We Got Beat
When you lose something -- a wallet, an election, money, a lover -- you ask yourself this question: did I lose it, or was it stolen?
Last night, we lost. No one stole it from us. We lost it.
Some thoughts:
1. It goes without saying -- I hope -- that Barack Obama, as painful as it is to admit, is the President of the United States for the next four years. I wish him well. He's my president, too.
2. Let's face facts: Nate Silver, the polls, the "establishment media" -- they were all right. It wasn't about weighting or poll skewing. They were right. We engaged in wishful thinking. We were in a bubble. Last night, that bubble was popped. The major polls called it close, and it was close. Barack Obama won about one half of one percent more of the popular vote than Mitt Romney. But that was enough. Mitt Romney may have won the popular vote, but the Electoral College map tells a different story: it was about population-center votes, not about enthusiasm or which side was more energized. They outsmarted us. We outsmarted ourselves
3. Last night was a complete and systemic failure of the Republican party -- both at the national and the state level. The DC-based Republican establishment couldn't deliver a victory -- couldn't deliver Florida. The state-level Republican operation failed, too. For example: in Missouri, a state that should be solidly Republican, the state operation nominated an ill-prepared, out-of-touch clumsy gaffe-machine for the Senate -- Todd Akin. Romney carried the state. But Claire McCaskill won a major victory. We forced our side to split the ticket. We muddied our message. The Republican party failed.
4. More facts to face: the media is liberal. The news organizations are liberal. They protected their candidate. And it worked. But that's part of the hand that we conservatives have been dealt. That ain't gonna change. We need to figure out a way to win despite the fact that we're swimming upstream in the culture. Whining about it isn't going to get us to a solution.
5. Latinos and women voted big for the other side. Either we figure out a way to connect with those groups, or persuade them to our side, or we're going to be a very small part of the national political scene and getting smaller all the time.
6. Our side drinks too much Kool Aid. We watch Fox News and think we're winning the rest of the country. But Fox News is at most a 3 million viewer proposition. Last night, each side garnered about 48 million votes. Each side.
7. We can't rely on the establishment Republicans. We can't rely on Fox News. We can't rely on talk radio. We can only rely on ourselves. We need -- all of us, especially here on Ricochet -- to connect with each other, keep each other informed and energized, and persuade our neighbors and friends. We need to evangelize the rest of the country that doesn't agree with us. We need to win the country back.
8. We need to win the country back. Not take it back. Win it back through argument and engagement and debate. Win it back by articulating our key principles, persuading more Latinos and women to our side, and evangelizing the rest of the country.
9. Forgive me for this plug, but I really mean it: the conversations and engagement on Ricochet, and the passionate and articulate members here, are the future -- maybe the only future -- for our side.
10. If you're not a member of Ricochet, today is a very good day to join. The slow march back begins now. And it begins here.
- Comment (178)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (15)
Comments:
May '12
Re: We Got Beat
BTW, why did we rely on Fox anyway?
Jan '11
Re: We Got Beat
That's all good and well, Rob, and I appreciate the pep talk, but I fear that a clear majority of the country is just not amenable to "arguments." Their votes are bought and paid for through bail-outs, entitlements, and pork. If a $16 trillion debt and the events in Benghazi can't convince people to fire the head honcho, what form of reason can?
Apr '11
Re: We Got Beat
Technically that was two plugs, but I'll give it to you. A few thoughts on my own:
1) Unsurprisingly, you write a heck of a lot more coherently than I do after an election night of our favorite bourbon (or you were just kidding about the Makers)
2) I concur on your enumerated list.
Re: We Got Beat
Honestly? I have no idea. But this is a country worth fighting for.
Dec '10
Re: We Got Beat
Rob, you missed the memo: we're evil. We can't argue or persuade against that meme.
Jun '10
Re: We Got Beat
Sorry, Rob, but there is no slow march back. Tonight the American people voted the republic out of existence. Politics has now become meaningless. What you do now is prepare for a collapse. Those who prepare will be far better off than those who are dependent on government. Plan "B" is to focus on your family and local community. And start attending church.
