It is rather fitting that the
Republicans were prevented from winning much on Election Day since they ignored
a majority of the American voters throughout the campaigns. Though I am exactly
in their target demo: older white male, professional job, college degree,
fiscally conservative, and from a very conservative family, there is no way I
can support most of the Republican Party’s platform. (Don’t mistake that to
think I vote Democratic; I don’t. I usually vote Libertarian but it depends on
the issue and the candidate.)
Listening
to certain radio ilk the past month made one think Romney was a shoo-in. Sean
Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved and other
mouthpieces of the far right fringe have been citing poll after poll showing
that Romney had not only caught up with Obama, he had surpassed him in various
demographics and was on a roll that would take him into the White House. It is
a perfect example of the old adage ‘If you believe a lie long enough, it will
become the truth to you.’ It has now been exposed that many of the pollsters didn't have a clue as to what was happening. They asked the wrong questions of
those polled, and in a good number of cases because the questions were
‘loaded’, they got the result they wanted to hear. When polling is based on
what you want to hear, you’ll get a skewed result.
One of the talk show hosts tried
mightily to show that the evangelicals were going to come out in record numbers
and vote for a Mormon for president; not because of his conservatism, but
because he was a ‘man of faith’. Supposedly, they should be able to relate to that even though the
evangelicals’ own ‘holy book’ denounced anyone who didn't think like them. I know from dealing with many 'born-again christians' that they DO NOT believe a Mormon is even close to being a christian. I
can’t wait to read how the talk show host will interpret Romney’s loss, if he bothers trying. My
bet is on him claiming that it became evident that god could not allow a Mormon to become president. (Then why the call to support him? Didn't he check with god first?)
Not
helping the Republican cause were the various incidents of ‘hoof-in-mouth’
disease that made some of the candidates look like air-headed lemmings and
became well-deserved targets of scorn and ridicule. Voters remember that kind
of buffoonery when it comes time to cast their ballot. If the Republicans hope
to win in the future, they’d be advised not to take the advice talk show annoyance Dennis
Prager. Just days after the election, he was telling callers on his show that
the Republican Party didn't abandon the voters, they abandoned the party, and
encouraged his listeners to go out and ‘re-sell’ Republicanism to everyone they
know. They should pitch all the things that reflected Republican Party values, and convince people that those values are what make good candidates, and a party worth following. He didn't advise them to take a look at how many Republicans interpreted planks in their party's platform. Maybe they should.
Because just how do you sell to anyone that ‘rape is a blessing from god’, gays who simply
want the right to marry just like heterosexuals, can’t, an attitude of ‘I don’t want the
federal government taking away my freedoms, just the freedoms of any woman who
wants an abortion’, that you should be fiscally conservative, except when it comes to the Drug War and funding every military weapon system that can be conjured up, and regardless of the Establishment Clause, insisting that the Republicans are the only faith-based party and that god only supports right-wing
(Republican) decisions?
