Where does the GOP go from here?

[Blart]

Latinos. Young women. Highly educated whites.

These groups are getting bigger and more powerful each election, and they don't particularly like Republicans.

Will the GOP become more moderate to accommodate the new electorate, or will they dig in their heels and go full-on Tea Party in 2014/16?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Where does the GOP go from here? (assuming Mitt loses)

Hopefully the way of the Dodo and the Pterodactyl.

[Old Dude]

Off-year elections always favor the more extreme segments since they tend to be more active & energized. So I fully expect the tea party to be back in force in 2014 regardless of who wins today.

[razorwire77]

They basically have two options as I see it.

A.) Continue to embrace the far right factions of their party and become increasingly less relevant in national elections. Sure they'll dominate local legislatures in the South, Alaska, Kansas etc., but with enormous consequences nationally as the demographic of the country changes.

B.) Stop purging moderates from your party. Move to center-right on social issues. Traditional wedge issue social politics are increasingly ineffective as a means to divide and conquer the electorate. Acknowledge the basic economic truth that taxation and revenue needs to generated in a fair and progressive way to ensure a healthy republic.

Embrace the realistic tenets of Libertarianism (controlling government surveillance/web privacy, ending the economic disasters of foreign interventionism, reducing subsidizing the military expansion of countries like Pakistan, India and Israel and ending the failed war on drugs crusade.)


We'll see what happens.

[ScottXray]

if the GOP continues along the road they have been on, they
will become more and more irrelevant...You correctly identified
that the electorate is changing and moderation is what is needed in the future.

Rush and the extreme right have driven the GOP positions
over the last 12 years, with more and more emphasis on social
issues ( abortion, gay marriage etc) that are generally dismissed
by most moderates...and which is where the country as a whole is headed.

Most people really don't care about gay marriage, in fact think that gays
should be afforded the same status as heterosexual couples. Although they
don't want gays to be considered "normal" behavior, they don't want to see them punished for being so.

By playing to the RTL/anti gay side they are distancing themselves from the average persons position, and alienating women in most cases.

In this election the only position they can really attack Obama on with the average middle class voter is the economy, and they have to convince them that the fault of the economy is wholly his, despite the fact that there is significant evidence that he has made significant progress overcoming a near depression level economic disaster, that he INHERITED at the start of his term, and mostly without any help from a congress that seems to want to play politics and not solve anything.. If they have been able to convince enough of the independent electorate that its Obamas fault, they can win today.

Assuming they have not and Obama wins it will be interesting to see if the Congress can finally decide to actually accomplish anything, or if the bickering and games continue. If so there will be wholesale movement to throw EVERYONE out in 2014, and a third party may be able to emerge at last.

[Rohirrim]

Hard to predict what crazy people will do.

[orinjkrush]

[TonyR]

Win or lose, we are in the twilight of the Age of Reagan. Romney’s efforts have almost recreated the Reagan coalition, but in today’s America that is no longer enough. To prevail in 2014 and beyond, the Republican party will need to learn to adapt its principles to new times and new voters...

We must take on this challenge anew as we undertake our rendezvous with destiny and remake the conservative majority Reagan bequeathed to us. To do that, we must also ask and answer two other questions. If we didn’t [win], why? If we must, how? I believe we can and will answer these questions, as painful as the discussion amongst us will be at times, and I believe that regardless of what happens tomorrow, the American sun will rise and set with conservatism. For there is nothing wrong with conservatism that reapplication of conservative principles won’t solve, and there is nothing wrong with America that rededication to conservative principles won’t cure.

- Henry Olsen, a vice-president of AEI, predicting an Obama victory in National Review.
http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/332590

[Blart]

I can imagine a pro-choice, pro-immigration, moderate conservative winning a general election.

I just can't imagine them winning a primary.

[peacepipe]

Originally Posted by razorwire77

They basically have two options as I see it.

A.) Continue to embrace the far right factions of their party and become increasingly less relevant in national elections. Sure they'll dominate local legislatures in the South, Alaska, Kansas etc., but with enormous consequences nationally as the demographic of the country changes.

B.) Stop purging moderates from your party. Move to center-right on social issues. Traditional wedge issue social politics are increasingly ineffective as a means to divide and conquer the electorate. Acknowledge the basic economic truth that taxation and revenue needs to generated in a fair and progressive way to ensure a healthy republic.

Embrace the realistic tenets of Libertarianism (controlling government surveillance/web privacy, ending the economic disasters of foreign interventionism, reducing subsidizing the military expansion of countries like Pakistan, India and Israel and ending the failed war on drugs crusade.)


We'll see what happens.

if being liberatarian is center right than than being republican means you're a liberal.

[Rohirrim]

I really think Huntsman would have won this election, but the whackos that took over the Republican party are too rabid to compromise with reality. Such is the problem with trying to translate Right Wing Wonderland into the real world. Frankly, I'm baffled that Romney made it to the top spot. I thought it would be Perry, or maybe Cain. Mitt really just benefited from everybody else blowing themselves up. Of course, Mitt only persevered by professing himself a sudden convert to the fringe and bowing in obeisance to their psycho politics; A sale of the soul that I guess Huntsman found a little too distasteful. Remember when all the Tea Party faithful were crying, "Anybody but Mitt!"

