Of course there's no reason to even pay lip service to social issues or the R's won't get all those valuable liberal Dems who will reach across the aisle and vote for Romney.

-

Reason he lost as far as I'm concerned is he's a wimpy nice guy who can't comprehend how incredibly vile and mean the left is.  He turned it up during one debate, one single debate that knocked Obama's poll numbers down and made the TOTUS look ridiculous and out of his league... and then Romney's inner nice guy loser kicked in and he went mushy and weak while they got Romney for sticking his dog on the roof of his car, binders full of women, etc.

I'm so confused....GD told me it was the Libertarians fault that Romney lost.  "A vote for anybody but Romney is a vote for Obama."

Yeah, that too.


Sure, it'd be nice to have Gary Johnson, but he's just not gonna win.  Sadly, it means voting only in order to vote against Obama.  Not exactly motivating.

And it's not really easy to make a bumper sticker that says "dude, I don't like Romney either, but Obama's going to put that guy from King of Queens on the Surpreme Court and he's going to let in 100,000 illegal alien kids with enterovirus and ship them around to key voting districts so his radical leftist party will win forver and we'll be stuck in a one party state where everything will slowly descend into a leftist hell so get off your ass and vote for the mediocre guy who's at least not a huge asshole".

Not really much of a campaign slogan, either.

Climbing to the top of my voting conscientious is the desire for someone who has the will to "clean house" and remove the entrenched layers of corrupt bureaucrats that hide beneath the surface of most administrations and enforce and support the schemes of an immoral regime.

I think Romney would have done that. Leaders set the "tone" for their administration without having to say much-ie; Erik the red Holder.

I am one of those evangelical Christians who said; "NO WAY am I voting for a Mormon".........but voted for him anyway because he was/is far less evil than the alternative.  Now here we are another 4 years down the road.....another 4 years of completely off course and spinning out of control as a nation and I guess it will take the rest of my lifetime to recover from.....how's that "protest" vote working out for everyone? With few exceptions we are FAR worse off today than we were 6-8 years ago.

Was Reagan a "centrist?"

Reagan ran on a pro-immigration, pro-union platform...?-?

This



I have family members who sat out on it. They considered Romney no better than the so-called Mormon guys who were rapping little girls.



Funny how the arrest and stories about those guys ended after the 2012 elections.



It was all part of the plan



 

 

Romney lost due to the skin color of his opponent. It wouldn't have mattered who the Republicans ran. First black U.S. POTUS and all that.Qualifications matter little in a popularity contest.

 

 

When was the last time American's voted to defeat an incumbent President when American troops were fighting overseas?  

Romney never had a snowball's chance in hell.

Do you know how I know your not an actual conservative?


Unfortunately neither party will give me that.

Keep voting Liberaltardian, but I think we both know you actually vote Democrat. Like others have said change your screen name.

You equate tax cuts as "our money". It is only your money if it comes from your paycheck.

This, they were a large part of the 4 million conservatives who sat out the election.

Romney was too busy chasing Independents to secure the base.  He was too concerned with how Zippy was just a nice guy who was wrong as opposed to a BS POL who was pursuing historically proven destructive policies. He was too busy to talk to Blue Collar Democrats about how the economy was largely stagnant for them and how Zippy's push for more immigration and the non-enforcement of our borders was putting pressure on domestic wages. It is kind of hard to take positions against policies that you support.

Here's a good series of articles from Real Clear Politics that explains where Romney came up short: the missing white voters.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/06/21/the_case_of_the_missing_white_voters_revisited_118893.html

Mormons have going door to door and making pitches literally in their DNA-why was the Romney campaign's get out the vote effort not building on this well of know-how?

Romney lost when he told Americans 48 % of them were lazy, what in the Hell was he thinking ?

Don't understand how you get that but it sounds like you prefer to vote for big government deficit statists.  Romney, McCain or Christy would be fine with you. Not me.  I want balanced budget and second Amendment.  You think that is democrat?

You are talking the same shit as Bill Clinton, who actually meant not a damn word that he spoke. He talked about balanced budgets, which translated into spending more while raising taxes. Similarly you don want to get into social issues, like the Democrats, who actually push progressive social issues, that destroy the social fabric and raise dependency. Those issues that you want to ignore are inextricably linked with fiscal policy. Poverty is largely a function of the destruction of the nuclear family, from black poverty to poverty in poor white communities. Show me a unmarried woman with children on welfare I can show you a multi-generational family of government dependents that goes back at least three generations.

