are we, as republicans or conservatives or teapartiers just going to throw romney out (figuratively) because he lost? he is a fine man who would have made a fine president and we all would have been proud to see him taking the oath two days ago. if there hadn´t been voter fraud in many crucial districts in ohio, florida, virginia and pennsylvania, he would be our president now. all this says to me is decency, intelligence and integrity will no longer be rewarded (or elected).

I nominate Sarah Palin for head of the RNC. she´s our only chance at turning this ship around. Preibus is worthless.

I agree #1. But all of this tripe that we must appeal to certain identity groups is just what it is ...tripe. Conservative principles will work for all groups if properly articulated and all will respond accordingly. The Republicans task is to simply take the game to the democrats and quite rolling over and push for more states to have voter I.D

I can think of nothing that Mitt Romney did wrong during the election. He was a fine candidate and no Republican was going to defeat the Thug in Chief.

I was not a fan of Romney´s during the primary, but I got behind him in the general and I thought he did a pretty good job. I think he got sandbagged by the media and they ignored him almost entirely unless they could pretend he´d made a gaffe.

I don´t think we need to "De-Romney-ize". I think we need to look at his good attributes -- the ability to articulate an idea, especially -- and try to foster those in future candidates.

#2 is spot on, but #3 makes a great point. Conservative principles do work, but the GOP has got to actually act on them. They have got to quit picking candidates who appeal to the independents (whoever they are) to the exclusion of conservatives. For over 20 years they have been taking conservatives for granted because we had no place else to go. Looks like this time a lot of them got tired of it and went to the mall.
Don´t just give lip service to our principles, do it. Deliver on what you talk about. If the dems threaten a filibuster, don´t cave. Make them filibuster. Stop capitulating.
If you stand for something some of us might come back.

Christie 2016 is going to be The Establishment´s Hat Trick !!!

Keep the failure rolling their Reince !!!

By the time they figure it out, 2014 will have come and gone, the Dems will have regained the house, and a third party or "independents" will have gained several seats.

The Repubs have jumped the shark. They´ve disintermeidated the right, and many conservatives and former repubs have just given up on them for good.

The bad guys have won. There are no more good guys.

As a side note, my RINO congressman announced he voted for no budget, no pay for congress. More Kbuki. The Senate will never vote on it (or approve it). Of course, he didn´t send out any announcement after he voted to raise taxes and not stop spending.

This is why then Repubs are done. They are great at orchestration when it doesn´t matter.

#7 is right in my book. The fact that the RNC hasn´t figured out YET why Romney lost tells us a great deal. It has never been rocket science why our brand is mud. Who respects wishy-washed principled people - in politics or out? Yes, yes, Romney was a good man but he couldn´t fight on the one issue that changed our country - Obamacare. Once he was trapped into defending his own Romneycare program in MA, he was neutered on laying out the horrors of what was to come. Yes, voter fraud is rampant. We still have to ask why Pubbies have never made the giant issue of it all these years. Now, it´s wildly out of control. .

All this gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands over what technigue to use to win the next election is just so much pi##ing into the wind. We Republicans are going to continue to lose until we neutralize the liberal media. The ability to control the national narrative to the LoFo voters is key to staying in power as the liberal Dems have been able to do with the failed ideology they put forth. Just think what a sensible, conservative message would sound like if it could actually get out to America´s ears on a continual, daily basis. You can´t tell me there are a couple of rich conservatives that couldn´t buy out a couple of the alphabet broadcast networks and make honest journalists out of them.

I think #11 has an extremely valid thought about the press.

Something I will always wonder about Romney. If he was so shocked he lost, and there was rampant voter fraud, why didn´t he contest the election in the "swing states" or at least bring the issue to the fore?

We went through Gore contesting the 2000 election and made it through, we could have made it through Romney contesting. Of course after Romney conceded all this became moot and we have the residents in the WH for another 4 years, but at least the fraud would have been addressed. More spinelessness from the Republican Party.

(I know I am making a simplified comment on a complex issue)

The problems are many--

Too many of the "old bulls" as Mark Levin calls them in charge

The Republican party is filled with too many people who ignore the social conservatives who stayed home, and the Constitutional conservatives who see the Rule of Law going unchallenged by national elected officials

Those in the party who were simply outgunned in mining the technology and "get out the vote" efforts in the states that were key losses

The false notion that we have to pander to special voting blocks by joining the "government giveaway" sweepstakes

The media elites in the libtard television empires who wouldn´t give a fair shake to our views by either piling on, or totally ignoring those who can articulate our values

The "circular firing squad" breaking the 11th commandment of Ronald Reagan not to speak ill of another republican as Romney was the attack dog in the primaries, but backed off after the first debate victory

The list goes on, but those folks gathered would never admit to any of this....

Astounding the relentless blather that goes on and on. #1 asserts that were it not for voter fraud in Ohio, Fla, Va and Pa; Romney would be POTUS. Really? In all these states the Gov, Lt. Gov, AG and Sec´y of State are R´s as well as their Senate Leader and Assembly Speaker. Presumably they all conspired w/Axelrod in massive voter fraud? Sure. Others insist Willard was the Man; all that good breeding and proper schooling was just what the voters wanted. Why of course!
Truth is brutal but cathartic. Romney was a rancid candidate and 2008 should have proven that. He was a feckless and inept buffoon whose most telling trait was that he reminded voters of, you guessed it, BUSH !!! Many still can´t, don´t or won´t get it. Republican politics has absolutely nothing to do w/ principled conservatism and never did. Willard is mute testament to that.

