I think Laura Hollis has written an extraordinarily perceptive post-mortem analysis. I commend it to you.
I am already reading so many pundits and other talking heads analyzing the disaster that was this year’s elections. I am adding my own ten cents. Here goes:
1. We are outnumbered
We accurately foresaw the enthusiasm, the passion, the commitment, the determination, and the turnout. Married women, men, independents, Catholics, evangelicals – they all went for Romney in percentages as high or higher than the groups which voted for McCain in 2008. It wasn’t enough. What we saw in the election on Tuesday was a tipping point: we are now at a place where there are legitimately fewer Americans who desire a free republic with a free people than there are those who think the government should give them stuff. There are fewer of us who believe in the value of free exchange and free enterprise. There are fewer of us who do not wish to demonize successful people in order to justify taking from them. We are outnumbered. For the moment. It’s just that simple.
2. It wasn’t the candidate(s)
Some are already saying, “Romney was the wrong guy”; “He should have
picked Marco Rubio to get Florida/Rob Portman to get Ohio/Chris Christie
to get [someplace else].” With all due respect, these assessments are
incorrect. Romney ran a strategic and well-organized campaign. Yes, he
could have hit harder on Benghazi. But for those who would have loved
that, there are those who would have found it distasteful. No matter
what tactic you could point to that Romney could have done better, it
would have been spun in a way that was detrimental to his chances.
Romney would have been an excellent president, and Ryan was an inspired
choice. No matter who we ran this year, they would have lost. See #1, above.
3. It’s the culture, stupid.
We have been trying to fight this battle every four years at the
voting booth. It is long past time we admit that that is not where the
battle really is. We abdicated control of the culture – starting
back in the 1960s. And now our largest primary social institutions –
education, the media, Hollywood (entertainment) have become really
nothing more than an assembly line for cranking out reliable little
Leftists. Furthermore, we have allowed the government to undermine the
institutions that instill good character – marriage, the family,
communities, schools, our churches. So, here we are, at least two full
generations later – we are reaping what we have sown. It took nearly
fifty years to get here; it will take another fifty years to get back.
But it starts with the determination to reclaim education, the media,
and the entertainment business. If we fail to do that, we can kiss every
election goodbye from here on out. And much more.
4. America has become a nation of adolescents
The real loser in this election was adulthood: Maturity.
Responsibility. The understanding that liberty must be accompanied by
self-restraint. Obama is a spoiled child, and the behavior and language
of his followers and their advertisements throughout the campaign makes
it clear how many of them are, as well. Romney is a grown-up. Romney
should have won. Those of us who expected him to win assumed that voters
would act like grownups. Because if we were a nation of grownups, he would have won.
But what did win? Sex. Drugs. Bad language. Bad manners. Vulgarity. Lies. Cheating. Name-calling. Finger-pointing. Blaming. And irresponsible spending.
This does not bode well. People grow up one of two ways: either they choose to, or circumstances force them to. The warnings are all there, whether it is the looming economic disaster, or the inability of the government to respond to crises like Hurricane Sandy, or the growing strength and brazenness of our enemies. American voters stick their fingers in their ears and say, “Lalalalalala, I can’t hear you.”
It is unpleasant to think about the circumstances it will take to force Americans to grow up. It is even more unpleasant to think about Obama at the helm when those circumstances arrive.
5. Yes, there is apparently a Vagina Vote
It’s the subject matter of another column in its entirety to point out,
one by one, all of the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the Democrats
this year. Suffice it to say that the only “war on women” was the one
waged by the Obama campaign, which sexualized and objectified women,
featuring them dressed up like vulvas at the Democrat National
Convention, appealing to their “lady parts,” comparing voting to losing
your virginity with Obama, trumpeting the thrills of destroying our
children in the womb (and using our daughters in commercials to do so),
and making Catholics pay for their birth control. For a significant
number of women, this was appealing. It might call into question the
wisdom of the Nineteenth Amendment, but for the fact that large numbers
of women (largely married) used their “lady smarts” instead. Either way,
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are rolling over in their
graves.
6. It’s not about giving up on “social issues”
No Republican candidate should participate in a debate or go out on the
stump without thorough debate prep and a complete set of talking points
that they stick to. This should start with a good grounding in biology
and a reluctance to purport to know the will of God. (Thank you, Todd
and Richard.)
