THE INCOMPETENT MR. PRIEBUS…

Finally bringing himself to acknowledge the fact that if the party fails to regain the White House in 2016 the Republican Party’s goose will effectively have been cooked, there still seems to be no let up in the ongoing assault on those of us who are conservatives or who identify with the stated goals of the Tea Party.  The push still seems to be behind the establishment candidates, or, in other words, those guaranteed to lose.  Look at any of presidential polls and it’s those guys who are consistently in single digits.

So according to Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus, the Republican Party is "cooked" if it fails to take back the White House in 2016.  It was in a recent interview with the Washington Examiner that Priebus said, "We're cooked as a party for quite a while if we don't win in 2016."  But then he quickly adds that he doesn't anticipate a disastrous election for the GOP because "history is on our side."  He said, "Our job as a national party is to elect Republicans, and it generally means House, Senate, presidential."

And he went on to say, "However, I think that we have become, unfortunately, a midterm party that doesn't lose and a presidential party that's had a really hard time winning.  We're seeing more and more that if you don't hold the White House, it's very difficult to govern in this country, especially in Washington D.C."   Well maybe if those who won elections actually did what they promised to do it would be easier to win when presidential elections rolled around.  And why do the Democrat never have a problem driving the bus without possessing the White House?

And in a Washington Post piece published Thursday and titled "The GOP was Right to Fear Clinton," columnist Eugene Robinson said Republicans lack a "compelling" message on many issues.  He writes, "How can government help the middle class? With a higher minimum wage? With a mandate for businesses to offer paid family leave? With assistance in paying for higher education, perhaps even free tuition at public universities? With trade and tax policies that encourage keeping jobs in the United States?"  All wonderfully socialist ideas, but would accomplish little in getting the country back on track.

Robinson goes on to write, "The Democratic candidates understand that these are the issues people care most about. [Donald] Trump gets it, too, in his own bombastic way. A party that goes into the election without a compelling message on jobs and incomes — I'm talking to you, GOP establishment — is begging to lose."  But I would argue that the burying of our children under a mountain of debt, the economic destruction that has taken place during the last 8 years and the opening of the floodgates for illegal immigrants is a more compelling, realistic, albeit less socialist, message.

I think this election is less about the message than it is about getting people to listen.  Because what’s keeping folks from listening is the number of promises made during the 2014 campaign that were broken.  Promises to stop Barry’s insane spending, his assault on the Constitution regarding his illegal executive orders and the promises made to get rid of Obamacare. Not one promise was followed through on. Combine that with how the GOP rolled over in confirming Loretta Lynch and you come up with a lot of pissed off people who refuse to listen to what they see as the same old shit.

And to simply say you’re relying on history as the rationale for your confidence in being able to achieve electoral success is, I think, rather simplistic if not more than a bit naïve, or even foolish.  Because what has effectively taken place in this country during the time since Barry first strutted his cool self into the Oval Office is that the playing field has now been changed to the point where using election trends of the past as your guidepost is no longer applicable.  Historical trends of the past have become meaningless and to continue to rely on them is foolish.   

Because the net result of having had Barry in office for what will have been eight long years by the time Election Day 2016 rolls around is that we will have millions more Americans firmly on the government dole, in some form or another, and millions of Americans who want to get their fair share and see voting Democrat as being their path to getting lots of ‘free’ stuff, so it’s hard to see any of these folks voting for Republicans who are less likely to give away ‘free’ stuff, who advocate personal responsibility and who want to get people back to work.  Hell, who wants that?

WHAT SHOULD BE A VERY SIMPLE GOP STRATEGY FOR 2016…

Now I’m pretty sure that those who are now, or soon will be, running for the Republican nomination in 2016 couldn’t care less about I would do were I in their shoes.  After all, a political tactician I most certainly am not, I’m just an average guy who fears for my country.  But having said that, it’s because of my status as pretty much of a nobody that I can be seen as being relatively immune to any and all criticism that may come my way when stating the first thing I would do were I a presidential hopeful.

Step One of this little strategy of mine to which I refer, would involve candidates heading into inner cities all across the country, and with cameras rolling, in an effort to point out not only how badly liberals have failed at the running of our cities but to also make clear the net result of decades of liberal policies.  That being, of course, the fact that our cities have been turned into cesspools of violence and corruption.  Next would be to make crystal clear that if our country continues on its present course, it will most certainly come to look the same way.   

