Cartoon from here.
This was the sort of meeting no one wants to see. Yet it went as well as could be expected. Lyle Beefelt, the Chair of the Prince William County Republican Committee, went over why we lost and what we need to do about it. He began with the vote totals. Let it suffice to say that even though more people turned out, McCain got fewer votes than Bush in 2004.
Why did the Democrats win? Beefelt said national factors involved the economy, negative media coverage, and the fact that Obama hugely outspent McCain. Obama’s spending swamped our local efforts. Although our volunteer base was twice as large as it was in 2004, The local Democratic Party got a significant boost courtesy of the Obama campaign. Democrats easily outstaffed and outspent us.
So what do we do? Beefelt pointed out that in some respects, the PWC GOP came out of the election in good shape. We have more money (Federal election laws, courtesy of McCain-Feingold, limited how much we could spend.). We have also identified a large, local volunteer base. Our problem now is to hold this organization together.
Beefelt then let our Membership Committee Chairman, Tom Whitmore, describe his proposal. Essentially, Whitmore described how the Committee should work. He described an organization that maintains grassroots organizational integrity from one year to the next. He said District Chairs and Precinct Captains must take a stronger role. District Chairs need to recruit Precinct Captains. Precinct Captains need to work with volunteers in their precincts, focusing on fund raising, identifying Republican voters, getting out the vote and manning the polls on Election Day.
There is only one way to make such a plan work. We must depend upon our own initiative to get the job done. Consider how Jeanine Lawson, our Vice Chair, responded to a complaint. She asked the person making the complaint to take up the task of fixing the problem.
The PWCGOP is a volunteer organization. We don’t have lots of money; we are all volunteers. Unless our leadership can depend on us, we cannot depend on our leadership.
Although there was general frustration with the simple fact that the Republican Party did not get its message out, comments from other committee members were generally positive. When members complained that our candidates did not do a good job of defining and carrying the party’s message, Beefelt explain that it is our job to help our choose our candidates, define their message, give them support when they deliver that message. While Beefelt’s statement met with some grumbling, no one could argue with it.
Other members spoke up and explained that we have to get out in the community and explain what the Republican Party is about. Many of our new Hispanic citizens, for example, live much more conservatively than they voted. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party did a much better job of asking for their support than we did.
So instead of fixing blame, the meeting focused on fixing problems, and that was a good thing. As another member stated, we have to stop fighting amongst ourselves.
David Ray, one of our State Central Committee representatives, made a point of stating that he would continue to support Jeff Frederick as the RPV Chair. That announcement met with general approval.
Cartoon from here.
Cartoon from here.
One Man Was a Tyrant; The Other a Citizen-Leader.
Quotes from Napoleon Bonaparte (from here)
Quotes from James Madison (from here)
McCain lost because of Palin, IMHO. Too many Republicans and Independents were against her nomination because they didn’t feel she was qualified enough. McCain wasn’t a bad guy by himself. If it were for Palin, I might have even voted for him (I’m and Independent).
kgotthardt – You are guilty of indiscriminately believing what the media tells you. Always remember that the vast majority of people have an axe to grind. The includes the news media.
With the exception of campaign experience, Sarah Palin is far more qualified than Barack Obama. Of the four candidates, Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin, Palin was the only candidate with executive experience as in elected office.
Nah….I just listened to her and read her bio. Then the more she talked, the more embarassed I was for her. Sorry, but she sounds as dippy as I do when I’m in one of my moods! The very thought of either of us put into a presidential position horrified me
kgotthardt – I will lay odds your research on the presidential candidates was almost solely conducted using resources provided by the traditional mainstream news media. That is not good enough.
Few human beings reach anything approaching perfection. None of us are really qualified for the job of leading an entire nation. Nonetheless, we have to choose somebody. So we are stuck trying to find the least unqualified. With our choice of Obama and Biden, I have serious concerns. In this case, I think we would have been hard put to find any pair less qualified.
Whatever else anyone wants to say about Bush and Cheney, they pretty much did what they said they would do. Until the passage of time unearthed this mortgage lending debacle, the worst things Bush did was to spend a bit too much money and promote an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. We now know Bush and Cheney did not work hard enough soon enough to undo the damage of previous administrations and earlier Congresses.