[Jetland]

it is going to be a fascinating next two years for the GOP there is no doubt now they have to adapt

[Taco John]

Mitt Romney's loss shows one thing and one thing only: a moderate conservative cannot win. The Reagan coalition has to be rebuilt. I think it will. I think Rand Paul is the future of the Republican party at this point.

[BroncoLifer]

Originally Posted by Jetland

it is going to be a fascinating next two years for the GOP there is no doubt now they have to adapt

Really, there's no doubt? Why then was this election closer than 2008? If Obama and the Dems continue to **** the bed, in 4 years from now those people who still blame Bush won't.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Once again, America emphatically rejects the regressive agenda.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Thurston concedes!

[MrPeepers]

Originally Posted by razorwire77

They basically have two options as I see it.

A.) Continue to embrace the far right factions of their party and become increasingly less relevant in national elections. Sure they'll dominate local legislatures in the South, Alaska, Kansas etc., but with enormous consequences nationally as the demographic of the country changes.

B.) Stop purging moderates from your party. Move to center-right on social issues. Traditional wedge issue social politics are increasingly ineffective as a means to divide and conquer the electorate. Acknowledge the basic economic truth that taxation and revenue needs to generated in a fair and progressive way to ensure a healthy republic.

Embrace the realistic tenets of Libertarianism (controlling government surveillance/web privacy, ending the economic disasters of foreign interventionism, reducing subsidizing the military expansion of countries like Pakistan, India and Israel and ending the failed war on drugs crusade.)


We'll see what happens.

really think this is accurate as a small govt, fiscal conservative, and socially moderate i dont identify with either party, and would move towards republicans if they would get their nose out of my social business and support more freedom.

[Jetland]

Originally Posted by BroncoLifer

Really, there's no doubt? Why then was this election closer than 2008? If Obama and the Dems continue to **** the bed, in 4 years from now those people who still blame Bush won't.

I see the wound is still too fresh we can talk later

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by Jetland

it is going to be a fascinating next two years for the GOP there is no doubt now they have to adapt

The long road to recovery. They tried to get one last fix with an establishment candidate. They told themselves that it would be enough to carry them over. The hated Obama enough, and had more than enough money. What they forgot is that they need a message. Hating Obama isn't a message. You have to actually believe in something. What does Mitt Romney believe in? Everything.

The next Republican will be formidable. He'll have a clear and inspirational message. He'll speak to the entirety of the Reagan coalition, from libertarian, to blue-dog democrats. And he'll win big.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Taco John

The next Republican will be formidable. He'll have a clear and inspirational message. He'll speak to the entirety of the Reagan coalition, from libertarian, to blue-dog democrats. And he'll win big.

After what just happened tonight, I can't even begin to imagine what basis this prediction could have in reality or fact...


....but reality and facts have no place in Republican World, I realize.

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

After what just happened tonight, I can't even begin to imagine what basis this prediction could have in reality or fact...


....but reality and facts have no place in Republican World, I realize.

I'm not sure what you think happened tonight. America froze like a deer in headlights. What do you think you won? We have essentially the same house, and essentially the same senate, and we are facing budget armageddon at the turn of the calendar.

Obama isn't getting anything through the house. Republicans aren't getting anything through the senate. This presidency is a lame duck before it even begins. How's that for "reality?"

You know who really won tonight? Libertarians. We got the gridlock we were hoping for, and sent our message to the Republican party.

[BroncoLifer]

Originally Posted by Jetland

I see the wound is still too fresh we can talk later

Everybody tries to read way too much into every election win/loss (just like with the Broncos). Overreaction is easy.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by Taco John

I'm not sure what you think happened tonight. America froze like a deer in headlights. What do you think you won? We have essentially the same house, and essentially the same senate, and we are facing budget armageddon at the turn of the calendar.

Obama isn't getting anything through the house. Republicans aren't getting anything through the senate. This presidency is a lame duck before it even begins. How's that for "reality?"

You know who really won tonight? Libertarians. We got the gridlock we were hoping for, and sent our message to the Republican party.

Yes, the libertarian utopia is still effectively unruffled by reality. Well done.

[SoCalBronco]

[Inkana7]

Originally Posted by Taco John

I'm not sure what you think happened tonight. America froze like a deer in headlights. What do you think you won? We have essentially the same house, and essentially the same senate, and we are facing budget armageddon at the turn of the calendar.

Obama isn't getting anything through the house. Republicans aren't getting anything through the senate. This presidency is a lame duck before it even begins. How's that for "reality?"

You know who really won tonight? Libertarians. We got the gridlock we were hoping for, and sent our message to the Republican party.

The same thing was said in 1996. The surface hasn't changed, but the message is clear. The GOP needs to change their approach, perhaps radically. This election should have been a slam dunk for them if they understood what a 21st-century America looks like at all. Guess what? The US is running out of white males, who seem to be the only group that Republicans think matter.