Bottom line is lots of folks whom would normally vote R did not, including Evangelicals and Catholics- both balking at voting for a Mormon-and hard core Conservatives, balking at another Ivy League RINO.
Then they were out-generalled by that slime Axelrod and Co, whom selected individual counties to demonize Romney unanswered for months.
Then there is fraud. And a poor garbled message.
The Romney folks never used the Socialist or Communist words.
Corrupt immorality is the concept we need to go with now.

That, and fact that the Commys want our guns.

I don´t agree with #14´s analysis of Romney. By my estimation, Mitt was an outstanding leader, but less so a candidate. Lets look at what we face as Republicans running in an election: We´re up against hard-core DNC operatives masquerading as ´journalists´ ready to pounce on anything negative to a Republican, while quietly burying anything negative to a dem. We´re up against 50% of the electorate that are on the gov´t dole, and don´t want to hear anything about cutting their welfare checks or going back to work for a living. We´re up against black, latino, Asian and young voters who have been (not in all cases, but in a majority) pre-programmed to vote democrat and simply hit the mute button when anything relating to the GOP message comes to them.

These are, IMHO, the main problems facing any Republican running for office. We´ve lost the narrative. Until we find a way to regain the narrative, like the previous poster mentioned about buying some media outlets, and start going on the offense, we´re going to remain in the wilderness for the foreseeable future.

Republicans have to remember the 11th Commandment. "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican." If it is stupid, say so what. Bill Clinton and OJ did worse. Give us Barabas! Stop letting the media shoot the survivors and Burying the wounded for us.

#1 is right on point; Osama bin Obama stole the election, and what we witnessed on Monday was a coup.
Those who call themselves Republicans have rolled over and allowed this heinous, communist, illegitimate, Muslim regime to take our sacred, Christian nation away from Real Americans.
Don´t be surprised when Sharia Sheriffs show up at your home to take away your weapons and transport you to "Christian Reassignment" camps in Western Arizona.

#2, I guarantee Mrs. Palin has no taste for being head of the RNC. And vice versa.

"Deep divisions" because the Dims are painting us that way? This is the same trap they laid for Romney, defining him the way they wanted, and to their advantage. This is the Meme they have set for 2014. We are divided. Come on! Let´s not let them trap us like that.

Look at the polling demographics. 23% non-white minorities cast 28% of the votes. The Republicans suffered that and shrill accusations of voter suppression at the same time. Do you need to look further??

#16, what we are up against is people like #14. We will never win over the narrative in the MSM. There will always be people who are takers. Our problem is too many conservatives like #14 who can´t see the forest for the trees.

I agree #19. Why sign on with inept losers who´ve lied about you and demonized you with falsehoods and misogyny? She´s better off supporting a conservative party.

The republican party can have its gay, lesbian, transgenders. They can have their abortions on demand. They can legalize all the illegals (rubio does not count breaking the laws of immigration as doing something illegal). They can raise the debt ceiling, raise the taxes. Have I left anything out of the dems list of priorities that the republicans wish to imitate? Oh, yes, I guess they can join in the destruction of my country. Because I´m in the minority and have no say over what happens to this country. And, after 40 years, I´m no longer a republican and will never be a democrat.

Unless we neutralize or boycott the media en masse we have no hope for the future. They see themselves as being the voice of those without voices, minorities. Obama played right into that: across the top of his website he had 47 different groups listed: gay hispanics for Obama, teachers for Obama, underemployed for Obama...So, minority opinions repeated ad ad nauseum 24/7 become distorted and appear to be MAJORITY opinion. That´s what LoInfos hear and think is real.
After Bush´s 2nd Inauguration, the Demos were ORGANIZED with groomed candidates. We just sit here whining, seemingly paralyzed. We´ve got to find a way to do our bickering behind closed door and UNITE in PUBLIC! The Demos have major policy differences between themselves, but have mastered the art of APPEARING cohesive when it matters.

The RNC has an important, in-depth survey where you can voice anything you want to tell them. I strongly recommend you copy/paste this link into your browser, fill out the name, email and zip code, then take the survey:

http://growthopp.gop.com/survey.aspx

(If the link doesn´t work for any reason, just go to www.gop.com and you´ll see "Growth and Opportunity Project", with "Weigh In" button. Click that and follow the prompts to fill in your blanks so you can take the survey.)

I told them everything that was on my mind after answering their multiple-choice questions. It felt pretty good and it´s clear they want to hear from us. It´s an important survey and if enough of us use it, perhaps we will get somewhere and not sink into oblivion.

It´s fine to blog here but the GOP needs to hear your voice. We can turn this Party around. Take the time. The survey gives you PLENTY of space to tell them what is on your mind and what the GOP can do to win in the future. Vent your heart out.

I think the GOP got the message after this election; the survey was clearly written after Obama won, so they really do want to hear from you. Here´s your chance to address them directly and in depth.

Please pass this link on to everyone you know after you take this survey. I am going to do same.

I would agree with the 11th Commandment if those described were actually Republicans. They are, unfortunately, progressives who call themselves Republicans, and who are quite content to let the Left destroy this nation as long as they can retain their little bit of the power pie. Disgusting.

Many good comments here. I personally believe the Republican Party is dead. If anything, it is an adjunct of the Democratic Party, a convenient scapegoat and whipping boy...and they seem content to serve in that role. Disgusting.

The show in NC was just that, a show. If they were serious the talk would´ve been about beating the media at their own game, getting back to core principles, winning back the base, going after vote fraud, etc.