But, obviously, simply pointing out the failures, or shortcomings, of liberalism is not going to be enough. That’s why Step Two in this strategy of mine would be to point out that the amount of black rage that exists in a lot of our inner cities, not just the ones like Baltimore, St. Louis or Chicago, but Washington D.C. and Los Angeles as well, is essentially well founded, as our inner cities of today have become little more than combat zones.  There are no jobs, they have lousy schools, there's no safety and half of the people live on welfare.

And then, I would ask that all important question, who is it that has been running these cities for what, in some cases, has literally been decades?  Let’s take Detroit just as a for instance.  In Detroit it has been made painfully clear what happens when you just let liberalism run amok.  What happens is that you turn a once thriving city into what is now a modern day wasteland.  The last Republican mayor in Detroit was Louis C. Miriani, a son of Italian immigrants, who served from 1957 to 1962.  So for over 50 years Detroit has been run by Democrats.  

And to my way of thinking, keeping in mind that I’m no ‘Architect’ like Kark Rove, that's where the Republicans could make for themselves a real opportunity.  But it would require them go to these places and say to bona fide black leaders, black ministers and go to the churches, schools and neighborhoods and say we're going to fix this thing.  That includes such commonsense things as creating more opportunity and improving education.  Republicans needn’t bother wasting their time seeking out the race baiters like Sharpton or Jackson.

What Republicans must do is to make very clear how it is that they intend to improve things. They have to say, “we're going to bring you jobs through our economic programs, we're going to give you school choice so you don't have to go to these lousy schools, we're going to make the streets safe because 90 percent of the blacks who live in these neighborhoods, they don't want this, they're the victims of this."  Republicans must reach out to these potential constituents and say it's liberalism, and those who practice it, who have created these unlivable conditions.

So there you have it.  And anyone who chooses to use my strategy can do so absolutely free of charge.  Consider it as being my little gift.  After all, we have to get this country back on track and do all that we can to correct, to the greatest extent possible, as much of what has been done over the course of the last eight years.  And I’m not saying that convincing those who live in these dilapidated cities will be easy, but the evidence, which is really quite staggering, if presented correctly, should be quite convincing and rather difficult to refute.

2016, A TIME FOR SOME FRESH BLOOD…

Look, as far as I’m concerned, rule number one should be that baseball does not make for a good analogy whenever discussing the running for president, by either the potential candidate or from anybody else. Because far from being a-three-strikes-and-you’re-out scenario, it should be seen more as being a one strike and you’re dead, politically speaking of course. And the reason that I even bring this up is because, believe it or not, there are some folks who are wanting Mitt Romney to make another run for president in 2016. But I say, not only no, but HELL NO!

Anyway, it was during an appearance on MSNBC, just this past Monday, that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chose to go pretty far out on the political limb by taking the notion of a Romney candidacy one step further. You see, Mr. Chaffetz actually declared that not only will the former Massachusetts governor chose to run again in 2016, but he will actually be occupying the White House one the next presidential election has been decided. Personally I’m one of those who happen to be of the opinion that two chances are quite enough.

Chaffetz told MSNBC, "I think he actually is going to run for president. He probably doesn’t want me to say that. A hundred times he says he’s not, but Mitt Romney has always accomplished what he has set out to do." And he went on to say, "I think he’s proven right on a lot of stuff. I happen to be in the camp that thinks that he’s actually going to run and I think he will be the next president of the United States." Now I’m not sure if this is simply wishful thinking on his part, or what, but Romney had his shot, now is the time for someone else.

And I guess what adds more than a little fuel to the Romney 2016 fire is the fact that it was a recent poll from Quinnipiac University that found 45 percent of American voters now believe that the U.S. would be much better off under a Romney presidency, compared to only 38 percent who stated that the U.S. would likely be in worse shape. The same poll also found that 33 percent of voters now believe that Barry is the worst president since 1945. I don’t think one needed to be particularly smart to recognize how it was that Barry’s agenda was going to play out.

It was while in New Hampshire this past week campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown, that Romney once again said that he doesn’t intend to pursue a third try for the White House. But what he has been doing is to encourage voters to punish Barry by handing to the Republicans control of the Senate come this fall. He told a crowd at a rally just yesterday, "I know that the president is not on the ballot this November, but the people of New Hampshire have a chance to vote on what they think about the president’s agenda."

