The RNC yesterday issued its "autopsy" on why the Republicans lost the 2012 elections. RNC chair Rance Priebus delivered the message at a press conference and said that our "message was weak; our ground game was insufficient; we weren't inclusive; we were behind in both data and digital; our primary and debate process needed improvement."
It was a year in which Republicans failed once again to regain the White House, it failed to regain the United States Senate and lost a significant number of seats in the House of Representatives. Should the Republicans stay on this path, they will lose control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats in 2014.
The "autopsy" issued by the RNC is flawed, in that it blames "messaging" as one of the causes of the death of the party in the 2012 election.
It is not the "messaging," but it is the message. The perception put forward in the "autopsy" is that the Republicans failed to get across its message. In fact, the "messaging" on the part of the Republicans was outstanding and clear.
That is the problem. You name them, candidates like Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Joe Walsh in Illinois gave Republicans a bad name delivering a very clear and concise message that was easy to understand. There was no misunderstanding or vagueness involved in the message these gentlemen delivered.
America rejected it.
Buried deep in the "autopsy" document on page 23, under "Campaign Mechanics," is the the subtitle, "Candidate Recruitment." Or better said, "Picking the right candidate with the right message."
There were more poor candidates recruited by the Republicans than just Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Joe Walsh in Illinois, but these were the worst of the worst. In fact, Karl Rove was right about this, saying that "My message is this -- get off your ass."
"We need to have the diversity that is America, and if we do, we'll have success," he said.
Or better said, "Picking the right candidate with the right message."
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John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African American studies, published by The Elevator Group, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books . John has volunteered for many political campaigns.
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