You can not divorce the fiscal and social problems. You can not escape allegations of sexism, class warfare, or religion, you either deal with them or get run over by them. Remember, Romney never mentioned birth control in the debates, impartial moderator George Steponallofus brought it up out of the blue and pushed a narrative of a war on women, despite Republicans Presidential candidate running from it or trying to tell people it was made up.

Romney lost because, despite being what I think is a top-notch guy, he was unable to shake off the well-earned mantle of a RINO, and enough people have had enough of it.

What cost Romney the election is the GOP ignoring (or actively working against) their fucking base for 20+ years...

Reagan ran at a different point in time.  The issues facing the country then, the political stage at the time, the views toward federal government was a whole 'nuther planet compared to when Romney ran.

That's a major problem with "conservatives" they think that rehashing shit from the past will work.  Everything has changed since the day Jimmy Carter left office, everything changed again the day Bill Clinton walked in, everything changed again the day he walked out.  Everything is different today from when BHO first sat his ass in the Oval Office.

Can the party adjust to that or will we once again compare our candidate to someone who never faced the problems our country does today?  Circumstances are different, therefore voters are different, therefore a candidate bust be DIFFERENT if he wants to appear to be able to handle the issues of TODAY.

Reagan, for all of his greatness during his time, is irrelevant today WRT issues.

And was anti-gun as well.

That was kind of my point...

Reagan was a million miles from perfect. He gave pro-Union stump speeches during election. He signed pro-abortion and anti-gun bills into law as Governor.

Romney faced a Democrat-majority. Not just a Democrat-majority... A veto-proof majority. The NRA has said in plain-English that Romney was not going to make any positive improvements to gun rights, unless he called a law a "ban." The NRA has said in plain-English that Romney tried to make things better for gun owners, and that Romney did the bidding of the NRA.

We can accept that Reagan wasn't perfect, and walk over hot coals to elect Reagan vs. Carter...

But Romney vs. "G- D- America!" Obama? Better sit that one out. Can't tell the difference between the guy who fought Unions his entire professional life, and the communist... Yeah, better sit this one out...

Makes absolutely no sense to me.

Seems like the same folks who say, "We need another Reagan..."

With the understanding that Reagan had massive, massive non-conservative baggage.

Are some times the same folks who forget that Romney was outright *begged* to run for Governor of the most-conservative state in the US after the Olympics, and where his leadership would have been a cake-walk, and very-easy... And he tried to make a difference in the most-Democrat state in the US... And he won the support and endorsement of the NRA, and he called for reducing the size and expense of Government in every budget he proposed... And when he left office, he was the most-hated politician in MA recent history because of his conservative solutions to every problem... Romneycare? Pshaw. Take a look at what Democrats wanted. Here is a hint. It resembled Euopean health care. Even that was a victory against the Democrat majorities...

Yeah, absolutely. We need another Reagan...

The truth... Reagan would not win the Republican Primary if it happened today.

Romney was farther to the right than Reagan on almost every single issue important to conservatives...

Immigration...? Romney was farther to the right.

Unions...? Romney was farther to the right.

Guns...? Romney's platform of "no new gun laws" was farther to the right than Reagans "ban auto's" platform...

Reagan was a great president. Compared to Carter, Reagan was an *amazing* President.

But when "No new gun laws" Romney was vs. "Comprehensive restrictions to gun ownership" Obama... Many folks said that they would sit at home rather than keep "G- D- America!" Obama from the Oval Office...

Yeah... Reagan wasn't perfect.

Reagan is the perfect example that a perfect pure conservative simply does not exist anywhere in reality...

And the, "I am staying at home unless the Republicans can put a perfect pure conservative on the ballot" are either Democrat trolls or complete retards...

 

 

The Republican "base" ?-?

The Republican "base" is made up of three primary groups...

Big-Business. Big-business wants to protect the "market" generally, and their segment of the market specifically. They fully-support illegal immigration as a tool to keep wages down.

Religious conservatives. Religious conservatives are generally anti-abortion. They also happen to be pro-war-on-drugs, and big-government when government is regulating things they do not like, like sex, drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. They, as a group, are wishy-washy on guns. They are the folks who say, "I am a conservative, and I own guns, but don't know why someone needs a 'assault rifle.'"

True Liberty-Minded Conservatives. These are the voters who understand that the Democrat Party has no real hope of preserving freedom, but the Republican Party *does* have the ability to promote true conservative ideals.

