Gregory D.

Lee

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November 10, 2008

Why the Republicans Lost

Contrary to popular belief, Barack Obama didn’t win a historic presidential election, the Republicans lost one.

What do you expect when the Republican candidate was the most liberal of the pack to run during the presidential primaries? The choice the voters had during the general election was to vote for a liberal or vote for a far-left-wing liberal. There wasn’t a conservative Republican on the ballot for president.

Several years ago, John McCain seriously considered switching parties. Isn’t that a clue about his political leanings? He seriously considered being John Kerry’s running mate in 2004, and his first choice for his vice-presidential running mate was Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat who turned Independent when he got screwed over by the Democratic National Committee.

And on top of all that, during the primaries, where allowed, Democrats in droves switched party affiliation to vote for McCain for two good reasons. First, they knew McCain was the most liberal candidate who would bring divisiveness within his party and help their man, Obama, or whoever their candidate turned out to be. Second, with McCain’s nomination, they could live with a Republican in name only, if by some miracle he was elected. Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” attempted the same thing in reverse in an attempt to deplete Obama’s campaign war chest. I think it’s time to end the practice. Either you’re a Democrat or a Republican, but you can’t be both during the primaries. Republicans are more than capable of selecting the wrong candidate at the wrong time, thank you very much.

To make matters worse, the New York Times endorsed McCain over the other Republican contenders during the primaries. That’s another clue he’s a liberal. But the minute he was nominated, the newspaper wouldn’t accept an editorial column he wrote, despite having just published one by Obama – that’s fair and balanced, NYT-style. Not surprisingly, the newspaper later endorsed Obama for president.

How could McCain run as a tax cutter when he voted against the Bush tax cuts twice, saying they helped the rich out too much? How do you convince someone you really are in favor of expanded domestic oil drilling when you still oppose it in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? How do you convince people you are a conservative when every successful piece of legislation you’ve co-authored has the names of Kennedy, Lieberman or Feingold attached to it? How do you convince your party members you’re a conservative when you wanted to essentially grant amnesty to illegal aliens under the guise of immigration reform? The correct answer is you can’t.

What McCain learned, and the Republican National Committee must realize, is that if the electorate wants to elect a liberal for high office, they’ll vote for a Democrat, and not someone posing as one.

In its quest to be all things to all people, the Republican Party lost its compass and instead of turning right at the next intersection, it turned left.

In order to appease the Republican base and make himself look more conservative, McCain made a brilliant selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. She energized the base because she was a stunning contrast to him. She said and did everything the conservative Republican masses wanted to hear and see.

Republicans win when there is a conservative on the ballot. Take my home state of California for example. Out of all of the ballot propositions, Californians voted against gay marriage, additional state spending on “green” issues and reduced prison terms for drug dealers.

I wonder which way McCain would have voted for these issues. There is no question how Palin would have voted, and that’s what made her so attractive to the Republican base. Throughout her short political career, she has always been guided by rock-solid conservatism, and she is the most popular governor of any state.

The Republican Party must have a strategic plan to win in 2012 and quit trying to be something it’s not. Sticking to Reagan conservative principles will win every time it’s tried.

Gregory D. Lee is a nationally syndicated columnist for North Star Writers Group and can be reached through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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