Republicans take note: Did you see how they circled the wagons around Hillary? When do we do that with our people?
#17 makes an excellent point.

Republicans looking to win need to look north to Stephen Harper in Canada. He knocked the Liberal Party, which was the ruling class in Canada for 100 years to minority status. The media vilified Harper throughout the election, which lasts a mercifully short 6 weeks and continue to do so but he is well situated to be, should he choose,PM for life. Canada does have a parliamentary system and 3 political parties but Harper won by courting "new" new Canadians, primarily the Indians, concentrating on fiscal matters and not social issues (gay marriage is legal in Canada and he leaves it alone) . He is a sort of colorless guy, a number cruncher but his appeal to the working people across Canada cannot be understated, from sea to shining sea with the exception of Quebec of course. He was helped in destroying the Liberal party tremendously and somewhat ironically by the former leader of the the socialist NDP, Jack Layton who was a dreamer and charmer and died of cancer 4 months after he made the NDP the official opposition. Jack also knocked the Bloq out of Quebec. That act is unlikely to be repeated with the bland attorney who replaced him. So we as conservatives need to look to our great neighbour to the North by concentrating on fiscal issues, tax reduction, making the most of our great resources and stay away forever from the Mourdock-Akin types who poison our chances.

The GOP is in big trouble whether people want to put their heads in the sand or not. Many former GOP have had enough of their ineptitude and lack of principles. This past election was the tipping point and the GOP had better wake up to that reality.
Conservatives will no longer support candidates who won´t tackle our nation´s problems. Look at the House and watch the "leadership" in place now. They are too afraid of solving our fiscal problems because it may turn off voters in 2014. To them there is never a good time to do it because there is always an election. The GOP needs more like Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul who actually held Hillary´s feet to the fire yesterday. Who helped elect those two Senators? Conservatives and Tea Party members did.

I have always pooh poohed the people who said ´there´s not a dime´s worth of difference between the two parties´. After yesterday´s show trial of Hillary on the Hill, I can´t say I disagree with those people. Republicans could have stood up for the 4 dead Americans, yet they were just focused on not making a scene. (Rand Paul and Ron Johnson excluded),

The GOP is about to lose the House in 2014, and it´s ok with them, because the media and the cocktail parties are more important to them than the Constitution. Cutting spending is a no brainer, but they´re too chicken salad to go that route.....

The Stupid Party (and our last two Presidential candidates) still haven´t figured out that the media hates us,and them. But if they play nicey nice, maybe the Morning Joe crew will Say nice things about them.

i´m glad at least #14 and #15 are the voices of reason around here. all this talk of voter fraud is just nuts. Romney lost because he lost, deal with it.

#23, any of those missions would involve actual work. We´re not going to see it.

"Republican politics has absolutely nothing to do w/ principled conservatism and never did."

Hear! Hear! #14

Get this, and the rest comes easy.

As Rush has said over and over, "When we run as conservatives, we win."
The Establishment´s problem is that they´re not but trying to convince us that we´re the problem.
If we have to be Dem Lite to win, then I guess the GOP is for free cellphones, but not free Smartphones.
But do it without my support or maybe even my vote; I experienced first hand what a Dem Lite GOP is like last week when my 2A rights were gutted by the GOP led NY Senate.
Nope. No more.

I held my nose and voted for McCain. I voted for Romney because I really had no alternative.
I´m done now. There is no leadership in the Republican Party, they have compromised on just about every issue and have become nothing more than a nuisance to the Democrats, much like a mosquito.
They have sacrificed the conservatives and left me behind so now I am leaving them behind. Until they nominate a true conservative I will no longer support them with my money or my vote.

Please get over voter fraud as THE reason we lost. John Fund watched closely but has had zero reports of same. Certainly there was some fraud, but more importantly was early voting, loose voter ID, and PAID FULL TIME STAFF in key swing states who had weeks to usher (and bribe?) LoFo voters to the polls. Dems margin of victory was in the bank before Election Day.

Remember our surprise to learn dems kept so many offices operating in Ohio after 2010. It was Chicago precinct politics on a large scale, paid for with God knows whose money. Union dues I suspect.

Add that to our failed GOTV software, Mitt´s inability to attack on Obamacare and all the other contributing causes.

Dayum. Tough crowd.

My dry cleaner should have beat Obama with this economy and his record. Why didn´t Romney win?

A. The Democrats lie and the media swears to it. By the hour. The GOP has to ramp up alternative media messaging. By that I mean explode it. The old media is fading away but not fast enough for this election.

B.Romney ran on jobs in a country that doesn´t want to work evidently. Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can make other people do for you.

C. The bubble is now in government. Obama and the Dems have made it bigger. There won´t be a Democrat party after the great comeuppance.

Yep, the dens circled the wagons around Hillary, and the GOP circled their wagons around Akin and Mourdock. See any difference there?

I don´t think the LSM and racist pResident liked the white man and his blond wife. The "tolerant" media proved their leftyism.

Republicans lost because they believe what the liberal media says about them and that makes them timid and fearful of any confrontation. This is not rocket science. We have the policies that will work to turn the economy around. It has a proven record. Conservatism works for ALL people. We don´t have to pander. We don´t have to court certain minorities. We have to get our message out and we do a lousy job of it. The RNC needs to hire some people who understand marketing and PR. It is a simple message that a sixth grader could explain. Whatever the "old bulls" are doing is an abject failure. They need to stand down and let the people with the skill and know-how lead. Make the case for conservatism and be prepared to defend it unashamedly and never back down.