Here is the kicker with the "republican base." None of those three groups agree on everything... They don't.

Big-business has the money and the ability to fund and influence elections, and true conservatives hate their guts.

Religious conservatives hate drugs and alcohol, and think that more police and more regulation is the answer to many of societies problems. True conservatives hate their guts.

True conservatives will say, "Citizens should have the same access to guns and ammunition that the Police have. Its in the constitution." Religious conservatives will say, "But the police have the training..."

We can get all three groups to come-together some times.

Reagan and Bush joined forces to combine elements of the "base." Reagan appealed to some, while Bush appealed to others.

But the "base" is fragmented and extremely disagreeable...

Romney's lifelong professional fight against Unions appealed to some elements of the conservative base...

Romney's endorsement from the NRA appealed to some elements of the conservative base...

Romney's tough-line on immigration appealed to some elements of the conservative base...

But... long, long before Romney's name was on any ballot. Here on arfcom, I saw "religious conservatives" say, "I will not vote for Romney because Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."

Romney did win many conservative voters. Romney was extremely popular in the Republican West. He was *begged* to run for Governor in Utah, the most-conservative voting state in the United States right after the Olympics.

Romney was always going to do well when conservatives voted... And philanderer Gingrich and retard Santorum ran tough hardscrabble campaigns, and refused to drop-out until Romney promised to repay their campaign debt...

But Reagan won because he and Bush joined-forces early, and coasted to cheering crowds of Republicans in the Primary...

While Carter fought a tooth-and-nails campaign against his own party, and opposition led by Ted Kennedy...

This go-around, Obama coasted with total-support from his own party. No opposition.

Gingrich and Santorum had run out of money, and were running their campaigns into deep bankruptcy, and refused to relent until Romney promised to pay off their campaign debt...

Here is a hint... Philanderer Gingrich and retard Santorum do ***NOT*** represent the "Republican Base."

They represent element of the base... Santorum represents religious nut-jobs, and Gingrich represents big-business special-interests...

The base... Romney did a better job than any of the comers in reaching *every* element of the base, but failed to inspire every element of the base...

And... For Republicans, "the base" is getting older... "We want free stuff" democrats are getting younger and younger...

As for appealing to the base... The truth... We do not live in a vacuum. Romney simply did a better job than all the rest of the comers, and he beat all comers handily... Gingrich and Santorum lost by driving their campaigns into deep debt...

He got a plurality of the party who voted in a  primary. He failed to get them to the polls. You do not own the votes of the Republicans who supported you primary opponent or the otthers who did not vote in the primary, you have to earn them if you want to win the general.

Yep.

Romney was spot-on.

Too many Americans want the government to give them handouts. Too many Americans are on the government dole.

Of all the criticisms of Romney... His calling-out the 47% was 100% spot-freaking-on.

His problem... The liberal media, and Democrats are scared to death of shutting-off the Government spigot.

No free abortions. No free government money. No free college. That scares the death out of liberal Democrats.

They win by promising money from the working-class to people who vote, but don't work...

If you look at the numbers, the people who voted for Reagan... The working-class folks who would have walked-over hot coals to vote for Reagan...

They are ~all dead, or on the retirement dole. The numbers just are not there that used to be there for conservative votes...

Romney was 110% spot-on in calling-out the 47%.

The liberal Democrats are going to jump in, "bbbbut the children... bbbbut the welfare entitlements... bbbbut the college girl who needs to kill a child and have an abortion..."

The Democrats want *more* people on the dole... Romney was 100% correct.

For fuck's sake!

If the bill is Romney/Christy, I'm staying home this time myself!

And I've braved some pretty fucking long lines/wait times to vote for whatever fuckstick the G-D Repub's have put on the ballet these last few cycles! It's fucking bullshit and's got to stop!  

How many elections does the "right" need to lose before they figure this shot out? And believe me: if even a guy like me would stay home now, hundreds of thousands of otherwise right-minded folks have stayed home previously!

That said, I'm voting in the mid-terms, come Hell or high water. Nothing on this Earth - short of death - will keep me away. But, I also suspect this won't be the cakewalk many say it will.

He was thinking most voters were grown-ups who could handle the truth, I guess.

Silly him, huh?

That was also a secret recording, as I recall, soo . .. .

Oh. No doubt.

There were "religious" conservatives here on arfcom who said, "I will never vote for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" for President long, long before Romneys name was on any ballot.

Philanderer Gingrich didn't offer any *real* conservative ideals to the Party and race...

