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Reaganite pours cold water on Republican excitement

()pen(arry

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
735
Location
Seattle, WA; escaped from 18 years in TX
Why Republicans may not win the Senate after all
...
There are increasing signs, however, that the GOP might not take control of the Senate and may only make modest gains in the House of Representatives. In states like North Carolina, for example, the GOP candidate hasn’t shown the ability to wage a major-league campaign. In other key battleground states, the establishment GOP is supporting problematic candidates, like Monica Wehby in Oregon, who can alternatively be described as pro-Obamacare and a plagiarist. The National Republican Senatorial Committee handpicked Wehby over a strong conservative in the primary. She is now running 20 points behind.
...
National polls show the GOP to be about as popular as the heartbreak of psoriasis. The Democrats, for all their faults (and they are many) remain more popular. Republicans are not for anything. They are defined as simply being against President Barack Obama and certainly not for any form of federalism.
...
Aided by piles of money from donors like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the national GOP was able to defeat most Tea Party candidates this cycle. Though the establishment candidates often outspent rivals by 15 to 1 or even 20 to 1, most did not get more than 50 percent of the primary vote.

Now in danger of not taking the Senate — which should have been like taking candy from a Capitol Hill staffer — the GOP establishment is complaining about not have enough money for TV ads. Why not try articulating some principles?
...

I liked Ron better than I like Rand.
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
Too bad we often have to settle for Republicans instead of liberty-minded fiscal conservatives.
 

()pen(arry

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
735
Location
Seattle, WA; escaped from 18 years in TX
Okay, I read Ben Carson's editorial. I disagree with the premise that we change the course of the nation through voting. Voting is a symptom of the mindset of the nation, not a cause. Voting is a litmus test of what people believe, think, and want. Elections give us an imperfect snapshot in time of the will of the people. The only way meaningfully† to affect that will is through individual dialogue with people we encounter‡. Voting is like an end-of-semester test, which shows what's been learned; the semester-long instruction is what imparts that knowledge, not the test.

Democracy is the free exchange of ideas toward self-determination. Voting is a mechanical detail of the selection of representatives.


† A given person's opinion may easily be swayed by writings and speeches. Individual dialogue is what has lasting impact.

‡ For this reason, those who say "I don't like to talk about politics" are a greater threat to liberty than any would-be tyrant.
 
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