Republicans seem to want to cater to the vaunted group they call the Independents. They need a lesson on who the Independents actually are.

First of all, they are NOT Democrats. Democrats are still Democrats and may always be stuck there. Moving more that direction gives us only candidates who might as well be Democrats.

Independents ARE, and I offer myself as my best example, former Republicans. In fact, I am a former Democrat (when I was young and stupid, I was young, and stupid). I saw the light and error of my ways and have been staunch conservative ever since. Independents like me are leaving the GOP in droves (or maybe ´´kroves´´ [K. Rove]) because we feel so pulled to the left because of the Republican Establishment who thinks they´re smarter than we are! And we are S-I-C-K of it.

We are tired of having our candidates pre-chosen for us, then watching our favorites get ripped to shreds during ´´primariess´´ that are nothing but showcases for the chosen one.

We don´t tear our party apart ... our party forces these rips! They want us to be more progressive (key word there), and fit into their definition of who we should be, who we should like, how we should think (more like them). And maybe we just don´t.

Are we stupid? Are we backward? Are we hopeless? NO! We aren´t, and we resent the constant inferences that we are.

And I told Reince exactly all that at #26´s survey link.

I agree with many factors mentioned here that contributed to the Romney loss but the main problem was his failure to rebut Obama demagoguery to his face in the debates. Obama repeatedly said that if only the rich would pay a little more all financial problems would be solved and everybody would live happily ever after! Romney answers " I know how to manage the economy and get it growing etc." This validates the Obama message that the rich could pay for Obama´s profligate spending and never miss the few dollars and that Romney is greedy for every penny and protecting the greedy rich who took it from the poor in the first place in a zero sum game world. All this nonsense stands because no one rebutted it. Romney had the chance to rebut it to Obama´s face and he didn´t. Now the other gutless republicans are letting it all be put into practice. Romney won the precious independents and alienated more of his base. They stayed home and we see posters on this thread deciding to stay home next time. Obama stayed by his base and won, Romney took his base for granted, trying to win independents, and lost.

IMHO the primaries were damaging in that the party and their parasitic (great descriptor Mr. Levin) consultants promoted a scorched earth campaign against conservatives and yet failed to attack Obama in the general. The stupid ´etch-a-sketch´ meme after the primaries was mind bogglingly stupid and gave evidence that Romney had no principles even though I know he does. The Republican campaign leadership thought they could run away from the base and pull in a winning segment of the non-base. When they realized they were losing the base they hamhandedly made the 47% taker statement proving just how inept they are. It is apparent to me that the attempt they made (and are still making) to herd people away from voting based on principle versus mindlessly voting the party line is a losing strategy for them. If they want to turn this situation around, they had better show some personal responsibility for the outcome of the last election and that they actually believe in something to the point that they govern that way.

We must figure out two things:

1. How on EARTH to get around the mainstream media

2. How to REALLY increase turnout amongst voters who think, live and act like we do

Finally, there is a 3rd thing...we need to keep our efforts crisp and enthusiastic during the off-year elections...LoFo voters do NOT turn out during those elections because there´s not a big mainstream media push and not one "icon" to get behind. Keep winning BIG in the off-years and it makes it tougher for the Dems to actually control EVERYTHING.

Deep divisions? Sounds about right to me. Anyone who was on this board during the primaries will remember the animosity. I know I do.
Still, I am just disappointed in my fellow Americans in general. Reelecting Obama shows spectacularly poor judgment. Far too many people are only interested in what their country can do for them.

#45 makes an excellent point. Our biggest adversary, the media, is basically OUT of the picture in the off-year elections. We should be taking advantage of this; working every angle possible, doing everything humanly possible to win locally in 2014.

Let´s hope we never hear: Hispanics are a natural constituent for the Republican Party. Enough of this Balkanization and pandering.

As based upon the display of the Republican Senators yesteray with Hillary Clinton, why would anyoane wnat be asssociated with that party. The one exception being Sen. Rand Paul.

Another poster had a very perceptive comment that Romney ran on jobs when it seems that many (most) Americans don´t want jobs - just more govt handouts.

I think the RNC has one more chance, one more election cycle.
We need a real leader.
That person is Allen West.

Romney was a good man, no doubt. But the campaign failed us. Witness ORCA. And etch-A-Sketch. And laying down in the last debate. And 47%.

As to republicans, when conservative ideas are polled WITHOUT the republican name attached, they are well received. Check it out.

We have an identity/PR problem. George Bush showed we know how to turnout the vote.

Where is OUR Fenton communications group?

Some comments above are the reason we lost the last election. They stupidly want a third party, they do not support the candidate and I don´t care if the Pubbies run King Kong, any one is preferable to another tax and spend dem. All of those who sat on their hands and did not vote for Romney are the are the reason he lost. He made great speeches and I don´t know where they live, but I heard them and read them. I do not care if they are conservative or not and I am sick and tired of the name calling like rinos, wimps, etc. Get your own tails out and point out what bammy has done to the USA.

#15, the comment about Evangelicals and Catholics is incorrect. Romney equaled or improved upon Bush´s 2004 election performance with every religious group except two: Hispanic Catholics and Mormons. It´s unlikely that either group was motivated by anti-Mormon prejudice. Romney used illegal immigration as a wedge issue against fellow Republicans in the 2008 and 2012 GOP primaries, attacking both McCain and Gingrich for proposing anything short of total deportation.This no doubt cost us support from Hispanic Catholics.

