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RESULTS UGLY
Frank Luntz delivers unto the GOP a righteous face-smash:
This year, Republicans were wrong. Their leadership was wrong. Their vision (if there was one) was wrong. Their messages were wrong. On Election Night, my firm did a nationwide poll of voters to measure and determine the extent of GOP failure. The results were ugly. This election was more than a message to the Republican personalities that have led America since 1994. It was a vote of no confidence ...
The last time so many Americans were so angry, anxious, and afraid was in 1974, during a time of genuine political, economic, and military crisis. To call this election a “political correction” is to ignore just how widespread was the feeling of betrayal. Republicans rode into town in 1994 on a wave of discontent. Earlier this week, they were thrown out because of another.
Read on; Luntz proposes solutions.
Missed that military crisis in 1974. Overslept I guess.
The Senate went to the Dems by, what, 10,000 votes or so? Many of the House seats turned on about a 1,000 votes or so. Reality displacement by another lefty.
Maybe he should read some of the exit poll opinions which indicated that the Republicans were not acting CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH!
#1 Surfmaster: No, I think the Republicans are just perceived as being more wrong. I think the article is pretty good, overall, although the complicity of the media in the Democratic victory - and in Democratic propaganda efforts over time ad nauseam - is not adressed, but that is simply a fact of life that will change only slowly (if ever). Smart Republicans have overcome that obstacle before. I do find it deliciously ironic that an electorate so concerned about corruption is likely to wind up with Abscam Jack Murtha as the House Leader (although maybe not; apparently his candidacy is frowned upon by many Democrats).
Luntz is long on platitudes and short on actual solutions.
Voters care about the spending of government, not the size.
Yeah, because one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.
Just as the Democratic promise to take America in “a new direction” led them to majority status, congressional Republicans need to set their party off onto a different path--a path toward real, meaningful reform.
Ah yes, reform. Of what? Why, the way America is run. Is he talking about politics? Banking? Health care? Education? Tax structure? And exactly what did the Democrats promise?
The mood of this country has changed since 2004, and because of it, some have already written off Republican chances for recapturing the House and Senate in 2008. The question Americans will be asking is whether Republicans learned anything from this election. The answers will determine the future of the GOP: that of a phoenix or a pariah.
And I’m sure that this bad mood has nothing to do with the fact that the gatekeepers in the media make sure that any mention of good news is accompanied by a big but.
Posted by Some0Seppo on 2006 11 14 at 10:53 AM • permalinkLuntz, at least, points out that the Republicans ain’t listening to their base. If they can pull their heads out of their asses, they have a shot at regaining Congress.
Otherwise, yeah, Luntz is long on platitudes.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 14 at 10:58 AM • permalinkLuntz is right about a lot of things, but his prose and his analysis are equally overwrought.
The election was quite close; the Republicans did not appeal to the independent voters very well.
People do care about the cost of government, but also the efficiency of government. They want progress on Iraq, but aren’t stupid enough to expect the Good Fairy to wave her magic wand and everything will be peaceful and emocratic over there.
Now the Dems are in control. What are the odds that they will make the electorate happy?Well, the latest US elections have been interesting. Two thoughts from a sympathetic (Canadian) foreigner though:
1. The Democrats will have to tread carefully in order not to become victims of their own success between now and the next presidency.
2. Democrat or Republican, Americans have to remember that the rest of the world always has a certain way of screwing up even the best laid political plans.
Posted by JJM Ballantyne on 2006 11 14 at 11:19 AM • permalinkI thought the Luntz analysis was generic and meaningless fluff, to be honest. Apparently 70,000 votes would have swung things in the GOP’s favour. That’s no consolation - their job was to get those 70,000 votes. Even so, a discourse on poisonous politics and how sick of it everyone is becomes totally meaningless when you don’t even bother to mention that the Surrender Dems were responsible for 75 per cent of the poisoning. Now it’s true the GOP itself can’t rebuild by whining about all this but if you’re a journalist apportioning blame, at least keep it real.
I agree with #12. And one of the reasons (an extremely large reason, IMO) that Americans are so angry and anxious and afraid in this time of unprecedented prosperity and security is that we are daily fed a diet of paranoia and negativity by our media. Everything is just hunky-dory, except that:
(A) the world is going to die tomorrow because of global warming,
(B) BushHitler has led us directly into the path of suicide terrorists,
(C) our technologically-driven economy is unsustainable,
(D) we are all going to die of bird flu,
(E) some unnamed terror coming down the road,
(F) all of the above.
Yes, I agree with C.L. - the article was very simplistic (I guess I should consider the targeted readership).
Just a bare mention of what really pissed people off - illegal immigration. He over emphasises voter opinion on corruption and never mentions the War on Islamic Fascism at all. Not what I would call deep analysis.
No mention of what really needs to be done for the Republicans to get conservatives out to vote again....
Make tax cuts permanent
Leave Gun control alone
Reduce the size of guv’mint
Stop illegal immigration
Wage the war like it was a war and strengthen the militaryI believe voters deserve what they elect, but Luntz serves up this canard:
“...the Democratic promise to take America in “a new direction” led them to majority status...”
Or as Tom Maguire of JustOneMinute referred to the Democrat’s “sound bite” campaign theme: a nude erection for America.
What Americans voted for (according to Luntz) is one thing, but what they got is very likely another. What they got was: Speaker Pelosi from San Francisco, a city not known as a harbinger of mainstream American values.
Pelosi then announces her support for 74 year old Rep. Murtha, as majority leader. Amongst other things, Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam ethics scandal of 26 years ago.
Expected to “chair” their respective committees include 80 year old John Dingel (Energy & Commerce)--first elected in 1955, 76 y/o Charlie Rangel (Ways and Means), 77 y/o John Conyers (Judiciary)--2nd longest serving congressman, and 67 y/o Henry Waxman (Government Reform). Also, Pelosi is expected to name 70 y/o Alcee Hastings, formerly a federal judge impeached for corruption and bribery, as chairman of the Intelligence committeee.
Quite a “new direction”!
# 15
Make tax cuts permanent
Leave Gun control alone
Reduce the size of guv’mint
Stop illegal immigration
Wage the war like it was a war and strengthen the militaryApart from the gun control thingy - those points there have given the Coalition in Oz four straight election victories.
Maybe the GOP need some campaign managers of there to dog whistle, as Phat Phil likes to say.
Luntz’s piece is similar to those preached by pundits to the ALP in Australia when they lost the last 2 elections. In response the ALP “rolled heads” but all this did in the public view was to increase the distrust of the voters.
The GOP came to power in 1994 largely due to their selection of what appeared at the time to be “quality” candidates. Every election has a local and wider context. In the local context the voter has to respect the candidate they are voting for and this can be a bigger factor than the national issues. Over the 12 years of power lots of flaws have been displayed by the incumbent GOP congressmen and senators. If the party has a real lesson to learn it is that every candidate has to make themselves an attractive voting proposition. 12 years of power can make you lazy.
In John Howards 10 year anniversary speech he spent most of it admonishing his party that they had no “right” to power and that they had to seek fresh ideas every day. In other words they had to look like they wanted it. If JH has a political gift it is to keep in the forefront of our nation and to keep his party in a leadership position.
It is a question of focus, commitment and dedication. It is a process of selecting the best available candidates and making the incumbents work hard to stay fresh. It is rarely a question of cutting heads and panic.
So much for “new direction” and the “landslide”.
I’d describe it as a spinning compass being flushed down the toilet.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 15 at 01:55 AM • permalink
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Does that mean that the democrats are “right”?