obama usually don't show up during the mid-terms. We achieve this we will have effective control of the country for the final two years of Obama's administration, and of course then we turn to the Presidential election.
Moving on to long term goals. We absolutely need to find a way to send our economic message to single women and minorities. People agree with our economic policies, but the media and the Democrats have succeeded in painting us into a corner on social issues. These issues are driving single women and minorities away and will cost us future elections. Our way around this isn't to compromise or change on social issues, but to become broader as a party. We need to be welcoming of those who share our economic views, but are liberal on social issues. These republicans will come mostly from northern states such as Mass. and Michigan, but they are our key and bridge to our next generation of voters.
Another long term goal will be putting women and minorities up for President next time around. Tops on this list would be Marco Rubio, who by this time will have had a full term in the Senate under his belt. A secondary option may be Susana Martinez, the Governor of New Mexico. She gave a good speech at the RNC, but I don't know much else about her to make a comment. A third option was Chris Christie, but his warm embrace of Obama following Hurricane Sandy I think will cost him his national aspirations. A shame, I don't blame him for his praise, that hurricane was a huge disaster for New Jersey, but plenty within the party won't see it that way.
Back to the point, if the GOP puts up Rubio or Martinez, it forces the media and minorities across the country to reconsider their views of the GOP as a "whites only" club. Once they get past that and consider the economic message I believe more will come to our side, but it will take time.... a lot of time.
-Zach
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