Obama and the Democratic Congress promise to make the economic fiasco they created into a bigger mess. Their solution is more of the same idiocy that got us into this mess. McCain/Palin and the Republican Party may have done much the same thing, but I doubt it. The Fed pumping hundreds of billions into banks and a humongous bailout package just is not enough for the Democrats. We need a humongous stimulus package too. At the same time, Obama promises to restrain spending.
The only predicable thing about Obama is that whenever he says anything, he will say it with unflappable confidence.
I wonder how long it will be — if ever — before people see through this empty facade. Audacious boldness is no substitute for character. Lofty words from a silver tongue do not equate to moral leadership. A demagogue by any other name is still a demagogue. Whenever a politician makes glowing promises of wealth stolen from others, we know he is rotten thief. Just because he promised those who voted for him to be their thief does not mean he deserves their trust.
But you asked why the Republicans lost the election. That’s my answer. Whether Palin was maligned by the media or not, that’s why Obama won, IMHO. It’s not about me
kgotthardt – I did not ask why Republicans lost the election. I offered up Beefelt’s conclusions. For the most part, the subject of this post is what the PWCGOP is doing to win the next election.
In 2012, Sarah Palin may end up being the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. I think she could be a good choice, but I have no reason to decide now.
What will 2012 be like? Undoubtedly, like yourself, many will still believe that Palin cost the GOP this election. I fear too many let what hear from the news media provide too much of the context for their thoughts. Few Republicans believe Palin cost the GOP the election. Many voted for McCain because of Palin.
Palin became the big story of this election. Why? There are two reasons.
1. The news media FEARS Sarah Palin. The news media did its best to trash her reputation. Because they FEAR Sarah Palin, the news media is still gunning for her. If Palin was as ineffective as you say, that would not be happening.
2. The news media long ago ran out of things to say about Barack Obama. In fact, if they wanted Obama to win, the less said the better.
Tom, I’m not sure why you think the media fears ANYONE. I tend to think they like dirt wherever they can find it, especially during elections.
kgotthardt – It is quite obvious the news media fears some folks, but that is another story.
Suffice to say the coverage the presidential elections was the most biased I have seen in my lifetime. To some extent, even the Washington Post had to admit the bias (see here) — after the election, of course.
As a Conservative, I almost cannot help but see both Conservative news coverage (what little there is), and mainstream news media coverage (the vast majority being Liberal news sources). When I compare the two, only then do I claim to have some idea of what is going on. I suggest that you too consider both sides of the news.
I do. What I can’t deal with, however, is extremes on either end. While strict reporting (i.e. police reports and that kind of thing) tend to be less bias (but not always) the rest of it does lie in the laps of the reporter even if unintentionally. People choose their words according to how they are accustomed to using them, and this is a matter of conditioning and context.
I also can’t stand rhetoric that induces hatred, and unfortunately, I’ve heard it from people who claim to be conservatives. True conservatives don’t endorse hate. Frankly, Tom, we need more conservatives like you who don’t seem to be in the “get them to hate and we shall overcome” camp.
kgotthardt – Thank you for the compliment.
Here is what I mean when I talk about bias in the news media. When you complimented me, you you gave others, the not “True Conservatives”, the back of your hand. Why? I suggest you think about that and remember that while the much of news media would like us to believe otherwise, hatred in America has little to nothing to do with Conservatism. Does anyone have to be a Conservative to demonize their opposition? Of course not, and I hope you do not believe that they do.
Anyone can hate. All people do hate. All we have to do to hate is to forget for a moment to put ourselves in the shoes of the object of our hatred.
I’m referring to what people say themselves, not what I hear in the media, Tom. For example, people who call others dog food because of their immigration status and who determine that illegals should be shot and killed and who then claim to be conservatives are not.
You are correct in that there are evil people in every group. Unfortunately, the true haters I’ve met call themselves conservatives.
On the other hand, some of the worse corporate criminals I’ve met in higher education have called themselves liberals.
So don’t believe I believe it only goes one way.
Rotten people abound no matter what group they espouse and they only serve to make the group itself appear vile.
“worst” corporate criminals