As for why Mitt lost, there is a simple fact that I keep coming back to. Romney´s national Favorable/Unfavorable poll numbers were abysmal going into the convention. As I said at the time, no candidate had ever won the presidency with numbers that bad, and this one didn´t. Mitt´s national Favorability numbers began their decline during his negative ad campaign against Gingrich in Florida. Romney was the front runner with the big money. He could have run clean and won strong. Instead, he chose to run the most negative primary campaign I´ve ever seen. It divided the party, destroyed potential allies, and left Romney a political dead man walking before Obama started his attacks.

Poster 26 - M2, I have always looked forward to your posts and respect your opinions. You are steady and even tempered in each topic you opine on.

I must respectfully disagree with you this time.

Elections as we have known them all our lives are over. The republican party is finished. Politics is a laughing stock and the progressives know it. I have always been involved with politics and until this last election believed that each vote counted. The first president I voted for was Ronald Regan. We shall never see his like again. As time went on I saw that the republicans no longer represented my conservative values - it slowly ebbed away and I became an independant and was called many derisive names on this very forum for it. I am independant becuase the republican party no longer represents my values and beliefs for my country.

I awoke on November 7th with the deep understanding that this country as we have known it is gone. We cannot recover. We are not made of that sort of stuff anymore. I am a proud teaparty member and have been since February 2009. I´ve attended meetings and read and studied and most importantly prayed and I see now that God has turned his face from this country.

Con´t

Con´t

It is finished and no poll the republicans put on a fancy website is going to change that. Pray for your family, and for the good people of this nation that God in his infinate mercy might be kind to them and not punish all for the sins of only half.

The republicans had Slithery Clinton in their grasp yesterday and the only one who call her on the debacle of Bengahzi was Rand Paul. McCain actually hugged her. They are ALL corrupt. We are France before the revolution but there are no more people who will lead a true change in this country.

Mitt Romney is a good man. I did support him in the election. This country is unworthy of good men & women and we do not have what it takes to win the nation.

I will apologize to the founding fathers when I see them across the great divide.

We were given a Republic if we could keep it and it seems we were unable to do so.

Nominate a Conservative with morals, principles and Bible values for the Country. Have him/her run on low taxes, small Federal Government. Have the nominee also run on States rights, Leaving it to the individual states to decide on gay marriage, abortion, illegals etc etc etc. A person then can decide which State he wants to live in.

George W. Bush, Moderate, still paying for his legacy. John McCain, Moderate, loser, Mitt Romney, Moderate, loser. What needs to be done is clear. That it will never happen is also clear. I say this, I grow damn weary of voting for a party who flat REFUSES to represent my views in Washington DC. I live in a Red State with two Democrat Senators because the GOP can not be bothered to stand up to voter fraud. We have the Democrat Governor on VIDEO, bragging about election fraud and the GOP did... not a thing. I know why the GOP loses elections. I also know another four years of the GOP whining about the GOP is not going to win us any elections.
Cheers.

All you have to do is read the comments above to realize where the problem lies. We seem to be divided into three groups, none of which can understand, or really wants to make the effort to understand the point of view of the others. There is, in some cases, the open contempt with which some of the Romney Regulars view other brands of Republicans, and their need to scold and bully anyone who does not adhere to their party line, especially as it relates to the now-defunct candidacy of Mitt Romney.

Then there are the Tea Party types, (of which I am one) who believe that failure to adhere to fundamental principals, and craven deference to Democrats is a built-in recipe for failure, and who wonder why the Regulars can´t be at least as polite and accommodating to us as they are to Democrats.

Thirdly, there are the Believers, those for whom the doctrines of their religious denomination are absolute, and who therefore cannot accommodate anyone whose sectarian positions may be different. This expresses itself in such issues as abortion, prayer in schools, school vouchers (i.e., the financing of private schooling), and sometimes the religious beliefs of a candidate. For example, there may be some hardcore traditionalist believers who would vote for an atheist rather than a candidate who stated he believed in consubstantation rather than transsubstantation. To others, this mindset may be incomprehensible, but it is there, and must be understood.

XIV AND LII are correct and insightful as always. To reach for the antiMormon card and blame churchgoers is both nonsense and further wood on the fire of distrust that said bitter clingers hold for the establishment wing of the GOP.
Since 1980, when Reagan successfully dethroned the Rockefeller/Romney/Bush liberal east coast
wall street Ivy League country club ( did I miss anyone?) wing of the republican party, the RNC has been reconfigured with Bush loyalists whose first mission always seems to be to protect the liberal republican apparatus against the wickedness and snares of populist flyover country conservatism. Palin and the tea party represent a very real repudiation of Bush era republicanism that the professional republicans and other Romney enthusiasts either don´t get or want to stifle. ( you probably think this post is about you).
The primary set out against an easily defeatable incumbent, if 2010 is any indication, with a field of candidates all with a necessary piece of the puzzle---simplified tax codes, concerns about radical influences in the current administration, the success of states in resolving problems, the importance of preserving the American social and moral culture and offering a market based and patient centered solution to the health care act. Accomplishment and ideas were replaced with negative ads and this is the result. We only have ourselves to blame.

One simple fact stands out. As long as the old "establishment" types hold on to leadership of the GOP, they probabley will never win a presidential election. The days of Regan are over. Too many in the leadership want to be Dim Lite. And why don´t they bother to ask us, the voters, what WE want and what turns us off? I don´t mean some generic poll but ask ONLY Republican registered voters. You know. The base.

