How will republicans respond to this loss?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nothing has changed, there is no mandate the repubs control the house.

Nothing has changed, and it is a big victory for Democrats.

Romney promised to repeal AHA, with Obama in the White House, AHA stays. And gets implemented. And, four years down the road, they won't be able to repeal it, regardless of who's President.

[Anonymous]

First off, as I am not the first to note, the popular vote does not mean much for two reasons. The minor one is that Sandy probably lowered turnout in Dem areas along the East Coast. But more important, neither campaign really worked to bring out the vote in their base states, which means a lot of high population states for the Dems and only one (Texas) for the GOP. Both parties were working on a set of rules that said EC is what counts. You can't apply different rules once the game is over.

Second, as someone noted earlier in the thread, the emphasis on conservative social policy dates back to Lee Atwater. He did it for the purely practical reason that it gave the GOP an inroad into the formerly Solid South when the Dems chose to go with civil rights. The same type of practical reasoning is now likely to convince the pros that it's time to drop the social issues, since they do not enhance the prospects of gaining control of the government to carry out the agenda of their real base, the corporations and fat cats who bankroll them,

[Anonymous]

Ryan is noe the GOP Heir presumptive and they haven't learned anything. They will be harping on the same social issue In 2016.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ryan is noe the GOP Heir presumptive and they haven't learned anything. They will be harping on the same social issue In 2016.

Nah, they will respond by grooming Rubio.

[Anonymous]

market is tanking

[Anonymous]

The republican will go farther right. The redistricting process was controlled by republicans in most states. This means the house will remain republican for years, till the next redistricting. The R house members only have to worry about primaries.

[Anonymous]

Yes a crash! down 2.2%

[Anonymous]

Romney supporter here: First, congratulations. I underestimated the strength of the Obama ground game, as well as wishfully thought there was enough conservatism left in the country to grind this one out. Apparently not. Mock away, I am prepared to take my lumps on principle.

My view is that this result spells the end of the Republican coalition for good. There are two views, about evenly divided. One argues that to win, Republicans need to be more like Dems. This may be true, and good for professional Rep pols, but in my view Reps would have to become so much like Dems to execute this strategy, what is the point? Also, the Dems will persuade "centrist" Republicans that immigration amnesty gives them a change to appeal to the Latino vote. That may be sufficient to save a "Republican" party; it is lights out for conservatives if that happens however.

The conservative right wing will split with the centrist types on these and other issues, but will never have enough votes to win nationally. The real action will be the fight between the left-centrists and the progressives in the Democratic party. I place my bet on the progressives: politics is all they care about, they want it more, and long-term they are just better at it.

Conservatives will fight a rear-guard action to delay the leftward drift of US politics, but it baked into the cake now. The demographic headwinds are too strong. I certainly hope that I am wrong about the consequences of the changes in policy that will be forthcoming, but I don't think I am.

Most thoughtful conservatives, I believe, are going to turn their backs on politics, and focus on community, family, and connecting with like-minded folk. I am extremely concerned about the path this country is now committed to, and will be planning accordingly. For better or worse, this country will now be what your side makes of it. Act responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ryan is noe the GOP Heir presumptive and they haven't learned anything. They will be harping on the same social issue In 2016.

Nah, they will respond by grooming Rubio.

Still don't get why they didn't go with Rubio to begin with - as vp candidate that is.

[Anonymous]

Herman Cain 2016

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ryan is noe the GOP Heir presumptive and they haven't learned anything. They will be harping on the same social issue In 2016.

Nah, they will respond by grooming Rubio.

Still don't get why they didn't go with Rubio to begin with - as vp candidate that is.

Rubio (FL) or Portman (OH) might have made a difference, but Romney doubled down on ideology. Of course he also chose someone he was comfortable with and who wouldn't overshadow him, but the messaging of the Ryan choice was clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Romney supporter here: First, congratulations. I underestimated the strength of the Obama ground game, as well as wishfully thought there was enough conservatism left in the country to grind this one out. Apparently not. Mock away, I am prepared to take my lumps on principle.

My view is that this result spells the end of the Republican coalition for good. There are two views, about evenly divided. One argues that to win, Republicans need to be more like Dems. This may be true, and good for professional Rep pols, but in my view Reps would have to become so much like Dems to execute this strategy, what is the point? Also, the Dems will persuade "centrist" Republicans that immigration amnesty gives them a change to appeal to the Latino vote. That may be sufficient to save a "Republican" party; it is lights out for conservatives if that happens however.

The conservative right wing will split with the centrist types on these and other issues, but will never have enough votes to win nationally. The real action will be the fight between the left-centrists and the progressives in the Democratic party. I place my bet on the progressives: politics is all they care about, they want it more, and long-term they are just better at it.

Conservatives will fight a rear-guard action to delay the leftward drift of US politics, but it baked into the cake now. The demographic headwinds are too strong. I certainly hope that I am wrong about the consequences of the changes in policy that will be forthcoming, but I don't think I am.

Most thoughtful conservatives, I believe, are going to turn their backs on politics, and focus on community, family, and connecting with like-minded folk. I am extremely concerned about the path this country is now committed to, and will be planning accordingly. For better or worse, this country will now be what your side makes of it. Act responsibly.

Thanks for your very thoughtful tone but I think you are mistaken that there is some kind of inevitable leftward shift in the country due to demographics. I think that the Latino community would have been a natural constituency for the Republican Party and can still be one. Family values? Hard work? Freedom for small businesses from regulation? Protection for religious values? Encouraging individual initiative? These all could appeal deeply to Latino voters but instead the Republican Party paid obeisance to short-sighted white anxiety about immigration that bordered on xenophobia. The Republicans could still shift course and become relevant but they have to start thinking about the future and embracing it rather than longing for some unattainable past that never really existed in that form to begin with.

I'm no expert in this area (so if there are any experts reading this, please feel free to correct me) but it reminds me of the nativist reaction to the decades of mass immigration between 1880 and 1920. Yes, it was no doubt frightening for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants to see so many people from Eastern Europe arrive in the United States and bring their strange culture to this country. But we survived as a country and those people were assimilated and made important contributions to the country and their children are just as integral to our society as anyone else. It's always amusing to see people with Polish last names go on about the threat of immigration today. Guess what people were saying not so long ago about their ancestors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Herman Cain 2016

Thank you for reminding me of this Christopher Guest-like ad from the primaries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM&noredirect=1

[Anonymous]

Shooting sprees. Fertilizer car bombs. Stocking up on surveillance equipment. That sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your very thoughtful tone but I think you are mistaken that there is some kind of inevitable leftward shift in the country due to demographics. I think that the Latino community would have been a natural constituency for the Republican Party and can still be one. Family values? Hard work? Freedom for small businesses from regulation? Protection for religious values? Encouraging individual initiative? These all could appeal deeply to Latino voters but instead the Republican Party paid obeisance to short-sighted white anxiety about immigration that bordered on xenophobia. The Republicans could still shift course and become relevant but they have to start thinking about the future and embracing it rather than longing for some unattainable past that never really existed in that form to begin with.



I have seen no reason to believe that this is anything other than wishful thinking.