Jul '11
Re: We Got Beat
I relied on information from extraordinarily wealthy Republicans. In the end Rob, and I promise you this, we all believed that the country would realize what an incompetent, full of his narcissist self, ideological boob we had destroying our country economically.
We trusted that there we not as many idiots as there actually are. We were wrong, we have the man we deserve. Things will continue to worsen. Of that I am certain. Some here may have answers. Mine are bleak and involve reactions to failure. I'd rather think that somehow our better selves will triumph.
Mar '11
Re: We Got Beat
We need to make sure Ricochet is not just a bubble within that bubble.
May '12
Re: We Got Beat
Rob, on many podcasts you've made the argument that it is exceedingly difficult to convince people to give up their "Goodies". What this election proved is that more than half of the nation loves their Goodies more than anything else. This republic is truly gone. All that's left is decline-whether that happens quickly or slowly I've no idea.
Mar '11
Re: We Got Beat
I take slight issue to the premise of the post: Mitt Romney got beat - by a little. But support for limited government lives on.
An election might be a test of a nation's soul, or whatever other poetic metaphors Ricochet members have found over the last few weeks. But it is also a choice between two individuals.
And in this case, a fairly weak, inexperienced Republican candidate still garnered about the same number of votes as an incumbent. A loss for that individual, yes, but not a drubbing of conservatives or their principles.
Edited on November 7, 2012 at 7:03amApr '12
Re: We Got Beat
We narrowly lost. If we had narrowly won we would feel exhilarated and would not feel that the country is beyond saving. So, we dust ourselves off and get back into the fray. There are more people out there who are open to argument than there were 4 years ago, and after 4 more years of progressive nightmare even more will be ready for the message.
Re: We Got Beat
I agree 100%. Time to hone the arguments.
Jun '10
Re: We Got Beat
They say being in the opposition gives conservative talk shows and conversation sites like Ricochet a lot more to talk about: outrage is a great conversation starter. I'm certain we'll have plenty of it.
So the silver lining is that this is probably good for Ricochet's business plan.
Earlier this evening, after it was clear that we'd lost, I contemplated taking a vow of silence. But, like most of us, I care too much to shut up. Further, I just paid for a year of Ricochet, I love the site, and I want my money's worth.
But I am making a vow not to engage in endless Monday morning quarterbacking. The whole "shoulda, woulda, coulda" thing is a fool's errand. The Romney campaign could have done better, but I think it acquitted itself honorably and well. Endless recriminations get us nowhere.
We'll probably hear some lines like "Mitt lost because the country won't embrace a Mormon for president." I'm a proud Mormon, but that's not why he lost. We don't need to play the victim. That's the left's game.
Edited on November 7, 2012 at 7:02amNov '12
Re: We Got Beat
We lost the culture, it happened over generations. If we can make inroads in the culture, it will take generations. In the near term liberalism and statism will have to disqualify themselves, meaning things will have to continue to suck badly enough and long enough to convince people that our problems aren't the result of George Bush's presidency. Our enemies in the world will also probably have to push us around a bit and humiliate us some more in order to wake people up. Basically things will have to get worse before we get a chance to make them better. Unfortunately, if they get too bad, we may not be able to fix it.
Edited on November 7, 2012 at 7:19amAug '11
Re: We Got Beat
If we can start a "Long March through the Institutions" like the left did, we might make a difference in 40 years. Of course, by then America will have ceased to exist.
Apr '11
Re: We Got Beat
Frankly a lot of my interest in politics faded away tonight. I'll just tend my own garden, and let slip away a nation and a people that I don't really give a damn about anymore.
Jun '11
Re: We Got Beat
Rob, candidates in many (most?) states are selected by primary--not by the Republican Party--so some blame for poor candidates must be apportioned to the primary voters.
Aug '11
Re: We Got Beat
In the live chat, some were saying that of course we'll win in 2016, because after 8 years of Obama, the country will finally realize the mistake.
I don't think so. I think an Obama win tonight means that we're even less likely to win in 2016.
Jun '10
Re: We Got Beat
Yeah. Pretty much.
Jun '10
Re: We Got Beat
Sad, but true. Culture matters, a lot.