Advice for Republicans and Conservatives - 11/14/2022

 

Advice for the GOP and conservative voters.

Republicans don't want to hear it, but too bad. Here it is, some honest advice:

1. Figure out how you're going to appeal to 18-29 year old voters. They went overwhelmingly blue in 2022. Sure, they're brainwashed by teachers and TV and music and on and on and on. You can bitch about that and forego their votes forever, or find some policies and proposals that might appeal to them. I don't know of a damned thing in the GOP platform that is specifically intended to get 18-29 year old voters to vote for them. You do? What is it?

2. Unmarried women voted for Democrats in large numbers. Why? Abortion. Lindsay Graham tried to get a reasonable compromise on abortion going earlier this year. He was attacked from both the left and the right, as both sides have adopted absolutes. What's the party's position? No bullshit. No hedging. No deception. Hey, if you don't care whether unmarried women vote for Republicans ever again, then don't change nothin'.

3. Trump. Figure it out. After 2020 and 2022 you still think he wins? I don't. God forbid I like DeSantis better. God forbid DeSantis appeals to a broader base. Yeah, McConnell, Ryan, Bush, etc. suck. If you think Trump can win without DeSantis supporters, and without support from moderate Republicans who support McConnell, Ryan, Bush, etc., you are wrong. Dead wrong. I have VERY low confidence that Trump will win in 2024 if he's the nominee. I give him two chances: slim and none. You love him? Well a LOT of people whose votes he needs hate his guts and they are NOT going to vote for him.

4. Stop fighting about and bitching about mail-in voting. Fighting it and bitching about it is the same as conceding elections. It's fucking tiresome and unproductive. You don't trust mail-in ballots? You don't like them? Guess what? You are stuck with them. And even without cheating they help Democrats. How? Low enthusiasm voters don't have to get out of the house to vote, and there has been an enthusiasm gap in both 2020 and 2022 that mail-in voting almost totally took care of. Also, think about this. The GOP has been pushing "Vote on Election Day, ONLY vote on Election Day." It's a fucking stupid strategy. If there are long lines and people are going to give up, if there are problems with machines and people need to vote with a provisional ballot, and if someone gets the flu and can't get out, all those issues disproportionately take away GOP votes.

5. It it time to drop the MAGA slogan. It's too stained by Trumpism. Change the mantra to "Putting America First" and stick with it. MAGA was great in 2016. Since then? Not as much. Time to turn over a new leaf.

The definition of insanity is doing the same things over again and expecting a different result. Too many seem to want to do exactly the same things as 2018, 2020, and 2022 in 2024 and expect a different result. It's not a losing strategy. It's not a strategy at all.