Friday, November 9, 2012

Double-Dutch Double-Down at RedState

Erick Erickson at RedState calls for a double-double-down on GOP strategy.  After running the list of the now-official excuses for why Romney did poorly,

  1. Romney was a "deeply flawed" candidate (that our own primary process created)
  2. It's not demographics but the GOTV efforts of Republicans (because there are more angry white men out there we just didn't reach)
  3. Wait, it is a demographics problem but the Democrats have one too (because, after all, hispanics are just yearning to vote for "self deportation")
Erickson notes that recent arrivals to America have not ben sufficiently indoctrinated.
Frankly, as I noted yesterday, if you are going out to speak to the unconverted, you don’t talk about the trinity, communion, and what not. You speak in language the unconverted understand. Immigrants to this country know they are here for freedom and opportunity they did not have in their native land. But they may not really understand what “free markets” mean.
Of course, Erick, it could be that they know exactly what your ideology of the "free market" is all about and they simply reject it.  I know that that's hard to accept, but if you ignore this possibility, you're always and forever going to lose.

But that's clearly beyond Erickson's cognitive reckoning.  Instead, he goes for the full-double-double-down, a universe where he and his friends are ever and always right if only "you people" could see it.
So what should Republicans do? Fight on. Don’t listen to those who say we must moderate, we must abandon values, we must abandon principles, etc. They are wrong. We must reach out, but that does not mean surrender. 
For those of you who think we’ve lost the country, well then you have nothing left to lose. If I’m right and Obama’s base won’t turn out in 2014 like it did not turn out in 2010, you might as well swing for the fences because you’ll either get all or nothing. Right now all you’ve got is nothing. 
So fight on, my friends, fight on. When the Democrats mock us for not changing, remind them we did the same to them after 2004 and then 2006 showed up. And let’s start finding candidates now and prepare them to primary those Republicans who go wobbly. Heck, those groups who keep score cards should score the GOP leadership votes and score against anybody who supports McConnell or Boehner, just to drive the point home we aim to fight — even them.
Carry on.  I'm sure this strategy will work out well for you.

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