A Wake-Up Call for the G.O.P.

[BumRushDaShow]

A Wake-Up Call for the G.O.P.
My South Carolina district hadn’t voted for a Democrat in 40 years. What happened?

By Mark Sanford
Mr. Sanford is a Republican representative from South Carolina.

Nov. 13, 2018


Katie Arrington, the Republican candidate for a House seat, looking over voting results with campaign workers on Election Day. CreditMic Smith/FR2 Associated Press, via Associated Press

In sports, the team that loses is the team that studies the game-day tapes the hardest. In the military, it’s called an after-action review. Businesses that don’t examine loss die.

But somehow in politics, it’s different. Too often, political figures simply blame the other side — or at least someone besides themselves.

I know this firsthand. In June, after winning three straight elections to the House of Representatives from South Carolina, I lost my primary race to Katie Arrington, who in turn lost last week’s general election to Joe Cunningham, a Democrat. After the general election, Ms. Arrington immediately blamed me for her loss because I did not endorse her.

While it’s human nature to blame someone, what happened here is far bigger than any postelection spin, given that it has been more than 40 years since a Democrat has held this seat, which runs along South Carolina’s coast and leans Republican by 10 points. In fact, there was not a more conservative district in the country to flip to the Democrats.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/a-wake-up-call-for-the-gop.html

Wow. There are so many "little" but impactful stories across the country about our "wave". And this one - the flip to blue of a SC seat that hadn't voted for a Democrat in over 40 years, is one of them. This was the seat that Mark Sanford had for a couple terms after he resigned as Governor (until he lost this year's GOP primary).

[BamaRefugee]

1. LET THEM HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON! We got this! N/t

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I'm sure Lindsey wasn't pleased at this result.

[jrthin]

3. I agree w/you. Let them sleep; they need the rest from the damage they've done.

[thucythucy]

4. It's always difficult to wake from a coma.

And Republican "thinking" has been comatose for more than a decade.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Let these jokers shoot themselves in the foot and drag themselves down. They did all of this...

to themselves and have no one else to blame, by ignoring the evidence on global warming, ignoring paying the bills and way overspending, and NOT being cordial to one's opponents or those disadvantaged in some fashion (rump is a perfect example of all of these things, declared bankruptcy multiple times, is a filthy and disgusting human being).

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Shut Up, Marky Boy

Conspicuous by it's absence was any mention of the unneeded and macroeconomically unjustifiable tax cuts.

Right on the "cutting spending and entitlements" train.

Listen, li'l Marky. The voters also rejected that whole economic philosophy because REAL LIFE has provided the data they need to know it's nonsense.

He talks about re-examining their approach but doesn't remotely re-examine the policy errors that could have contributed.

He's so sure he's still right about everything, and now he's been kicked to the curb by his own radicals, and the kicker has now also been dismissed as a charlatan.

Great introspection, Marky.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. What is remarkable about him

is that after his hypocritical "Appalachian Trail" fiasco while Governor, he managed to bounce right back and win a seat in Congress.

They are a party of hypocrites - literally very vocally accusing others of the behavior that they are actually guilty of (whether it has to do with policies or social wedge issues) because IOKIYAR.

[elleng]

8. ;-)

[BumRushDaShow]

9. :-D