Those Who Do Not Learn From History...Aw, You Know the Rest!

Didn’t someone tell the GOP that bad déjà vu sucks! Don’t get me wrong, I so wanted Romney to win. He wasn’t who many conservatives wanted but they stood with him when he won the Republican nomination for President. To be honest, I don’t think that any of the other candidates would have done any better. Romney is a moderate but he didn’t have a strong enough conservative brand. The Obama campaign did a better job in a way of branding Romney than the Republications. Many found it hard to connect with Romney. I know choosing a candidate because you could see yourself having a beer, etc., with the person doesn’t make that person the best candidate for the job but people do want to believe that the President actually cares about them. President Obama did a great job convincing people that he cares even when his actions didn’t match was being said.

The other issue is that “conservative” needs new branding. There needs to be people that can effectively rebrand what conservative is instead of what people now believe it to mean. If the tape is not changed, conservatism will stay a negative word. Conservatives need to take back the narrative. It is time for it to be owned once again. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” needs to be the conservative “why”. Why are you a conservative, why is conservatism good for the country, why should conservatives affect the culture around them, etc. The picture of what people believe conservatives are must be changed. The old, crotchety GOP male guard picture needs to go and be replaced with who conservatives really are. Conservatives are like a bouquet, one that has a variety of flowers that come in different colors.

Conservatives need to take a hard look at what they believe, do they want the status quo or is it time to change. If the GOP keeps doing the same thing over and over again, they will get the same results. They “king makers” need to retire. Conservatives need a party where all are welcomed, their voices are heard, their contributions (talents/skills) accepted not pushed aside by others because it is their turn to run things. You’re turn does not mean that the best people are doing the best jobs. Also, there needs to be a shake up on how things are done, policies implemented, their needs to be adaptability in how things are done. Just because something was done one way before, doesn’t mean that it is done the same way forever. If you stay in the same rut, the only thing that grows is the depth of it.

The next thing is vetting potential candidates better. Just because you want to run doesn’t means that you are the right candidate. Conservatives must remember that until the game changes, there will be Rule A for liberals and Rule B for conservatives. Life isn’t fair, but if you can’t play the game as it is, then don’t play. There also needs to be better prep done for new candidates so that they can effectively speak about social issues.

Also, people need to stop, not voting for someone because of one issue. I heard that people wouldn’t vote for Romney because he was a Mormon, or couldn’t vote for someone because they weren’t anti-abortion. Sorry, I would never vote for someone just because the candidate was a Protestant or Catholic or anti-abortion. I am going to vote for the right candidate for the job.

What is the answer? I am not certain as too many people don’t want take the hard road. But conservatives need to have these conversations because if people don’t try, nothing will ever change.