Retard Santorum didn't offer any (at all) conservative ideals to the race...

They had both supported ***NUMEROUS*** ***NATIONWIDE*** laws against gun rights. They had both fully-endorsed, and fully-supported the Lautenberg Amendment, and the 94 Gun Free Zones Law.

Gingrich helped write Lautenberg for crying out loud.

Santorum stumped for reelection on his support for 94...

Neither of them offered *any* conservative ideals to the race...

Romney spent his professional career busting Unions, supporting the free-market, and volunteering for a religion. He was endorsed by the NRA, tried lowering the size and scope of government as Governor, and was hated by Democrats when he left office...

Neither Gingrich or Santorum offered any conservative ideals. Romney was a dna-deep free market capitalist...

But yet... Gingrich and Santorum continued to receive vocal support from elements of the conservative "base."

An arfcommer even changed his avatar to read, "Romney is anti-gun, Gingrich is pro-gun."

Gingrich helped to write the Lautenberg Amendment...!-!--

Yeah, when folks write, "I will not ever vote for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for President"

Weird, weird, weird stuff happens when a member of The Church actually makes it onto a ballot...

Yeah... Lots of otherwise conservative voters stayed at home...

But...

To be clear...

We had an NRA-endorsed candidate... A candidate who earned his bones fighting a Democrat veto-proof-majority... We had an NRA-endorsed candidate who had spent his professional life in the free-market crushing Unions... And who had *personally* talked two women out of abortions, and who personally taught his sons to shoot, and his sons own ARs, Glocks, and other evil black guns... We had a Union-buster who told illegals to "get to the back of the line..."

And many people sat at home in an election with "No new gun laws" Romney vs. "G- D- America!" Obama.

Yep. A Union-buster vs. "Comprehensive restrictions to gun ownership" Obama....

And many people sat at home...

It was at a Republican fundraiser...

as fucked up a ticket as that would be, it'll still be light years ahead of whatever communists the dems are running. I don't like Romney, but he'd have made a much better President than obama. and that's why Romney got my vote

Yup.

We suck at Social Media. The RNC should listen to the NRA about social media, because they now get it.

We sucked BIG time at turning out the vote.  Most conservatives stayed home and for good reason honestly, because Romney was about as far removed from the average conservative voters as the Queen of Spain.

If the Republicans can put up someone "honest" like Rand Paul they might have a chance in 2016.  I know Rand isn't perfect, his foreign policy frankly sucks. However, he's a winnable candidate.  Hell Rand might even capture a record number of black voters for a Republican candidate. The guy has a lot of cross party normal Joe appeal in the way that Reagan did with the Blue Dog democrats.

I think you put up a Rand Paul you bring the country together. I say this as someone who completely opposes Rand's foreign policy stances, but we've got to be realistic and it's not realistic to put someone like Romney up and expect the common conservative/American to get excited about him.

I worry about Rand's debate performance skills, but I think with the right team behind him he could kick some ass.  Even some of the extreme liberals I know kind of like the guy. They wouldn't vote for him, but if they kind of like him than the swing voters are going to love him.  

I hear you - and that logic is what's gotten me to stand in line for hours in the rain for prior lost causes.

It's (far past) time the GOP ran a REAL CONSERVATIVE with REAL CONSTITUTIONAL IDEAS/IDEALS - and SOLUTIONS to our nation's ills. THEN, I'll gladly do (well beyond) my part.

Which conservative voter...

The big-business voter?

The religious conservative voter?

The *real* conservative voter?

Our party is pretty fragmented... As for appealing to conservatives, Romney was *begged* to run for Governor of the most-conservative state in the US right after the Olympics...

What about a hollyweird actor who had been *president* of the Screen Actors Guild Union, and who actively promoted Union membership, Union rules, and Union anti-competition, anti-free-market, heavy-handed contracts in his professional life? Is that the kind of guy who has his finger on the pulse of conservative voters...?-!-?-!

No one is perfect. Romney isn't. Reagan absolutely *wasn't.* You vote for the imperfect conservative who makes the most-believable promise to fulfill to goals of the Party...

Rand Paul endorsed Romney before the Primary got underway last go-around. The Paul family has been lifelong friends with the Romney family, their dads had tremendous professional and personal respect for each other. And Ron giving cover-fire to Romney during the election was no accident to those who pay attention...

Rand Paul would be a tremendous asset to conservative ideals... And I think he would go much, much farther in winning important Primaries compared to his father...

