Following the behind-the-woodshed mauling that the Democratic party gave to the Republican party last Tuesday night, many on the Right have wondered how things went so poorly for the GOP. It was just two years ago that they were swept into office across the nation - especially in the House of Representatives - with a euphoria they assumed would only continue to this presidential election, when many figured that President Obama would be summarily swept out of office, the Democratic party swept out of the Senate, and the Republican party would be firmly entrenched for decades to come.
Then Tuesday happened.
Many on the Right, like Peggy Noonan, Fred Barnes, and Dick Morris, had the exact opposite of their predictions come to life. They figured that the teeming crowds who enthusiastically greeted Governor Romney everywhere - while the President was met with much less enthusiasm than what greeted him four years ago - meant that the nation, as a whole, was ready for change. Wow, were they wrong. There are a number of reason why but posted below are some under-the-radar mistakes that doomed the GOP.
1) The rape comments made by Republicans Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock.
I don't want to rehash what was said by these two but these comments resonated in a major way on the national stage.
While all political parties have a huge banner under which their candidates and members fall, from the extremes to the moderates, they all have one thing in common: the letter, either R or D, after their names. Therefore, all candidates on all levels, should they choose to not run as an independent, are really representative of their entire party. Any outlandish comments made by someone with these letters after the name can and often do resonate nationally, as the Republicans found out in this election.
Following the comments made by Akin and Mourdock, Republicans everywhere were put on the defensive. Rather than being able to focus on their own issues and their own campaigns, they were all forced to discuss statements made by people who they have zero connection with except the letter R following their names. Many heard those statements and immediately looked at Governor Romney, and it actually became a campaign issue for him. Additionally, those statements no doubt resonated with independent voters, as they gave every Republican in every place a bad name.
Additionally, can you think of something crazy said by any Democrat running anywhere in these elections that caused the level of (well-deserved) furor made by Akin and Mourdock? No. It's an example of how the Democratic party got a huge leg-up not because of anything it did but because of something it didn't do.
2) A Lack of Willingness to Accept Accountability.
Before the election I kept waiting to see an advertisement which showed President Obama and the Democratic party making promises up to the 2008 election and then showing how he and they had reneged on those same promises, one which would show him making a similar error to the first President Bush and his infamous 'Read my lips: no new taxes' line that doomed him in 1992. There are several examples of this, especially on big issues like unemployment and economic growth, and my personal favorite was when he promised to post any bill online for five days before signing it so the public could all read it, then passed his health care law on a Saturday in a very clandestine manner. One could even include Nancy Pelosi saying that we need to pass the bill in order to know what's in it.
The only reason I can think as to why we never saw these types of advertisements is because politicians and their parties are afraid that if they hold the mirror up to another candidate, they open the door for the other candidate to hold the mirror up to them at a later point. There seems to be some sort of tacit consent between the parties wherein they agree not to take certain steps in criticizing the other. It's similar to the 'Mutually Assured Destruction' idea that kept the world from nuclear armageddon during the Cold War: should one party start attacking the lies of the other when it comes to broken promises, they will open the door to being attacked themselves.
What this leads to is no one willing to have a Harry Truman, 'The Buck Stops Here' moment, and it seems that at this time in America, people want someone to stand up and at least be willing to be responsible for something, to not blame someone else for their own shortcomings. This was a perfect opportunity for the Republican party - and Governor Romney in particular - to stand up and welcome scorn, tell the American people that should they fail to live up to their promises they will shoulder the burden and should be kicked out of office. The fact that they was unwilling to do so helped in their downfall.
3) Lack of Clear Direction
Of all the things that I believe irradiated independent voters in the recent election cycle, especially when it comes to Governor Romney, was his lack of a clear plan on numerous issues, especially regarding the economy and spending. As an example of the latter, look to how he repeated time and again the need to get government spending under control yet was open to increasing, of all things, military spending. Most Americans, I assume, would think that the defense budget is the one most in need of trimming.
Stop for a second and consider what most prominent issues facing Americans right now and think of the Republican's position on said issues. They talked about cutting spending while also speaking about the aforementioned increase in the military budget. Governor Romney talked about job creation while repeatedly stating his credentials as a job creator - specifics were lacking. At least Paul Ryan had a plan for Medicare but that was swept away from the national consciousness despite it's effectiveness (it was also ignored quickly because it didn't start having an impact until 2025, which may as well be 3025 in today's culture).
Instead, what Republicans did was say 'Hey, look what the Democrats did. At least we're not them!' This policy clearly failed. As the old saying goes, 'The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know,' and in this case it's clear that the American voters went with the know entity because the Republican party never truly allowed themselves to be know.
4) Hypocrisy in Their Message
Finally, the message that I heard often from the mouths of various GOP candidates this fall is the famous Ronald Reagan quote, 'Are you better off today than you were four years ago?' While this statement is meant to be a sign that the Democratic party has been screwing up the nation since 2008, look deeper at what is actually being said.
What this message implies is that, if you're not better now than you were four years ago, its because of the government, that the government can do something to help you. I'd argue that this statement implies an over-reliance on the government - most people, if they aren't better now than they were in 2008, should look at themselves first and not to any officials. This actually files in the face of the supposed core of the Republican platform, that of lesser government and more personal independence. I think independent voters saw this hypocrisy and rejected the platform outright.
Finally, a little note to those really giddy or upset by the election. On so many key issues, there was no difference between our two presidential candidates. If you were looking for true change, either on the Left or the Right, neither candidate was for you.
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