Lessons for the GOP for 2016

As Deadline On Debt Reduction Impasse Looms, Super Committee Meets Over WeekendOn Tuesday, Republicans won a historic electoral victory, sweeping away a Democratic Senate, replacing Democratic governors in blue states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois, and reversing Democratic state legislatures in Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Maine, West Virginia and New Hampshire. Republicans now control more state legislatures than they have at any point since the 1920s, and a bigger House majority than they have since 1928.

The celebratory mood for Republicans pervaded the country — a feeling of hope, lost since President Obama revealed himself to be just as radical as the right suspected, has returned. That hope isn’t vain — when a landslide of such proportion takes place, there is something to it. The question is whether Republicans can capitalize on their newfound opportunity and finally make a strong move toward winning the White House.

Therein lies the problem. Midterm elections have historically been poor predictors of presidential elections. That’s because the crowd that turns out for midterms does not mirror the crowd that turns out for presidential elections — those who turn out for midterms are more highly motivated and generally better informed. In 2010, for example, approximately 84 million Americans voted for in local Congressional race. In 2012, 108 million Americans voted in the same races. Republicans won about 45 million votes in the Congressional races in 2010, with Democrats coming in far behind at 39 million. In 2012, each party earned about 54 million votes. Of the additional 24 million voters who showed up to vote in Congressional races in 2012, 62.5 percent went for Democrats.

That means that Republicans must not sit on their laurels.

For many in the commentariat, that means that Republicans must push forward a compromising, bipartisan agenda.

That seems to be the general opinion of those on the political left, who despise Republicans and who, as the evening of Nov. 4 progressed, strongly resembled Arnold Toht at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” their faces falling with each result.

The truth is precisely the reverse. Republicans cannot be seen as the Party of No, as the GOP’s enemies would have it — but they do have an obligation to turn President Obama into the President of No. That means pushing easily comprehended, single-issue bills, short and clear and popular. If President Obama wants to veto those bills, that becomes his problem. But Republicans should not stop passing legislation between 2014 and 2016.

Meanwhile, Republicans must work to exploit holes in the Democratic base. In 2012, President Obama appealed heavily to minority groups for strong turnout; Hillary Clinton does not have the same minority appeal. That means she will focus strongly on winning single women, and driving them to the polls in large numbers. Republicans should therefore push national security issues, family freedom issues — and they have just the right faces to do that in Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa and Mia Love, R-Utah, among others.

Conservatives can see a ray of sunshine at last. Now they must work to ensure that the ray of sunshine doesn’t turn into another faded opportunity.

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  • http://www.stubbornthings.org NAHALKIDES

    Another must-do item: cripple Obamacare. For one thing, too many people could become hooked like junkies on free benefits, but more importantly, the private sector health insurance market must be maintained as far as possible. The goal of Obamacare was to destroy or control private health insurance so that “single payer” would be the only option left. That is what must be prevented. Taking out the individual and employer mandates would be fine, since doing so would accelerate Obamacare’s implosion. Removing the insurance company bailout provisions would be good also.

    The idea must be to increase pressure on Democrats when things go wrong, as they invariably will, to repeal more and more of this monstrosity.

    • marsha982

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    • MarilynA

      It has been proven repeatedly that privatizing socialism is always a disaster because you cannot create a large pool of money and tell people to come get what they deserve. Everyone will always take as much as they can get, and devise means to cover up their graft. As proven when auto ins. was made mandatory, getting the government involved always leads to drastically increased costs and less services. We used to carry the most Ins. available on our vehicles and our premiums were less than $100 per year. Once auto ins. became mandatory, the rates went up so that we would now be lucky if we could get by paying $100 per month for the least amount of coverage. available. It was the same with our highways. States used to build their own roads. Prior to the fed. govt. getting involved, a state could build 10 miles of roads thru a swamp for $1 million. After the Feds got involved, the going rate went up to a million dollars per mile and everyone who could afford a Barber Green went into the paving business, resulting in substandard roads that require constant repairs. Socialism requires good government oversight and severe restrictions and regulation to work. Unfortunately, most of our politicians have managed to turn Socialism into just another scheme of rewards to friends and family and punishments for those not on the inside.

  • ricpic

    Since the Republicans now control both houses of Congress there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to put single issue bill after single issue bill in front of Obama and keep him vetoing those bills, which will be seen as backpedaling, for the entirety of the next two years. The point is that NO ONE can stop them doing this. If they don’t…well, if they don’t they deserve to go the way of the Whigs.

    • MLCBLOG

      I am reminded that we can overcome a Presidential veto (a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress does it).

  • bigjulie

    “The way” is already upon them! The way is called Johnny Boehner and Mitch McConnell, two of the most inept congressional leaders to ever hold the title. Unless both Houses figure out a way to move them aside and substitute REAL Congressional leaders, the entire exercise called the 2014 mid-terms will be just another expensive waste of time,

    • MLCBLOG

      Yeah, John and Mitch better get a clue that we conservatives have a voice.

      • bigjulie

        They are only too well clued-in to that fact! That’s why they keep trying (I hope in vain) to shut us up!!

  • MLCBLOG

    I like to think that is the old as in Grand Old Party. It is of note that Tea Partiers won in 10 out of 11 races where they ran. It could be a new day!

  • Dan Knight

    Great Advice Ben … meanwhile back at the farm, I’m not holding my breath.

  • dwayne roberson

    Republicans need to begin with a field goal or two. Opposition will try to draw a penalty. The irony is that conservatives are anti-central planning and groupthink, but if they can advance in the next two years they will need their own central planned messaging and coordination to avoid liberal media pitfall.