A caveat... In Colorado many "Ron Paul" posters were changed to "Obama" posters after Ron lost the Primary... Go figure... Many of his supporters were absolutely *not* conservative voters...

I see your point...

I believe your sincerity...

Just keep in mind...

Democrats have since fully-admitted to trolling conservative websites... "Might as well vote for an extremist-Democrat, or just stay at home."

And... The *perfect* conservative simply just does not exist.

You have Reagan... With his pro-Union baggage, and he appointed pro-Union folks to the NLRB... Then he kicked the teeth-in of the ATC Union when they bucked.

The "perfect" ideal conservative just does not exist. And the liberal media is highly-effective at pointing-out the minor faults of conservatives while ignoring the glaring character defects of liberal Democrats...

The liberal media painted Romney as a demon for trying to crush Unions. But Obama has never given a single person a job. Ever.

Everyone heard about people at Romney's companies who got cancer and died... And somehow that was Romneys fault...

But no one in the media asked Obama a hard question. Ever. Cover fire from everything from Benghazi to his lies on "you can keep your doctor."

Romney is not perfect. Neither is Reagan.

Christie will not win a *single* Republican Primary. He will receive the same result as Giuliani if he runs... Completely gutted in the first Primaries...

Romney is far, far from perfect. Reagan was a million miles from perfect. Perfect only exists in the minds of Democrat trolls and total-retards...

The problem... I do not think that Reagan, with his pro-abortion, anti-gun, pro-amnesty record could win the conservative vote right now because every conservative is holding out hope for a "perfect" conservative... They say, "We need another Reagan."

Then pretty-much eliminate Reagan when they start to list the ideals they see in a potential candidate...

It won't be Christie... But it will be someone who we need to ignore warts, just like Reagan, when we go to support and vote for them...

 

Simple, look who the other choices were.

I'm fiscally conservative, and probably fall somewhere between conservative and moderate on social issues, but IMO a true conservative candidate would simply get obliterated in a national election against a Democrat. Sadly, there isn't a silent majority any longer, and pretty much everyone on the left, right, and middle is addicted to some handout from Uncle Sugar. The last thing the voting public is going to vote for is the guy who tells them it's time to buckle down, sacrifice, and make hard choices.

The only chance the Republican Party has to remain viable nationally is to move more to the left, because that is what the demographic shift of our nation has done and continues to do.

Just my opinions. You are welcome to dispute/disagree with them.

You know what really hurt Romney about the 47% comment? It wasn't what he said. It was how the party at large went about defending it. When it went from "47% don't pay income tax" to "half the country doesn't pay taxes and are therefore a bunch of freeloading welfare queens" the right pissed off a bunch of people it needed.

The income tax funds about 1/3rd of the federal budget, and about 2/3rds of that 47% are peoples kids, parents, teachers, enlisted military, and so on.

There are a bunch of reasons Romney lost, all of those reasons together are why he was a really terrible candidate. What we should be asking ourselves is why our primary process results in such shitty nominees.

Other people have touched on it I think, not Obama, the nature of the republican base...I think it's way more fundamental than the specific things people like to blame the failures on. Reactionary conservatism isn't viable as a counter to progressivism.

We're constantly letting the enemy dictate when and where we do battle, and then blaming the troops for the losses whether they attack or retreat.

I believe this is a good portion of it.  Face, Obama is the best seller for centrist and conservatives to get to the polls and vote for the economy, but they did not.  They could not get off their butts.

Moving "to the left" does not have to mean going the route of giving away prizes to life's losers to feed and reproduce off of.  But thats what the Republica "centerists" do with fervor.

Try moving left away from authoritarian goverment to liberty. But old stickin the mud republicans throw a fit and call it liberalism.  It is, but it iisn't progressive it's the classical kind.  Don't expect R-tards to know the difference.

Romney = Mr Dumass

Romney's business acumen, his leadership of the Olympics, and his threading a needle to call for smaller government as governor of one of the most-liberal states in the U.S.... And his lifelong volunteer religious Ieadership...

Paints Romney as a very capable and intelligent leader...

Warts? Plenty. Reagan had some too...

But vs. "G- D- America!" Obama, I would have walked over hot coals to vote "No new gun laws" Romney vs. "Comprehensive restrictions" Obama...

Not even a question...

Where the f' are you going to find a bus load of Republicans in the middle of the day to get on a bus to go a polling station? Old folks homes?

 

It's a pretty good one with some great points for not being one.....