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Showing Original Post only (View all)Great article: "Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence?" [View all]
Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence? by Robert Draper
(NY Times Magazine, February 14, 2013)
But the problem for the G.O.P. extends well beyond its flawed candidate and his flawed operation. The unnerving truth, which the Red Edge team (a digital-advocacy group for conservative causes) and other younger conservatives worry that their leaders have yet to appreciate, is that the Republican Partys technological deficiencies barely begin to explain why the G.O.P. has lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections. The party brand which is to say, its message and its messengers has become practically abhorrent to emerging demographic groups like Latinos and African-Americans, not to mention an entire generation of young voters. As one of the partys most highly respected strategists told me: It ought to concern people that the most Republican part of the electorate under Ronald Reagan were 18-to-29-year-olds. And today, people I know who are under 40 are embarrassed to say theyre Republicans. Theyre embarrassed! They get harassed for it, the same way we used to give liberals a hard time.
It was not long after the election that elder statesmen of the G.O.P. began offering assurances that all would soon be right. But younger Republicans were not buying it. On Dec. 6, (Romney digital adviser Zac) Moffatt addressed an audience of party digital specialists at the R.N.C.s Capitol Hill Club. Moffatt spoke confidently about how, among other things, the Romney digital team had pretty much all the same tools the Obama campaign possessed. Bret Jacobson (of Red Edge) was shocked when he read about Moffatts claim the next day. Thats like saying, This Potemkin village will bring us all prosperity! Jacobson told me. Theres something to be said for putting on a happy face except when it makes you sound like Baghdad Bob.
(snip)
About an hour into the (all-women focus group) session, (GOP pollster Kristin) Anderson walked up to a whiteboard and took out a magic marker. Im going to write down a word, and you guys free-associate with whatever comes to mind, she said. The first word she wrote was Democrat. Young people, one woman called out. Liberal, another said. Followed by: Diverse. Bill Clinton.Change.Open-minded.Spending.Handouts.Green.More science-based.
When Anderson then wrote Republican, the outburst was immediate and vehement: Corporate greed.Old.Middle-aged white men. Rich. Religious. Conservative. Hypocritical. Military retirees. Narrow-minded. Rigid. Not progressive. Polarizing. Stuck in their ways. Farmers. The session with the young men was equally jarring. None of them expressed great enthusiasm for Obama. But their depiction of Republicans was even more lacerating than the womens had been. Racist, out of touch and hateful made the list and put 1950s on there too! one called out.
(NY Times Magazine, February 14, 2013)
But the problem for the G.O.P. extends well beyond its flawed candidate and his flawed operation. The unnerving truth, which the Red Edge team (a digital-advocacy group for conservative causes) and other younger conservatives worry that their leaders have yet to appreciate, is that the Republican Partys technological deficiencies barely begin to explain why the G.O.P. has lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections. The party brand which is to say, its message and its messengers has become practically abhorrent to emerging demographic groups like Latinos and African-Americans, not to mention an entire generation of young voters. As one of the partys most highly respected strategists told me: It ought to concern people that the most Republican part of the electorate under Ronald Reagan were 18-to-29-year-olds. And today, people I know who are under 40 are embarrassed to say theyre Republicans. Theyre embarrassed! They get harassed for it, the same way we used to give liberals a hard time.
It was not long after the election that elder statesmen of the G.O.P. began offering assurances that all would soon be right. But younger Republicans were not buying it. On Dec. 6, (Romney digital adviser Zac) Moffatt addressed an audience of party digital specialists at the R.N.C.s Capitol Hill Club. Moffatt spoke confidently about how, among other things, the Romney digital team had pretty much all the same tools the Obama campaign possessed. Bret Jacobson (of Red Edge) was shocked when he read about Moffatts claim the next day. Thats like saying, This Potemkin village will bring us all prosperity! Jacobson told me. Theres something to be said for putting on a happy face except when it makes you sound like Baghdad Bob.
(snip)
About an hour into the (all-women focus group) session, (GOP pollster Kristin) Anderson walked up to a whiteboard and took out a magic marker. Im going to write down a word, and you guys free-associate with whatever comes to mind, she said. The first word she wrote was Democrat. Young people, one woman called out. Liberal, another said. Followed by: Diverse. Bill Clinton.Change.Open-minded.Spending.Handouts.Green.More science-based.
When Anderson then wrote Republican, the outburst was immediate and vehement: Corporate greed.Old.Middle-aged white men. Rich. Religious. Conservative. Hypocritical. Military retirees. Narrow-minded. Rigid. Not progressive. Polarizing. Stuck in their ways. Farmers. The session with the young men was equally jarring. None of them expressed great enthusiasm for Obama. But their depiction of Republicans was even more lacerating than the womens had been. Racist, out of touch and hateful made the list and put 1950s on there too! one called out.
This insightful article is quite long but it's very well written and well worth reading.
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They've really reached the point- thanks to 2010 midterms-where they're largely "winning" by numbers
Proud Liberal Dem
Feb 2013
#41
There is a sense of desperation in the GOP that has them piling on any perceived
KurtNYC
Feb 2013
#5
I remember after the 2008 election they were saying the republicans were done
kimbutgar
Feb 2013
#16
This quote is nice: " "the bigger problem they’ve got with Latinos isn’t immigration. It’s their
bloomington-lib
Feb 2013
#22
Neither party learns until they are buried in a presidential election landslide, 49 states to 1.
reformist2
Feb 2013
#27