The GOP lost America in 2006 because they stopped listening to the voters. They lost the White House in 2008 for the same reason. The Democrats would prove themselves every bit as arrogant and contemptuous of the voter as the GOP had been. The difference might be that the Dems never even pretended to listen. With the exaggerated stagecraft one might associate with a mime troupe, the Dems deliberately stuffed their fingers deep into their ears long before the chosen one could utter "I, Barack Hussein Obama..."
The GOP could make big gains this time. Before they do so, they must first rid their own party of carpetbaggers. It is easy to talk the talk, especially on hot button issues like abortion or gay marriage. Social conservatism is easy. Fiscal conservatism on the other hand, is not so easy. Ultimately, fiscal conservatism means saying no to someone. Given the severity of our national deficit, the GOP might even have to say no to some of their most loyal supporters.
Every current Republican ran as a fiscal conservative but few of then stick to their guns. George W. Bush flipped off the fiscal conservatives. So too, did Ronald Reagan. It's a long list of Republican turncoats. Too many to name here. A list of true fc's would be about 1% as long (if that)as the list of Benedict Arnolds. We simply have to do better.
In addition to political candidates, we must be wary of journalistic carpetbaggers. Remember that Arianna Huffington wrote for "National Review" and Chris Matthews subbed for Limbaugh. Maybe they underwent philosophical changes, but I doubt it very much. If that had been the case they would have clung to a few vestigal opinions. But their transformations were seemless. They were probably just riding the wave of whatever happened to be popular at the time.
But Matthews and Huffington are just two of many whores. There are too many to mention here. But let us hope we have learned something this time around. Let's hope we have grown not just older but a little bit wiser.
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