The day was supposed to be focused more on gaining a Republican majority in the Senate of which Scott Brown’s quest to defeat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen this fall is a part than on any future political aspirations that Romeny might still have. But Romney’s return to the state where he began and ended his last presidential campaign loomed heavy over the event. The rally took place at Scamman’s Bittersweet Farm, the same location where the former Massachusetts governor formally launched his second presidential campaign three years earlier.

Romney was mobbed by supporters after his brief remarks. Several people encouraged him to launch another presidential campaign. And as he has done consistently in recent months, Romney insisted that he has no interest. He said the Republican Party would likely have 14 or 15 very good candidates from which to pick. He said, "I’m going to get behind the one who I think has the best chance of winning." He later added, "We’ll get someone who can win." And on that I will agree with him. We can’t afford to elect another Democrat.

To tell you the truth and this point I’m not sure if there is anyone out there who is capable of ever getting this country back on what would be some semblance of solid fiscal ground. Barry and the Democrats have made quite the mess of things, and very much on purpose. So what I now know for certain is that the very last thing we need to do is to elect another Democrat, and especially someone like Hitlery Clinton. Barry has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that socialism does not work. And Hitlery is just devoted as Barry to that philosophy of failure.

IN LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016...

So, the chatter has already begun regarding the list of likely Republican choices in the next presidential go around when the likely Democrat candidate to be faced will most likely be yet another socialist, this time in the person of none other than Hitlery, Mrs. "BJ" Clinton. However, at this particular juncture, looking ahead to 2016 I'm not overflowing with confidence regarding any candidate that might be fielded by the GOP. The reason for my lack of confidence stems from a sense that I have that, courtesy of all the brainwashing that was successfully put into action decades ago, and has been used, very effectively ever since, times have now changed. And, sadly, so has our culture. We have been taken over by a "Give Me" mentality with an actual desire for government dependency and an infatuation with a nanny state willing to take care of us. The takers now officially number to the makers and by 2016, the makers will be even further in the minority.

And if there is to be any hope, the grunt work needs to start now. But is there a need for priorities, of both candidates that might be involved, as well as for the party, to be reevaluated? First off, in dealing with the supposed ‘fiscal cliff’, I think it fairly obvious that if the GOP agrees to tax hikes in exchange for only token reform or for the promise of some 'future' entitlement reform, which we all know will never happen, they will, more than likely, get blamed for "caving" instead of compromising. And, I could be wrong here, but it would seem to me that, that under the 'leadership' of John 'Boner', 'caving' is exactly what he intends on doing. Especially since the GOP possesses neither the skill nor the complicit media to explain how they compromised while Barry and Democrats didn’t. We will have to fight with the army we have, not with the army we wish we had. And right now the army we have in Washington is pretty weak, to say the least.

There are not now enough ‘real’ conservatives in positions of power to make anything that would actually work to fix the economy, happen. And what ones we did have in positions where they could make a difference, were recently accused of not being "team players" and relegated to the bleachers by our illustrious Speaker, John ‘Boner.’ So what do we do? Are we, like so many of those who are paid to be in the know, really stuck in what's being described as a no-win situation? Is the answer, now, to simply rollover and give to Barry everything he wants? All of it and to not even negotiate? Should our team simply say "Put your plan up for a vote and we’ll pass it. But you will own everything that happens moving forward. We’ll do it your way." But would Barry and the Democrats be made to 'own' it? People are already saying that even if the GOP did that, they would end up getting blamed for the disaster that will most assuredly ensue.

What I think is that regardless of what happens, the Democrats and their many allies in the state-controlled media will certainly TRY to blame the GOP for everything that goes wrong, and I’m sure there will be more than enough Americans who will believe them. Even though Barry will have gotten everything that he wanted and even after it 'fixes' absolutely nothing and most likely only makes things worse, the GOP will still somehow be blamed. Even though the GOP will have played no part in the actual crafting of any bill and with the Democrats doing it all. It should be apparent by now to anyone with a brain that neither Barry nor the Democrats in Congress possess any desire to 'fix' anything, it's just the opposite. The GOP should now just show up and vote for it. Any attempt to claim the GOP dictated requirements of the bill, and should, therefore, share in the blame, will be debunked by the facts. But who, anymore, pays attention to facts?

