Warning to the GOP from conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

I posted this within another thread, but this from Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is worth repeating. BTW, he was reeelected last night to another term in the House:
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U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who was leading in the fight to retain his 46th District seat against Democratic rival and Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook, was reflective and chose words that didn’t soothe the wounds of those in attendance.

The result of the presidential election was not a rejection of the fundamental Republican values, he said, but that of the Republican leadership.

[b] [color=red]"It’s a rejection of Karl Rove and George Bush and John McCain. I am sorry to put it this way,â€

Well, let's see, the erosion of our manufacturing capacity accellerated, the working poor got pushed out of jobs by a wave of eager illegals, formerly safe white collar jobs got sucked out the door and replaced with foreign workers, our data and livelihoods were shipped overseas at the speed of photons in fiber, the price of necessities skyrocketed even as wages stagnated, wars droned on and on as did their casualties, our infrastructure was left to rot, empty homes, empty warehouses, empty storefronts and offices spread over the land ....

I think people wanted something different, anything different.

Republicans are going to have to figure out how they turn themselves into advocates for the vast majority of Americans who simply work in nine-to five jobs. Sure...those people don't carry the mantle of responsibility that businesspeople must carry. But they don't know that...and they still have the same voting privileges.

Republicans were shot down because:
1. They don't have a very good plan for moving US industry into the new territory of alternative energy. If we don't stay in the forefront of exportable products---that no one else can produce---as well as the jobs that follow, we're finished as an economic leader. Republicans blew this---big time.
2. The Bush administration had an inflexible bureaucracy---largely personified to me by Donald Rumsfeld, totally oblivious to suggestions from the field. Had they listened they could have wrapped up problems a lot sooner.
3. The GOP has actually been living on life support since 1980. Had it not been for religious conservatives jumping ship en masse from the Dems the GOP would have faded into irrelevance. Reagan is only deemed great in retrospect and due to Americans' propensity to form personality cults. IMO the guy was as clueless as they come.

Now, however, we will have to see if the Democrats destroy America as we know it... Wish I had all the answers. I keep sending my Congressman real news releases from the US government about our situation on the border.

Got that right Betsy Ross. I am stunned so much damage was done in such a short time...........I remember Bush saying history would tell a different story.......sure wish I could know now so I could RIP knowing what good is supposed to have come from all this distruction. Then now wondering if miricles will happen or if we get the final blow to our freedom.

Well, Obama owes his win to a lot of people, not just a few loyalists, and I hope he remembers that as he goes forward.

Obama has a lot of promises to keep!!! And ill be there breathing down his neck the whole way!

Yup -- not to take anything away from Obama who ran a disciplined campaign -- but he did benefit from the anti-status vote, anti-GWB environment, PO'd electorate who blamed Republicans for the financial meltdown and who want to try something different. Although many people still like govt freebies, I don't think that this is a great embrace of liberal values over traditional conservative values which is the point that Rohrabacher is making.

Thank God Congressman Dana Rohrabacher prevailed over Debbie Cook. Cook is another open borders, amnesty proponent that we need to keep as far away as possible from the Congress! I would not have been pleased to have had to call her my Represenative!

[quote="Populist"]

The result of the presidential election was not a rejection of the fundamental Republican values, he said, but that of the Republican leadership.

[b] [color=red]"It’s a rejection of Karl Rove and George Bush and John McCain. I am sorry to put it this way,â€

Rush Limbaugh is making the point this morning that conservatism didn't lose last night. He said when conservative measures are put on the ballott and clearly defined as conservative like Prop 8 in Calif. (yes, even in Calif) -- they win.

BTW, just heard that Prop 8 is already being challenged legally (i.e., can't win by the ballot and by people's votes, take it to the courts...)

Conservative Movement 'Will Rise Again', Veteran Activist Pledges: www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article. ... rcid=38772

I both agree and disagree with all of the above. How's that for a waffle. I agree that the comments highlight many of the reasons McCain lost, and the Republican party took a beating in the congressional races. But the main reason is McCain and company ran one of the worst campaigns in history.

Neither he or Palin could distinguish themselves in debates. They repeated Joe the Plumber so many times they could have just as easily said "Liar Liar pants on fire" or "So's your old man" and achieved the same level of result. Where was their research team? Why did Obama's comments on coal not show up until the weekend before the election? Why didn't McCain or Palin point out, with regard to her "inexperience", that she had more executive experience and actual results than Obama, and she would only be President IF McCain were incapacitated. Obama brings his inexperience to the Presidency starting on day 1. I did not hear McCain, Palin, or ANY Republican candidate actually detail the full story of the financial system breakdown with specific data pinpointing the actual responsibility for what set it up and brought it down? I heard some general comments, but they sound like partisan BS. Facts, substantiated by video and audio clips that were all over talk-radio, never came up. So McCain and other Republican candidates take it in the shorts for the economy, when the guys and gals who actually caused the financial crisis are rewarded by being elected. And so on and so forth.

Rohrbacher is right about the Republican leadership. AWOL. And as long as elites sit atop the party, there will never be a true return to conservative principles. They want to turn left, I guess, because it works for the Democrats, so why not try it. Therefore, I am no longer a Republican. I am an Independent. And all I want for Christmas is an end to the two-party system.

The Republican party can't turn this situation around. It is something like the election of 1932. It took fifty years and the election of 1980 to turn things around some but even then Reagan wasn't that good of a leader and over rated for the most part. True he managed to accomplish some things but once he was out of office the Republican party went back to being disfunctional in many ways despite winning elections. The record shows that even when Republicans win elections and control the government the results they produce for the most part are not good.

Just watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN, one guest who is a professor at George Washington University said that the momentum and the activism the Obama campaign inspired may lead to a lot of input into the government from normal Americans as far as shaping administration policy. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Justthatguy

The Republican party can't turn this situation around. It is something like the election of 1932. It took fifty years and the election of 1980 to turn things around some but even then Reagan wasn't that good of a leader and over rated for the most part. True he managed to accomplish some things but once he was out of office the Republican party went back to being disfunctional in many ways despite winning elections. The record shows that even when Republicans win elections and control the government the results they produce for the most part are not good.

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Reagan was overrated in some areas, and he fell for the "One Time Only" Amnesty of '86, believing the enforcement provisions would be implemented.

He did do some good things, especially in the area of national defense capabilities, after the neglect of the Carter years, in that area. Reagan enjoyed Republican control of the Senate, during most of his presidency, but the Republicans never controlled the House, during those years.

Conservative Republicans have led the charge against illegal immigration, mostly in the House, but there have been some anti-illegal GOP stalwarts in the Senate, too.

As unsatisfactory as the GOP has been, when in control, there are still more people in the GOP who stand for our sovereignty, and for constitutional principles in general, than in the Democrat Party. I left the Republican Party 1n '90, as a result of the Bush 41 presidency, but good office-holders and candidates in the GOP deserve our support, IMO, especially those willing to stand up to the Rockefeller Wing of the party.

As flawed as it is, the GOP can still be a vehicle to get us where we want to go, as can an alternative conservative party that perseveres, and that is willing to form coalitions with conservative Republicans.

Quote:

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"Tomorrow there's going to be a rebellion in the ranks," he said. "We need to kick our leadership out and form a whole new leadership in the Republican Party."

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I LOVE IT! :)