Just over two weeks ago, I sat down to watch the presidential election results. I felt that with the poor economy, high grocery prices, high gasoline prices, increases in health insurance premiums and unemployment at a very high level, that Mitt Romney had a fairly decent chance of unseating President Obama.
First, and some may disagree, but I felt that Mitt Romney was a good candidate for the Republicans. In fact, he was a much better candidate than John McCain four years ago. His campaign was well run, his fund raising ability proved to be excellent and he did well in the debates.
So why didn't he win?
As an Independent, I would like to give my opinion on what I think are problems that the Republicans must overcome in order to win a national election. First, from a demographic standpoint, the R's better become a bit more friendly to minority groups, especially Hispanics. America is not getting any whiter and if a political party wants to stay in power, then they must make an overt play towards issues that might make them more appealing to those minorities.
Second, conservative social issues are killing the Republican Party. The following are issues that very possibly may have turned off some Independents and destroyed Romney's chances of winning:
ABORTION: While R's might oppose abortion, abortion will never be outlawed in the United States. It is the law of the land and no President can overturn that law. Even some who are against abortion have differing stances. Some say that there should be no abortion under any circumstances. Others, like Mitt Romney, say that in cases of incest, rape or health of the mother, that abortion should be allowed. Each individual will have a different opinion on this issue. In fact, perhaps the only people who should be able to make policy on this issue should be women... not men. If an individual wishes to work towards discouraging others from getting abortions then that should be their right and their cause.
IMMIGRATION: There are millions of Hispanic workers within our borders. Many of them serve a valuable service to our economy and for our citizens. It would be stupid to think that the U.S. government will be able to herd up all of these Hispanic workers and their families and march them across the border into Mexico. It is simply not going to happen and since it appears that the R's will never get over 15% of the black vote at most, for the survival of the Republicans on a national level, their must be a friendly compromise policy for all involved in this issue.
GAY RIGHTS: While many Republicans seem to have some problems with this issue on some level, I think that most Independent voters would have no problem with civil unions between gay couples. If such couples are already living with one another and share a relationship and perhaps property ownership, then they probably should share financial benefits that other couples share. In fact, I think that President Obama would have been much more productive had he supported civil unions instead of gay marriage. I mean, what does the President's support of gay marriage really do? The support of the President for legislation for civil unions as national legislation would have done so much more for gay couples.
RAPE: While this is not an issue, it certainly tripped up two Republican candidates and did nothing positive for the Republicans nationally. Once again, much like abortion, leave this topic as one that women are more qualified to speak on. No man should answer a question on rape.
EVOLUTION: From my personal standpoint, I believe in God and have no problem with the theory of evolution. About twenty years ago, I sat in a Sunday School class with Dr. F.D. Hewitt, a seventy something year old man who had been a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy. Reading from the book of Genesis as it describes the creation of the earth and man, our teacher asked how everything could have happened/evolved so quickly over a period of seven days. Dr. Hewitt commented that when we put a Timex on God's wrist and try to make one of God's days a simple twenty four hours, then we have made a very small God. I agree with Dr. Hewitt.
I would describe myself as an Independent who gave up on the Republicans and Democrats years ago, feeling that both had simply become self-serving. All of the above is very much my personal opinion. I feel that If the Republicans cannot transform themselves to be more attractive to minorities, young people and Independents, then I do not know what their long term future as a national party will be. Once again, this is only my opinion.
RAPE: While this is not an issue, it certainly tripped up two Republican candidates and did nothing positive for the Republicans nationally. Once again, much like abortion, leave this topic as one that women are more qualified to speak on. No man should answer a question on rape.
EVOLUTION: From my personal standpoint, I believe in God and have no problem with the theory of evolution. About twenty years ago, I sat in a Sunday School class with Dr. F.D. Hewitt, a seventy something year old man who had been a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy. Reading from the book of Genesis as it describes the creation of the earth and man, our teacher asked how everything could have happened/evolved so quickly over a period of seven days. Dr. Hewitt commented that when we put a Timex on God's wrist and try to make one of God's days a simple twenty four hours, then we have made a very small God. I agree with Dr. Hewitt.
I would describe myself as an Independent who gave up on the Republicans and Democrats years ago, feeling that both had simply become self-serving. All of the above is very much my personal opinion. I feel that If the Republicans cannot transform themselves to be more attractive to minorities, young people and Independents, then I do not know what their long term future as a national party will be. Once again, this is only my opinion.