But for those who do pay attention to those pesky little things called facts, there will be no way to say "well, this would have worked if only…" because the GOP will not have changed anything. There will be no magical alternative out there that "could have been if only the GOP hadn’t stopped it" line anymore. But there are most certainly risks involved in such a strategy. From the moment they pass the legislation that Barry and the Democrats wants, Republicans must be disciplined in pointing out that every failure of this new law designed to supposedly fix the fiscal and economic problems it was meant to fix, was, like Obamacare, entirely a Democrat/Barry "Almighty" concept. The GOP must be diligent in highlighting how they had zero impact on the final version of the bill. Everything Barry and the Democrats wanted went in without the slightest opposition from the GOP. Barry and the Democrats own every single line on every single page.

Over and over again, the case MUST be made that the GOP stepped back and allowed Barry "Almighty" and Company to have their way in supposedly trying to avoid the fiscal cliff. But when things don't work out, Americans should then be asked questions like, "Did you lose your job because of the higher tax rates?", or, "Oh! Are prices higher for everything?", or, "What’s that? Federal revenues didn’t go up?" And then they should be told to ask Barry, I believe he was the one who said higher taxes would fix everything. The point will need to be argued that the time has now come to rid ourselves of Obamanomics, but that it’s liable to hurt like Hell. Look, like a cancerous tumor that has to be excised if the patient is to have any hope of surviving, if the required surgery is performed, the patient initially suffers a lot of pain. But as time passes and healing is allowed to begin, with the right therapy the pain will eventually go away as the healing process takes place.

2016 JUST SEEMS SO FAR AWAY RIGHT NOW...

I've always tried to be a 'the glass is half full' kinda guy, but I gotta tell you, after this last election it's been more than a little difficult. And I'm certainly not ready to start thinking about 2016, because with Barry having another four years to work on getting a few million more Americans addicted to the government, I'm feeling none too optimistic about our chances next time around. Even though, it would appear that, many others are apparently already thinking about the next election and have been busying touting what they see as being our strong bench of potential candidates for the next presidential go around. But I can't help but wonder what good it's going to do us. Can you possibly imagine how many more people there will be by then who will have no intention, whatsoever, of voting for anyone who even remotely might be talking about cutting government programs. By then it may just be insurmountable.

Having said all that, if you can believe all of those currently doing all of the talking, it would appear that upwards of 15 very prominent Republicans, some privately and some not so privately, are now contemplating 2016 campaigns for the presidency, and the most serious and ambitious of the bunch are already plunging right in, with a few doing so quite publicly. Don’t expect them to officially announce or even officially decide for many months, but Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Rep. Paul Ryan are doing very little to disguise their presidential aspirations. Jindal, the Rhodes scholar and new chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), is making a very public case for a more intellectual approach to conservatism, accusing the GOP of being, in his words, "the stupid party." He offered a similar premeditated critique to reporters at the RGA, on Fox and in an opinion piece.

And, let's not forget that we have Rubio and Ryan, both can, arguably, be said to be in a little better position than is Jindal, and are also both competing for the mantle of the high-energy, forward-thinking conservatives. And it is being reported that both will unveil new policy plans at an awards dinner of the Jack Kemp Foundation in early December: Ryan will begin a new push on a more modern approach to alleviating poverty, focused on education; Rubio will lift the curtain on an economic empowerment message, heavy on college affordability and workforce training. That upcoming duet is one of the clearest signs that this presidential race is beginning as early as any in history. And also not to be left behind is Sen. Rand Paul son of Rep. Ron Paul, and heir to his father’s libertarian following, who is now on the record exploring a run that will focus heavily on returning power to the states.

In a post-election interview, Paul said he wants to find common ground with liberal Democrats on softer marijuana laws and help create an eventual pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. And these rising stars are hardly alone in their quest for the presidency. We also have Chris Christie, who I have to admit I'd have a difficult time supporting, at least at this point in time. And there are also rumors that Rick Santorum may want to run again. Gov. Rick Perry has also said that he might, too, and has begun talking to donors and other top supporters like he means it. And Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor with strong credentials on education and winning back Hispanics, has told advisers he will sit back to see how things unfold over the next year before deciding whether to finally give it a go. Jeb Bush Jr., the former governor’s younger son, said when asked on CNN's "Starting Point" whether his father would run: "I certainly hope so."