And there are some actions that could be taken now. Tighten up voting rules. The U.S. Constitution states the the various states will run their own elections as THEY may prescribe. Not some political party. All states with Republican governors should get voter ID laws passed. And eliminate early voting. And really, really tighten up absentee voting. And when the Dims scream and file law suits, fight back tooth and nail. Make them explain exacting how it will "disfranchise" certain voters. And fight back hard. There is a lot more, but space prohibits me. In order, Republicans and conservatives need to fight fire with fire. And stop giving in.

It´s not rocket science. The GOP needs to provide a clear and consistent alternative to the Democrats, both in words and deeds, and then aggressively court the American people by explaining why that alternative is better for them as individuals. Reagan did it, even though he didn´t always follow through once in office.

Romney ran a decent campaign apart from the terrible GOTV efforts, but his biggest problem was his unwillingness to provide a clear alternative to Obama. He spouted a lot of platitudes about "jobs", but he was never willing to get specific about his agenda.

I believe Rand Paul could provide such an alternative, though he holds some libertarian positions that would probably make some folks here unhappy. Personally, I think that´s the direction the GOP needs to go.

It may be that there´s no single, specific leader at this point, but, good lord, anyone should be preferable to the buffoons in the WH. The PIAPS??? We´ve got to get the mechanics of turnout tuned, make sure the dims don´t continue to cheat and then produce articulate, persuasive candidates. The sheeple are not sophisticated. We´ve got to be able to talk to them.

#53 it ain´t over yet. :-) some of us younger folk are still fighting and will continue to do so.

We need to keep filling congress with conservatives during "off" election years. We need control of both houses. We need to get the RINO´s out of power (via elections & advertising-ram it home how they bowed to the Dems´ agenda) and put in solid conservatives who, like Rand Paul, actually have a pair.

We need to buy up more media, and spread meme´s and repetitive phrases over and over. We need to ridicule those who don´t agree with the founders/constitution/bill of rights.

We need to be all over the Internet, all over social media, every minute of every day. We need fresh blood and new ideas.

We can beat them at their own game. :-) it CAN be done. But it´s the RINO dinosaurs who are preventing all this. THEY are the cancer in the GOP. They are Roman Senators and they have to go. (Boehner, McCain,Ryan (yes, Ryan had showed he is but an adolescent RINO) et. al.)

We will always be stuck with the Republican elites picking our candidates because they control the money. It is painfully obvious that a Tea Party Conservative has no chance of making it to the White House. Rand better keep this in mind lest he go the way of Sarah i.e. the full Alinsky treatment. The elites of both parties gave her the ol´ one, two punch. It´s all about sharing the wealth. Our wealth.

Politics for $600.00. Who are the Teaparty?

I promise you the democrats were more surprised tnan we were that they won the election. What does that tell ya?

#62 has some cogent ideas. However, as someone who has been watching the elections closely since Reagan, I believe the Republican Party is dead. What is left is merely scrabbling progressives like McCain and nancy boys like Boehner.

I would no more vote for another loser ´Republican´ presidential candidate than I would vote for Obama or Clinton. I held my nose for McCain and I forced myself to vote for Romney simply because I did what I thought was my patriotic duty to vote for the lesser of two evils. Now however, I feel my duty is to try to protect my family and brace for the coming storm.

If a true conservative party would arise and do what #62 suggests, there may be hope.

Otherwise, the grand experiment is over, and like #53, should I gain heaven, I will apologize to the Founding Fathers.

#45 makes some good points. I would add to two more.

We must figure out a way to reassure the voters frightened away by the media, our fuzzy messages, our occasionally too-strident rhetoric. We allowed our party to be defined by those who don´t wish us well. Let´s define ourselves and let´s do a better job of it.

It would behoove us to avoid prematurely discounting some of our younger, fresher faces before giving them a chance to show us what who they are and what they can do. Stop with the "he´s not eligible", "too close to Jeb Bush" and "I don´t like his father". Give them some space. We might get a pleasant surprise.

Stop with the "Obama stole the election" nonsense. You´re just embarrassing yourself. No one stole anything. We ran a terrible candidate because we had no one else...and a bunch of good people who had zero chance of winning decided to take shots at each other in the 200 or 300 debates we had.

Paul Ryan sits like a bump on a log and lets Biden run all over him. Romney lets repeated lies go unanswered. And conservatives sat on their rears because "mittens" or "willard" or what other cutesey names wasn´t very conservative...but he was better than Obama.

So we didn´t have a perfect candidate--we have 4 more years of Obama. Happy?

Sorry about the fuzzy message I´m guilty of. Small laptop screen is the culprit, not my fuzzy brain.

I voted for McCain because I had no other alternative. I voted for, and financially support to a high degree, Romney because he was the only alternative to Obama.

I have always been a Conservative first and a Republican second. I am still a Conservative and, above all else, a Constitutionalist.

That, sadly to say, makes me no longer a Republican - not my choice but a choice made for me by the Republican party. I´m seriously looking at declaring myself a Libertarian because I no longer have anywhere else to go. If I am convinced by the Libertarian Party, I will support them with the same financial fervor I have supported Republicans for the last 45 years.

As the witch said in the Wizard of Oz, "What a world, what a wicked world".

# 11 Bingo.
It´s all about the national media , where most citizens get their information .
Even when it´s from the local news, it´s still a derivative of the national news.
Trump may be trying to buy the NYT-which would be a start.
All the talk about Republicans going even more far right
ignores the reality that
the country has moved left over the last two decades.
The fact that Obama was elected twice is Exhibit A.
We are most likely a center left country now and too pretend otherwise ignores reality.
2010 seems to have been an anomaly .
In 2012 voters in Missouri , Indiana , West Virginia
and North Dakota
supported Romney , but, did not support the far right Republican Senate candidates.
Millions of today´s 14 year olds will be voting in the next presidential election.
The demographics of the country have changed and the message and candidates of the 80s will not work.