That said, we do not hold the values we do because they garner votes. We
hold the values we do because we believe that they are time-tested
principles without which a civilized, free and prosperous society is not
possible. We defend the unborn because we understand that a society
which views some lives as expendable is capable of viewing all lives as
expendable. We defend family – mothers, fathers, marriage, children –
because history makes it quite clear that societies without intact
families quickly descend into anarchy and barbarism, and we have plenty
of proof of that in our inner cities where marriage is infrequent and
unwed motherhood approaches 80%. When Roe v. Wade was decided in
1973, many thought that the abortion cause was lost. 40 years later,
ultrasound technology has demonstrated the inevitable connection between
science and morality. More Americans than ever define themselves as
“pro-life.” What is tragic is that tens of millions of children have
lost their lives while Americans figure out what should have been
obvious before.
There is no “giving up” on social issues. There is only the realization that we have to fight the battle on other fronts. The truth will out in the end.
7. Obama does not have a mandate. And he does not need one.
I have to laugh – bitterly – when I read conservative pundits trying to
assure us that Obama “has to know” that he does not have a mandate, and
so he will have to govern from the middle. I don’t know what they’re
smoking. Obama does not care that he does not have a mandate. He
does not view himself as being elected (much less re-elected) to
represent individuals. He views himself as having been re-elected to
complete the “fundamental transformation” of America, the basic
structure of which he despises. Expect much more of the same – largely
the complete disregard of the will of half the American public, his
willingness to rule by executive order, and the utter inability of
another divided Congress to rein him in. Stanley Kurtz has it all laid
out here.
8. The CorruptMedia is the enemy
Too strong? I don’t think so. I have been watching the media try to throw elections since at least the early 1990s. In 2008 and again this year, we saw the media cravenly cover up for the incompetence and deceit of this President, while demonizing a good, honorable and decent man with lies and smears. This is on top of the daily barrage of insults that conservatives (and by that I mean the electorate, not the politicians) must endure at the hands of this arrogant bunch of elitist snobs. Bias is one thing. What we observed with Benghazi was professional malpractice and fraud. They need to go. Republicans, Libertarians and other conservatives need to be prepared to play hardball with the Pravda press from here on out. And while we are at it, to defend those journalists of whatever political stripe (Jake Tapper, Sharyl Atkisson, Eli Lake) who actually do their jobs. As well as FoxNews and talk radio. Because you can fully expect a re-elected Obama to try to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in term 2.
9. Small business and entrepreneurs will be hurt the worst
For all the blather about “Wall Street versus Main Street,” Obama’s
statist agenda will unquestionably benefit the biggest corporations
which – as with the public sector unions – are in the best position to
make campaign donations, hire lobbyists, and get special exemptions
carved out from Obama’s health care laws, his environmental regulations,
his labor laws. It will be the small business, the entrepreneur, and
the first-time innovators who will be crushed by their inability to
compete on a level playing field.
10. America is more polarized than ever; and this time it’s personal
I’ve been following politics for a long time, and it feels different this time. Not just for me. I’ve received messages from other conservatives who are saying the same thing: there is little to no tolerance left out there for those who are bringing this country to its knees – even when they have been our friends. It isn’t just about “my guy” versus “your guy.” It is my view of America versus your view of America – a crippled, hemorrhaging, debt-laden, weakened and dependent America that I want no part of and resent being foisted on me. I no longer have any patience for stupidity, blindness, or vulgarity, so with each dumb “tweet” or FB post by one of my happily lefty comrades, another one bites the dust, for me. Delete.
What does this portend for a divided Congress? I expect that Republicans will be demoralized and chastened for a short time. But I see them in a bad position. Americans in general want Congress to work together. But many do not want Obama’s policies, and so Republicans who support them will be toast. Good luck, guys.
11. It’s possible that America just has to hit rock bottom
I truly believe that most Americans who voted for Obama have no idea
what they are in for. Most simply believe him when he says that all he
really wants is for the rich to pay “a little bit more.” So reasonable!
Who could argue with that except a greedy racist?
America is on a horrific bender. Has been for some time now. The warning signs of our fiscal profligacy and culture of lack of personal responsibility are everywhere – too many to mention. We need only look at other countries which have gone the route we are walking now to see what is in store.
For the past four years – but certainly within the past campaign season – we have tried to warn Americans. Too many refuse to listen, even when all of the events that have transpired during Obama’s presidency – unemployment, economic stagnation, skyrocketing prices, the depression of the dollar, the collapse of foreign policy, Benghazi, hopelessly inept responses to natural disasters – can be tied directly to Obama’s statist philosophies, and his decisions.
What that means, I fear, is that they will not see what is coming until the whole thing collapses. That is what makes me so sad today. I see the country I love headed toward its own “rock bottom,” and I cannot seem to reach those who are taking it there.