"You have this young crop, of attractive, successful, proven problem-solvers," former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said. "Old guys like me have to get out of the way." Barbour said the way to stand out in the field will be to help with the party’s 2013 and 2014 races. "We’re not going to wait till 2016 to set a strong new course," he added. This all might seem premature, and a possible big-time distraction for a party that lost the presidency and Senate and House seats this time around. But top Republican officials are encouraging the never-ending presidential campaign in hopes of creating influential national voices beyond Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. "On every conference call, the message is the same," one top official said. "We’re going to push out our new generation of leadership. We’re not going to sit back and let the extreme voices define what it means to be a conservative." Personally I wouldn’t label Fox News or even Rush as extreme.

Republicans are still haunted by the post-election chaos of 2008, when, with John McCain diminished by defeat and there were few clear future leaders with national juice then on the scene. This time around it is said that things feels quite different: Unlike 2008, when Republicans chalked up their defeat to a bad GOP ticket in a terrible post-Bush environment for the party, many of the most influential voices are calling for substantial rethinking of the conservative approach to politics. They are reckoning with demographic trends that favor Democrats, in other words, a growing dependent class made up of entitlement oriented parasites who favor more and more government spending on them. Another hurdle that needs to be dealt with is exit polling suggesting the assumption this is a center-right country might be wrong, or at least was wrong on Nov. 6, when it was a center-left electorate that showed up to vote.

I suppose, as always, the danger does exist that Republicans will get pulled into a bitter fight over the direction the party needs to take, especially as more traditional and hard-edged conservatives jump into the race. Republican sources said Rep. Michele Bachmann might want to fill the void on the religious right now and that Mike Pence, who just won the gubernatorial race in Indiana, has expressed interest in running, too. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who unlike Ryan won statewide in a state that Barry "Almighty" won twice, also harbors national ambitions and remains a favorite of the Tea Party. For now, most of the media attention is on Republicans who can help the party adapt to the changing demographics, weeks after the party lost African-Americans by 90 points, Asian-Americas by 50 points, Hispanics by more than 40 points and women by just over 10. Or groups that favors our very costly entitlement programs.

Finally, there are those elected officials who are perpetually looking for something bigger: Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Rob Portman of Ohio; Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose term ends in 2014; and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who like so many others on this list has made his ambitions known in private conversations with donors and activists. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus said in a recent email: "While the RNC engages in a serious post-election analysis of what worked well and what needs to be improved upon, one area that gives me great optimism is the caliber and quantity of potential 2016 candidates on the GOP side. The top names on the GOP side are talking about serious solutions and reforms to the major issues facing the country which will put the Republican field in a solid position." With this current flurry of activity, there is little time to waste for those trying to position themselves.

Jindal has been the most aggressive, hitting his party hard in a post-election interview, his posting of an op-ed on CNN and offering a sharp critique of his party during last week’s RGA meetings. In the interview, Jindal urged an end to "dumbed-down conservatism." "We need to stop being simplistic. … We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything," he said. Ryan allies believe that although his vice presidential run ended in a disappointing rout, he has more celebrity, credibility and clout after the race. With his expertise and power in the upcoming budget fights, Ryan will be a central figure in the policy and political debates of 2013. Rubio plays up his working-class roots and values as part of an appeal to voters making $30,000 to $50,000 a year — a group Romney lost badly but with whom Republicans used to be very competitive.

So there we are and the question that I suppose still remains to be asked is, will we even survive until 2016. I mean it's all well and good to sound all rosy and optimistic, but what good is any of it going to do if Barry succeeds in creating the economic and financial implosion that he is so desperately trying to bring about? Will we be able to hold this whole thing together until we are able to finally elect someone who actually gives a shit about fixing this thing and not in only making matters worse because they see some political advantage in doing so. And the task is only made all the more difficult due to the fact that the combined IQ of at least 51 percent of our electorate adds up to roughly 2. Which brings me back to the point of whether the glass is half full or half empty. And I'll be honest with you, I just don't know anymore. Frankly, I think the odds may be stacked against us, because the American people just don’t seem to care anymore.