If The Republican Party had given Romney and Ryan even modest support, Romney would be sitting in The Oval Office today.

They were the best candidates since GHWB. We threw them away. So does The GOP Want next? A Democrat in a Comservative costume?

Lots of people on these threads are boasting that they are no longer Republicans, won´t vote for anyone on a GOP ticket, are looking forward to a 3rd party. But, I don´t see those people working to get a 3rd party started. Is it supposed to just magically materialize?

Until there is some effort, it´s all just talk.

Thanks #38. I was getting really depressed reading the responses here until I read yours. At least somebody gets it.

What Einstein said about insanity.

Yesterday´s waste of time with Hillary demonstrates once again that nothing has or will change. As to Romney: where is he now?? He is still the nominee, and supposed leader of the party. If he were half as enthusiastic about confronting Democrats as he was about confronting conservatives in the primaries, he may well have been POTUS today. Yet he has glided on his golden parachute and landed safely on the Marriott board. So much for dedication to party and country.

Conservative "captured" the party in 1964 and 1980. The underlying fundamentals never changed, however. The Rockefeller/Wall Street/CountryClub elites never did and never will relinquish real control of the party. That is reality. Time to ignore their snarky remarks and walk away.

Romney coasted through the last two debates, and never called out zero for what happened in Libya. He took the high road because his handlers and consultants told him he was going to win. Also, zero´s campaign demonized Romney in key swing states as Ohio and Florida over the summer prior to the convention. These ad buys portrayed him as a radical right wing rich guy who could care less about the people. The finally nail in Romney´s political coffin was his inability to even portray himself as a conservative. He was uncomfortable when he talked about being a conservative. It showed and many in the base stayed home.

Until we run a truly conservative candidate who can appeal to the people in the middle and get beyond the immigration issue will the Republican party recover. Zero´s machine is set on 2 years of slicing and dicing the Republican party. If they do not get on the offensive and attack attack attack this abomination of an administration and president, the Republican party is doomed.

The GOP is finished for many reasons.
1. Demographics.
2. Militarism
3. Social issues.
4. Failure to resolve the conflict between conservatism and RINO-ism.
5. Failure to act on principle.
6. Negotiating with Democrats.

I wholeheartedly agree with #11’s assessment regarding the liberal media controlling the national narrative. However, I believe that the media leads because we choose to follow. We can change this.

The extremely nasty Republican primary demonstrated that we are far too wrapped up in pointing out what is wrong with our opponents than we are in articulating solutions to America’s problems. We spend a lot of time making sure that everyone knows that Andrea Mitchell lied when we should be explaining how we are going to increase employment. Ann Coulter and Jennifer Rubin drew a lot of blood from Newt Gingrich about his person but they spent precious little time discussing any of his ideas, and he had some good ideas. That troubled me. Santorum had some good ideas as well.

Newt is who he is but he could have flattened Obama in any debate about foreign policy or the economy. Newt knows how to lead in a discussion!! The only candidates IMHO that did articulate specific solutions to America’s problems today – that actually showed leadership with their ideas - were Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Santorum made some very good arguments for the economic benefits of social conservatism. Romney – nice guy, talented and capable – but he never made a case for anything other than “taking the country in a different direction”.

So, we tried to point out to everyone why the media was being foolish and why our opponents were failures. Nobody listened because it doesn’t matter to them. And, we don’t matter either.

What are you talking about #76? Still the nominee and our leader?? Really? Last time I checked the election was over and he LOST. I am no longer concerned with what that man does. After all the money and support I gave him I then find out from his own family that he really didn´t want it. Well thanks a lot Gov Romney, how bout a refund? I could really use that money now!

Maybe fundamentally the problem is that we tend to think, and think for ourselves. In general, it has been my observation that those who vote Democrat either don´t to bother to, or can´t, think. They´d rather someone else to that for them, like put the food on the table.

I´m surprised that all of you who call yourselves Constitutionalists and are searching for a third party are unaware of the existence of the Constitution Party. It´s been around in one form or another for at least thirty years. It hasn´t gained much traction in that that time, which may say something about the viability, clout, and appeal of third parties.

The web address is www.constitutionparty.com.

#45 is correct. The MSM cost Romney the election! When every utterance, every move is made fun of repeatedly, a candidate doesn´t have a chance. The election was close and the voter fraud (which might have overcome) along with the helpful press won the day for Obama. Sort of nulifies a fair election,what?

The focus should be on the principles which have demonstrably made the USA THE beacon of individual freedom, with Liberty & Justice for ALL on the planet! EVERY GOP pol of personal integrity and dempnstrable public service accomplishment who can clearly articulate and inspire others with America´s heritage of freedom must have the courage to boldly enter the arena and speak the truth asap! ...As it is, there simply is no voice at all for the USA coming from either PC-fantasyland party.

Instead, the statists in both political parties are monopolizing the microphone! ...Statist pols are all about MONOPOLIZING public opinion and minimizing public knowledge through the media/hollyweird/lsm! If you doubt this, just watch the alphabets´ pathetic excuse for what they call the evening, ´´news,´´ today. mmm mmm mmm

I made my point. We have a Sitting Democrat Governor BRAGGING about using his office to quote "twist the dials" and get his Democrat Senator Elected, and there are people in this Very Thread that literally demand we dismiss it. We can not even agree on things we can PROVE. There is no doubt in my mind why the GOP lost. Voter Fraud and Democrat money laundering through the teachers union is just part of it. It is the death of a thousand slices and we are wielding most of the knives. Clue Up. Please.

