Distraught Republicans Look for Answers

Mitt Romney delivering his concession speech in Boston

After Mitt Romney's crushing defeat on Tuesday, there is no doubt that the Republican Party is doing some sort of self-examination. Trying to figure out what went wrong and why is no easy task, and the loss of several House and Senate seats only adds to the confusion and disappointment in the distraught Republican Party. Despite outspending the opponent by literally millions of dollars, and despite a sluggish economic recovery under President Obama's first term, the Romney campaign fell far short of victory, and that bitter defeat is only made worse by the defeat of several Republican Congressional candidates. Now, myriad questions for the Party arise, and many are pointing fingers every which way, while some are still in shock. Perhaps Mitt Romney's inability to distinguish himself from the infamous President George W. Bush contributed to Tuesday's loss, or maybe its just the incumbent advantage that led President Obama to a victory. Either way, there are many obvious aspects of the Grand Old Party that undoubtedly contributed to Tuesday's disheartening loss, and will continue to beleaguer the party if not immediately corrected.

2012 GOP Debate

The most pernicious of these is the party's relatively new, extremely conservative nature. Republicans are too far to the right for the twenty-first century, thus alienating young people, women, homosexuals, and minorities. In fact, many Republicans have come out to blame Rick Santorum and other GOP nominees for Mitt Romney's crushing defeat on Tuesday. They blame the conservative former Senator for pushing Romney too far to the right in the GOP primaries, thus giving him too much ground to make up during the general election. During the Republican debates, Mitt Romney called himself "extremely conservative," denounced abortion, lambasted homosexuality, rejected things like global warming, and basically alienated every American that was not an extreme right-wing Caucasian that loved Jesus. You cannot, I repeat CANNOT, expect to win the White House, or any significant seat for that matter, if your base consists mostly of white adult males. Take a look at these statistics* from Tuesday:


Candidates                                             Barack Obama      Mitt Romney

White Voters                                                   39%                        59%

African-American Voters                                 93%                         6%

Hispanic Voters                                               71%                        27%

Other (e.g. Asian, Pacific Islander)                   73%                        26%

Electorate (Marital Status):                 Barack Obama       Mitt Romney

Unmarried Women                                          67%                        31%

Unmarried Men                                               56%                        40%

Married Women                                              46%                        53%

Married Men                                                   38%                        60%

Electorate (Age):                                  Barack Obama        Mitt Romney                            

18-29 (19%)                                                   60%                        37%

30-44 (27%)                                                   52%                        45%

45-64 (38%)                                                   47%                        51%

65 & Older (16%)                                           44%                        56%

*adapted from addictinginfo.org

There is no doubt that the party needs to reevaluate what it stands for, because its 1960s approach to America is, well, outdated. The NO TAXES, NO GAYS, NO ABORTION pledge of the GOP will not succeed in the United States, because America was founded on principles like equality and the separation of church and state. The Republicans' current platform is a contradiction of these values, and is in fact a contradiction of itself. Republicans believe in small government, but believe the government should have the power to force a woman to give birth. They claim to be "Pro-Life," but oppose common sense gun control laws. They believe "every American should be in the top 1%," except 47% of America. The party is indeed moribund unless a great, 21st century transformation occurs.