There is a silent morally conservative majority in the US. Why can’t Republicans consistently tap into it?
A popular expression, “go woke, go broke” may not hold 100% of the time, but it certainly is a good guide to how social issues break in the US. Kneeling at sports games helped drive down TV audiences for both professional basketball and football. The fourth Toy Story installment, “Lightyear” with its gay character, lost over $100 million for super-woke Disney. The backlash against Bud Light’s advertising move with a trans spokesperson has led to lost sales and billions in lost market value. So one sees that people do vote with their feet, and many Americans, probably a majority, do not buy into the Left’s woke agenda being forced onto them in all aspects of their lives. So why are Republican candidates not winning with those same consumers who are appalled at the horrific surgeries performed on perfectly healthy kids or hate being forced to express their pronouns at work?
There can be numerous answers to that question. Which ones are right?
– The Democrats steal elections. While there are lots of stories of dead people voting, bags of ballots suddenly appearing, people voting multiple times and the like, no claim or accusation has risen to the level of court vindication. Maybe the Democrats cheat with paper ballots and the like, but they also know how not to get caught if that is true.
– The Democrats are better at the new rules of voting. Democrats know how to get out the vote, harvest votes, expand voting locations, and get most of their base to vote well before election day. The Democrats short-circuited an expected Republican tsunami in 2022.
– Republicans do not know how to message. The leadership decided to keep Ronna McDaniel, who is currently 0-5 in recent national and Senate elections. Clearly, the Republicans are not successfully addressing those who are avoiding woke corporations like Nike and the NBA.
– The press is another branch of the Democratic party. Other than a few websites such as this one, the mainstream press simply parrots Democratic talking points and works overtime to slander potentially successful Republican candidates. People are inundated with slanted stories that help Democrats win elections.
– Republicans run lousy candidates. Most politicians are lousy and the Republicans certainly have their fair share of clunkers. Losing to John Fetterman? Like losing to Frankenstein’s little nephew. Many candidates sound stale, or do not click with the electorate as more successful ones like Ron DeSantis and Glenn Younkin did in their gubernatorial races.
– The Republicans are just Democrats lite. Mark Steyn said that a conservative is one who adopts a liberal’s positions ten years later. Look at those in the Senate who confirm Biden’s radical judicial nominees or voted for the inflation-spawning spending bills. What makes them so Republican if they vote with the Democrats on everything from Ukraine to green energy? Why should anyone be enthused to vote for them if the outcomes are no different than in voting for the Democrat?
– Abortion. The end of Roe v. Wade has allowed states to enact their own abortion laws. It has also allowed the Democrats to tar Republicans as wanting to throw doctor, mother, and fetus into jail. There was a pro-abortion rally in Chicago this week. Is Illinois in any real danger of enacting a tough abortion law? Of course not, but the Democrats have frightened young women into believing that they will, and fear of crime or fentanyl or high prices may not be enough to get them to overcome their abortion concerns and pull the lever for a Republican candidate.
– Donald Trump. One can love him or not, but Donald Trump is the center of the Republican universe. No other candidate gets the airtime and no other candidate is the subject of so much news, both good and bad. Unless something changes dramatically, Donald Trump will be the nominee, and there are those who are not interested in his being president again and also do not want to support candidates who received his personal support. Republicans lost three Senate races in Georgia, a state that they should have won easily. Many hold Trump responsible for those losses both in candidate selection and in making the first two races about himself and not about the Peach State or the two people running.
One can certainly list more reasons, but in the end, Republicans can start a November evening after an election with Illinois, California, New York and Massachusetts already painted blue. No argument about how inflation is destroying the economy and hurting workers, or why crime is a terrible thing enabled by Soros DA’s, or how the US is not feared by our enemies or trusted by our traditional friends or how an open border is a national disaster makes any difference in these states and in most big cities, wherever they are. One looks at a map of say Georgia, Illinois or Wisconsin, and one sees a sea of red with a massive blue circle where Chicago, Atlanta or Milwaukee is and those big cities simply outweigh the nearly monolithic Republican remainder. While Republicans have had more success with Hispanics in the past few cycles and a wee bit more with Black voters, the Democrats can rest assured that 80% or more of Blacks will vote for their presidential candidate, even if he looks more alive in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum than in person. How can Republicans be so inept and aloof that they cannot show Black Americans that Democratic-sponsored high crime, lousy union-run schools, expensive gas, and lack of opportunity are all reasons for voting for a Republican candidate? Are Republican leaders speaking not only with independents but also with Democrats to understand what would make them vote for a Republican candidate?
The first step for Republicans to win the Congress and the White House is to have candidates that actually espouse American values and believe in American greatness. The next step is to run campaigns that resonate with a population that is rightly worried about its children, its financial future, and the place of the US in world affairs. Americans elected Reagan and Trump because they wanted a better future for the country. The time is ripe for another Republican victory, and with the destruction wrought by Democrats both locally and nationally, the country needs new leaders who can guide the US to a brighter and more secure future. The opportunities are there; can Republicans seize them to win?