The Only Way For Republicans To Win

by Lorie Byrd - November 21st, 2008 - Townhall.com

I wondered why the Congress controlled by the Democrats for the past two years was not suffering the wrath of voters’ intent on “throwing the bums out.” It wasn’t because the public loved the job they were doing. The approval numbers for the Congress have consistently been lower than that of President Bush, sometimes dipping close to single digits. But those interviewed on camera by HowObamaWasElected.com overwhelmingly believed the Republicans controlled Congress.

This is a great article that delves into some of the problems Republicans face in continuing to be meaningfully involved in future political races in America, after they figure out what they actually stand for. It is of great frustration to me that we will probably be an unalterably socialist nation long before they figure this out. In the meantime though, this one paragraph (above) points to a key issue that Republicans really need to learn how to deal with. Conservatives constantly compare the percentage of people who self identify as conservatives, 34%, with those who self identify as liberals, 22%. Ignoring that a large number of conservatives really aren't conservative on key issues, there is that huge remainder of people who self identify as "moderates", 44%, that we never seem to come to grips with.

The key attitude of "moderates" is that they want to live their lives without caring about politics. Therefore they only listen to short clear positions, their key memory is not the details of the argument but the implications of the position, and most important to understand, they stop listening after the initial discussion. After that they filter further discussion out and it is impossible to get their attention again until some totally new issue arises.

Democrats have consistently taken the position that Republicans are ruling our nation badly. Therefore the fact that Democrats control Congress and the Senate is not the implication that comes through to these people. It is the implication that is communicated and Democrats constantly blame Republicans for everything. It is ridiculous for Republicans to complain since this reality has been well known, at least by Democrats, for quite some time. Why can't Republicans understand this?

When, if ever, will Republicans care about the 44% of our nation who ARE self identified "moderates"? When, if ever, will Republicans start to communicate with the realization that the debate is going to end quickly and they better figure out the implications of their initial positions in the mind of "moderates" or liberals will destroy them in the long run. When Republicans couch their positions in emotion rather than logic, they find that to a great extent, "moderates" agree with them. However they allow socialists like George W. Bush, his father and Pat Buchanan to pretend to be conservatives and confuse these moderates who Republicans really are. I wonder right now if Republicans even know themselves who they are?