Here are my suggestions for the GOProject survey. If I were RNC King I would assign separate groups of smart volunteers (no elected officials) to work on these areas and have them report back with recommendations by, say, April 15.

Communication/messaging
Weak Leadership
Voter fraud/ID
Eliminate open primaries/vote by mail
Internal divisions vs. unity
Media bias
Strategy/tactics re voter turnout
Tech savvy gap
Weak candidates
Finance

I know there is overlap and some areas too tough to overcome and probably stuff I´m not smart to think of but it´s my idea of a start. Well, I can dream, can´t I??

#86, good ideas. maybe add a couple of others-

Debate Scheduling-No more rigged Commy/media anti- Conservative bushwhacking.
What´s the point?

Debate Preparation-learn just what Collectivism in all its disguises are and what the goal is- death of all humans- and then present it well.
Nobody wants to die, which is Socialism at its´ fruition.

Someone above mentioned that some red states did not elect pub senate candidates. As a former resident of Missouri I can assure you that the Republican Party caused that. The candidate Akin made some dumb remark, and instead of protecting him, the party squealed like little girls seeing a mouse, and incredibly, almost criminally stupidly, withdrew all support. Claire McCaskill was behind until then. The GOP gave her that win.

I agree with those of you who say that repubics knucklehead apparatchiks up to this day haven´t figured out why they (yes, they!) lost elections. Not just Romney, but all of the elections. And this is almost 3 months after it happened! Now they are asking us (US!) what to do? Are there not enough paid pollsters with white boards to figure it out?
The only thing they came up with is "bigger tent". What a grandiose stupidity! They want to oblige the leeches/drones/no-goodniks? These people already have the party to vote for: commies/fascists. They don´t need no stinking repubics!
And one more thing: don´t they understand that the first thing to present their views and ideas is to have mainstream conservative media? Hitler and lenin/stalin, castro and chavez knew that, but our "able" repubics don´t!

I think Mitt was a really good choice - he understood the economy. With 108%, 145% etc turnout in tight areas, a republican will never win.

Republicans have allowed themselves to be defined as the party of the rich, a group of petty, un-hip, humorless, intolerant, callous people stuck in the past who are mean to children, the poor, young women, blacks, Latinos, gays, lesbians, teachers, unions, and dogs.

A majority of voters believe that Democrats are cool because they want to give people stuff. They also believe that Republicans aren’t cool because they just want to take stuff away.

This image problem is an electoral deal-breaker. The only way to fix it is for the GOP to embrace the marketing techniques that drive popular culture: humor, satire and ridicule.

Conservative blogs are packed with complaints about “low information voters.” The implication is that the solution to Republican woes is to provide these voters with facts. The truth is that so-called “low information voters” believe they already have all of the information they need. They don’t want to be educated, they want to be entertained.

Democrats understand this. Republicans don’t.

Why can´t we reach out to minorities without giving up our conservative principles? I know some conservative minorities that would never even think of getting involved with the Republican party because the party is not steadfast in its pro-life, pro-family beliefs. Yes we mouth pro-life platitudes, but we cannot match the Democrats´ passion for killing babies, with our tacit pro-life platitudes

Also, Reince Priebus might be a nice guy, but a war time leader he is not. We are doomed, DOOMED in 2014 if he is at the helm. We need a guy that will go to the mats, that will take the conservative agenda to the public without apology and with commitment and forcefullness. And that "guy" is our beloved Sarah, or Michelle Bachman, or Michelle Malkin. Quite frankly, there is not ONE male Republican with the cojones of these women. What have we got to lose? We are being set up to lose the 2014 House elections, now. We need to burst out with energy, passion and true belief in conservative principles as a party, if we are to survive the Democrat juggernaut.

The issue is that the USA has lost its way. I had no problem with Romney. He would have been a good stepping stone to the rebirth of America. His campaign was not perfect to be sure. THe pubs still have not mastered the skill of messaging and persuasion. Sure, the msm is worthless, but JC, isn´t there a way to isolate them and get the message out?

The liberal project to transform the USA began a hundred years ago. Piece by piece liberalism took over the media, the schools, and the government. Nobody saw it coming. Now we have to spend the next one hundred years trying to undo this terrible mess.

Just one other problem we let happen right under our noses - we the people let the debt spiral out of control and our goose is cooked unless we wake up, now.

There is still time, but, instead of spending our spare time immersed in these blogs, we need a master plan to achieve political balance in the schools which then achieves a balanced news media which then achieves a balanced citizenry, which then achieves a balanced government.

Unfortunately, things will have to get a lot worse before the joe-average gullible American finally wakes up. But, we´ll get there in time, if we work for it. How many times more do I have to say it.

The Republican Establishment will never admit they are part of the problem and will continue to ride the Republican Party into the political abyss until the reigns are pried from their cold dead power hungry fingers. Instead of soliciting the help and ideas of the people who are leaving, they resort to foot stomping temper tantrums and pointing fingers blaming everyone but themselves for the parties demise.

These people definitely are not fans of Dale Carnegie´s "How To Win Friends and Influence People" They are however avid believers and practitioners of the Veruca Salt method of getting what they want.

Pretty much the same things went on when David was hiding from Saul in the Cave of Adullam. Have patience.