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Election Aftermath: Part 2

Omissions
Republican
Opportunities Lost

Posted on Nov 20, 2012

I wrote about the faulty Republican primary system in Part 1. This part will deal with the lost opportunities Mitt Romney allowed that ultimately cost him the election---

But first, I want to make it abundantly clear that Romney campaigned energetically, and tirelessly. He was certainly no lazy candidate. He and his family had thrown themselves all in for the task of getting Romney elected. But was it enough? Physically, his campaign probably could not have done any more, but strategically, the campaign was a failure.

In the run-up to the Republican Convention, there were two opportunities missed by Romney to be inclusive and keep the conservative wing of the party energized. These two omissions were glaring and were responsible for a lot of Republican apathy about voting.

1.) We had one candidate that not only appealed to the youth-vote, but was popular with at least 10% of our voters, Ron Paul... Romney chose to dismiss him as unnecessary to his campaign. While nobody could have expected Romney to embrace all that Ron Paul advocated, but Romney needed Paul. Instead of reaching out to Paul and his supporters, Romney stiffed them. A warm welcome mat to both Paul and his supporters would have been a great boost to the party.

2.) Sarah Palin, a very popular conservative was also given short shrift. Thinking that Palin would be a negative, the Romney camp calculated that Palin's supporters would be so anti-Obama that they would not need Palin. To many of Palin's supporters, it was an insult. Many of her supporters were disappointed at her not being a featured speaker at the convention.

Romney missed the boat with Paul and Palin; their avid support would have been extraordinarily helpful in turning out the base to vote. Instead of enthusiasm for Romney, we got voter apathy.

After the convention, Romney continued to neglect groups that could have helped him win. Preaching to the choir may bolster a candidate's spirits, but such crowds are already supporters. Expanding the voter base required taking his campaign beyond those friendly confines and into areas of the opposition. At best, Romney only did token campaigning outside his comfort zone.

Conservative principles have wide appeal if they are applied. But it was made abundantly clear to the minority and Hispanic voters that Romney didn't want their vote. No, he wouldn't have won the minority vote, but he could have made inroads. Romney was absent at most minority events. Romney should have been at their events explaining his positions and how minorities would benefit from a Romney presidency. I'm talking about an honest appeal to minorities and not a token obligatory appearance just for optics. He needed to assure our minority populations that the social safety net would not be yanked from under them.

The vote totals clearly demonstrate that Romney wrote off certain states and districts as unwinnable. But just a few converts from within those areas could have resulted in a Romney win. Actively campaigning in those 'written off' areas would have conveyed the message that Romney saw them as an important part of the fabric that makes up our nation. It is the Karl Rove model that coldly groups voters into calculated blocks. A model that results in alienation of all opposition voters and yields division. Those groups vote Democratic because they are not ignored by the Democrats and feel as though they belong and are needed.

All during the campaign I waited for someone to yell at the liberal stronghold of California and tell them that their state was drowning in Liberalism. But nobody was there to give that message to those Californians and as a result, California elected even more Liberals and blessed tax increases. That misguided action by the Californians will cost all of us as we will probably have to bail out spend happy California from our already broke and Chinese borrowing treasury. (Thanks to Obama policies.)

From my perspective, the Republican campaign was a disastrous gambit of taking some areas for granted, ignoring others and limiting their campaign to just a few states. ---In such a crucial election, such strategy as used by Romney and the RNC was really a blow against freedom. To use a term heard on The Rush Limbaugh Show -- We need to fire all of our election "wizards of smart" and replace them with "smart but practical" wizards.

Send me your comments, -Robert-

Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my commentaries.


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Faulty Primary System---Romney wasn't the choice of most Republicans, he was chosen by a faulty primary system. This article is part 1 of 2.

The Final Four (Feb 2012) This article is my third about the GOP candidates. This is an update of my impressions of the remaining contenders for the GOP nomination. Things could still change.

A Sea of Freedom --How far left is far enough? Obama is testing how far Left he can take us.


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