The Political Breakdown

Why the Republican Party Lost.

by The Political Breakdown

Throughout the election the Republican party baffled me. Their stances seemed anachronistic, and at times offensive and hateful. The conservative rhetoric continued this trend. Small town America and small businesses were lauded. Any concessions for illegal immigration were denounced, marriage would remain as it always had been. There were times when it seemed downright surreal. I convinced myself that, having lived in liberal New York City and now Los Angeles county, I was simply surrounded by a liberal bubble and that the Republicans knew what they were doing after all. It seems I was proven incorrect.

The Republican Party lost the election last night because they were appealing to a country that no longer existed. At the very least, they were pandering to a country that existed in numbers too small to garner a successful presidential election. It seemed like they thought if you spoke about traditional America, traditional values, and traditional views enough, if you flooded the television and the airwaves with advertisements lauding it, that you could bring that traditional country back into existence. You cannot. The country has changed. Latinos are now the biggest minority in the country. The Asian-American birthrate just exceeded that of the Latinos. Gay rights is going to continue to progress - get over it. And what could possibly make you think we’re going to regress to a point where a woman can be told what to do with her own body?

I am thrilled that President Obama won last night’s election, for reasons far more important than because his stances line up with my personal sociopolitical beliefs more closely than those of his opponent. I am happy because the Republicans will be forced to accept the fact that they lost touch with the keystone of the democratic system: compromise. The founding fathers of the United States specifically, intentionally designed our system of government to force moderation of viewpoints and keep anything too radical away from power. In order to receive power, one had to moderate their views and compromise with opposition to make their base powerful enough to win an election. Somewhere in the din of Karl Rove, Donald Trump, and Bill Maher, the Republicans forgot this. They thought if you shouted loud enough, you can win. Thank God this isn’t how our country works.

A Republican president will be elected again; it is only a matter of time. But when that time comes, I optimistically believe the GOP will have learned their lesson and have changed. They will have moderated their economic stance, and will have both accepted and appealed to new, powerful minorities within our country, whether they be of race or orientation. When that day comes I probably won’t much mind a Republican president as much, because even though I won’t agree with everything they have to say, they’ll be a tolerable leader of our country.

So Governor Romney lost, because his party and he forgot how a democracy works. In the end, this loss, and the lessons they will hopefully take away from it, might ensure our country’s successful future.