Barack Obama and the Democrat
Party lost the election of 2012! Only
the delusional could make such a statement.
Barack Obama won
51.26% of the vote and Governor Romney received less; those are the facts…it’s
incontrovertible. But is it?
Hundreds maybe
thousands of narratives have been written trying to diagnose what happened on
November 6, 2012; and many more will be authored in the ensuing weeks and
months. Invariably these post mortems
cite bushels of statistics in an attempt to analyze turnout, demographics,
motivations, and the mind sets of both the voter and those that sat on the
sidelines. These same well intentioned
writers have subjected the candidates, their strategies and tactics to “electron”
microscopic assessment to discern both the cause and effect of the victory or
defeat. Their research apparently intended
to elicit that “eureka” morsel that will provide the magic winning predictor
for all future presidential elections.
The
majority of the articles have focused almost hysterically on the certain
demise of the Republican Party and the conservative philosophy unless changes
are undertaken. The changes recommended
range from moving left; modifying stances on life, pandering to blacks, Hispanics,
and young women to only talking about fiscal issues or discussing largely
social issues… and these tired bromides go on.
The scribes seldom attempt to define “the problem” but present a surfeit
of issues that require many independent actions to produce a positive future
result. Inevitably the proposed actions
detail dumping or compromising a part of the conservative message. Conservative principles and the message are
not the problem.
Solving problems
begins with problem identification not unlike a physician diagnosing a disease
preparatory to prescribing a cure. In a
nutshell, one without the other is nothing more than an exercise in futility. To be successful going forward (translate win
national elections) conservatives must carefully identify and define the
problem before a solution(s) can be proposed and implemented. Recent polling states categorically that
Americans prefer less government,
lower
taxes, lower
debt and lower
spending. Additionally a majority of
Americans still believe in individual responsibility, accountability, self-initiative,
hard work and liberty. In effect a
dichotomy exists within Americans; they agree with the principles of
conservatism, its message, and the issues that count, even if they don’t “agree”
with the ideology of Conservatism…huh?
Our
culture is changing…popular culture is the problem. More Americans want a piece of the pie, a
free piece, the one that others are seemingly getting for nothing. They see it and say why not me even though
their gut says this doesn’t feel right…somehow this is wrong. The belief that people can get a reward without
earning it is a growing tenet of the left directly traceable to big government
social engineering policies.
The left says that government is the
solution, it can provide and will. Liberals/progressives
also believe that an elite few in government can make better decisions than the
individual, a collective of individuals or the free market. Of course the elite decision makers must be
liberal/progressives. This philosophical
meme has been relentlessly driven home by the mainstream media (MSM), academia,
and Hollywood since the FDR administration.
The propaganda of the left pervades every aspect of our society…it
insidiously indoctrinates in the MSM, in our schools, in movie theaters and on television. Conservatives must develop strategies to
counteract this attack on the consciousness of Americans and then implement the
strategies both consistently and relentlessly.
Conservatives must also recognize that conservatism “lite” is not a
winning formula. Subsequent to FDR only President
Ronald Reagan can be described as an unapologetic conservative. Luckily the conservative bench is populated
with young, committed, aggressive individuals who can carry the conservative banner
and message effectively. Kelly Ayotte,
Bob McDonnell, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Sean Duffy, Tim Scott, Scott
Walker and Susana Martinez all provide an exceptional resource and pool from
which to choose future messengers/leaders to name just a few. In contrast the Democrats have Hillary
Clinton, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, John Kerry, Chuck Schumer and Dick
Durbin. This is a dubious and thin
collection of political opportunists who believe in the philosophy of
themselves…ergo if I give I get.
However,
the most important factor in “Obama losing the election” is the
disturbingly pompous left-wing ideologue himself. Obama will not remain an inert force focused
on repairing his legacy…he believes his legacy is to transform America. During the election battle he offered nothing
new. Thus, he will fully execute Obamacare
and its 23 tax increases, he will proceed to raise taxes on the “rich” (both
ordinary & capital gains), he will push for more “clean” energy
initiatives, he will make further payoffs to his union supporters and other
cronies, he will smother every sector of our society with crushing and costly regulations
and in summary the economy will get worse, much worse.
The excruciating economic pain will manifest itself in declining incomes,
brutal energy costs, devastating deficits, staggering debt, increasing
unemployment and continued despair. Of
course the triad of the MSM, academia and Hollywood will shout that the malaise
is due to the extremists that caused the debacle in the first
place…conservatives…republicans. Their incessant bleating will continue into
their hero’s second term, but for how long?
Americans have bought Obama’s ill-conceived “pigs in a poke” policies
for four years. It is highly unlikely
they will have the forbearance to be served more economic tripe, scandals,
incompetence in almost every department, and blather for two or four more years.
Both
Obama and his democrat ally’s will be hard pressed to hide the disaster he
and they have wrought. The “new” breed of
bright, young and energetic conservative leaders will be presented with the
opportunity to posit an unambiguous message and contrast it to the reality
Americans will be living, “This is your fate under liberal precepts and their
policies. Our solutions are these…ones
that your gut already tells you will actually work”. In essence Obama’s election will turn a
republican/conservative loss into a turning point for conservatives and a loss
for Obama…an opportunity that must not be squandered…and opportunity to begin fixing
the real problem, a deteriorating culture.
