Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Day After Thoughts

Now that the election is over ...
  • everyone will be happy that endless political ads and commercials will not be heard for another couple years.
  • I'll wonder what to post on this blog.
  • it's time to congratulate our new President-elect, and acknowledge this historic event.
  • it's also time for Republicans to regroup and understand why we lost.

Here are some thoughts that have been going through my mind about why McCain and so many other Republicans were defeated.

  1. I truly believe that McCain was the wrong candidate to go up against Obama. During the primaries, the media was very much behind McCain, and that helped him secure the win, but as soon as the primaries were over, the media switched allegiances. The debates were controlled too much by a few individuals, and the issues asked during the Republican Primary debates where seldom if ever touched on during the General Election. One of the big problems with McCain is that many conservatives did not really support him, but they simply opposed Obama ... that resulted in a less than enthusiastic campaign.
  2. The other problem was perception. This has everything to do with appearance, and nothing to do with substance. Obama was young, McCain was old. Obama was charismatic and eloquent, McCain's speeches were rather dull and boring. Obama seemed to be in touch, McCain seemed a little out of date. I truly believe a younger, more articulate candidate would have faired better against Obama ... I don't know if that alone would have secured a victory, but it might have helped.
  3. I believe McCain missed a golden opportunity that the $700 Billion pork bailout bill gave him to show that he truly was a maverick. He should have voted against that bill. He should have named names and made famous all the pork that was included in that bill, as he said he would do to any pork laden bill that would come across his desk if he were elected president. Many Americans thought the bailout was a bad idea, and McCain would have had the opportunity to show a huge contrast between himself and Obama, especially as the stock market continues to drop after the bailout has gone into effect.
By the next election cycle, I hope that the Republican Party will find a Newt Gingrich type person who can articulate conservative solutions to problems our nation faces. As Rush Limbaugh says, conservatism works every time it's tried.

Looking ahead to 2012 ... Go Huckabee!

7 comments:

Florida Bozone Bunch said...

Thanks for sharing your insights. I am sad, but not depressed. I believe this is a time when we as conservatists are going to pay more attention to the issues and be alert to the whole political process. It will be interesting to see what happens in the near future. I don't think the democrats are going to get everything they had hoped for.

Anonymous said...

Today we begin again. Today we remember that God is still on His throne.

IntReviewer said...

Agreed. Tuesday was disastrous, but not catastrophic. By the way, though, I fear that Limbaugh's new conservative foundation is going to exclude some moral conservatives like Governor Huckabee. I have no problem with building a solid conservative foundation, but we need to be careful not to unfairly malign good people who don't line up on a certain checklist of conservative issues. I'm looking for a philosophy of conservatism, and I believe Governor Huckabee communicates that very well.

Esther Hilling said...

Tim, you are right about Limbaugh and Huckabee. I was very upset at Rush and Sean during the Republican primaries. Huckabee is by far the best communicator I've heard in the Republican party since Reagan.

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Anonymous said...

It is a very sad time indeed. This is especially true when we remember that we had a great candidate in Mike Huckabee running in the primaries and he was rejected by the party, but not by the people. Hopefully we can see him run again in 2012.

Andrew Biddinger said...

Yes Chris, your right on that. Also, most people vote a straight ticket. So McCain effected all the election, like Tim Walberg.
I posted my opinions of the election on: Back to the Constitution - America is still America. Mike Huckabee is the greatest comunicator we have had since Ronald Reagan. Huckabee 2012! With Newt or Sarah on his side.