You’d think the Republican Party won the 2012 presidential election, the way Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus is carrying on about CNN and NBC airing Hillary Clinton movies. In case you were in a coma, the Republican nominee Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election in spectacular fashion because he failed to bother asking for minorities or women for their vote or even acknowledging them. Romney won more of the white vote than any candidate since 1988, yet he lost the election because he failed to appeal to browning face of America.
Never mind the fact, Priebus is focused on more important priorities than winning elections. For the past two weeks he’s been plastered all over the news media, declaring the RNC would NOT participate in any 2016 debates if either network airs their Hillary biopics because it shows how anxious the liberal media to support Hillary to run for president in 2016. I agree but there is something called the first amendment and any network has the right to air what it chooses.
But Priebus’ wish was the Republican National Committee’s command. During the RNC’s summer meeting in Boston, members voted on a resolution “barring the Committee from partnering with NBC or CNN on any GOP presidential primary debates unless they cancel their plans to air their pro-Hillary documentaries.” What tough talk from the party who lost the last two presidential elections.
“We did it!” the page cheers on the RNC’s website, asking people to sign a petition “to hold the liberal media accountable.” The page also prominently displays a picture of Hillary Clinton laughing out loud. She’s laughing all the way to the White House in 2016, if this is the best strategy the RNC has. Democrats and the news media too are howling at how desperate the RNC looks.
Maybe Priebus and company should spend as much energy on growing the scant number of minority and women voters to the party as he did on this exercise in stupidity. The RNC was simply “giddy” about its CNN/NBC debate blackout, posting so many tweets you’d think it did something great like win a presidential election. This really makes you wonder how out of touch with reality the RNC is?
The RNC wasn’t nearly as excited about reaching out to minority voters in March with the announcement of the RNC’s Growth & Opportunity Project, a 100-page report, promising $10 million to “outreach” to non-white voters. Where are all the giddy tweets on this effort? You know the stuff that really matters when it comes to winning elections.
This is the right thing to do for voters. They’re not going to get a real debate of substance if it’s run by a network who wants to help out Hillary Clinton,” said Priebus. “We’re done putting up with this nonsense. There are plenty of other outlets. We’ll still reach voters, maybe more voters,” he added.
The only “nonsense” is the RNC’s behavior instigated by its Chairman. It’s been nine months and counting since Romney lost the election and where is this outreach? How many new non-white voters have we brought to the Republican Party? Where are RNC spokespeople of color? Where’s the grassroots effort to take the vote to people of color and women? Boston is one of the most racially polarized and whitest cities in the nation and the former headquarters of Romney’s presidential campaign, one of the whitest run campaign’s in decades. Why would the RNC host its summer meeting in Boston if it was serious about being the “winning” political party of the future?
Reince continues to show his true priorities are doing business as usual, appealing to a white electorate. When you thought this resolution couldn’t get any worse, it vowed the RNC would reduce the number of GOP primary debates in 2016 because 20 debates made Romney look bad in the end. No, Romney did that all by himself.
Maybe the RNC should focus its efforts on getting behind candidates who actually win in 2016 instead acting like petulant children over a contest poorly lost. Now we know why Governor Bobby Jindal blasted the GOP as the “stupid party.”
The RNC’s resolution has made conservatives everywhere look like the laughing stock of political parties. “Public perception of the Party is at record lows. Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the Party represents, and many minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country. When someone rolls their eyes at us, they are not likely to open their ears to us,” page 4, Growth and Opportunity Project.
Maybe rebuilding the party first should be Priebus’ priority. Get a clue Mr. Chairman, you don’t need resolutions pregnant with bluster when you have a winning game plan, candidates and policies. Try getting all three of those things then come back to the liberal networks with your demands.