# Will The Republicans ever figure out why they lost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 26, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224 "2012-12-26T21:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/841 "2013-06-28T04:24:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It’s not the only poll showing support for restrictions on abortion after the first trimester. It’s a pretty extensively polled subject. > > Democrats are demonstrating their ignorance here by telling Republicans to ditch their popular positions rather than their unpopular ones. In a thread about why Republicans lost, that’s very strange. Nope, read it again, the majority of Americans, Even in Texas do not agree in putting even more restrictions than the ones the Supreme court supported recently. But this is in the end not a popularity contest, just like in the evolution question the fact that also half of Americans oppose its no reason to support Intelligence Design in schools. And then one should remember that in the most recent “20 weeks” abortion laws passed in a few states, the courts have declared them unconstitutional. > [@adaher](#): > > If we are to believe the posters here, Republicans should become pro-choice, abandon the idea of American exceptionalism, and join the few Americans(almost all democrats) who oppose voter ID. No, you are just once again avoiding the point, It is not that they need to become pro-choice, they need to back off from imposing even more restrictions that the ones they already got. > [@adaher](#): > > I think even Bob Shrum would be laughing his ass off at that kind of advice. Seeing that in Texas “63 percent say the state has enough restrictions on abortion and 71 percent thinking that the Governor and legislature should be more focused on the economy and jobs.” IMHO there is yet another reason why Texas will become blue sooner rather than later. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/842 "2013-06-28T04:51:48Z")
No, **GIGO** , it won’t be soon. The Republicans have been stacking the deck in Texas for a long, long time. It won’t be soon. But it \*will \*be. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/843 "2013-06-28T05:02:39Z")
Not in your lifetime. And to Gigobuster, for the purposes of this thread, yes, it’s a popularity contest. It does no good to say the Republicans should be better, but less popular. Although I can see why Democrats would want that. Democrats aren’t about to lose just to do the right thing. That’s why they voted for DOMA while now cheering its demise. They didn’t have the courage of their convictions back then and they were willing to sell out anyone to stay in power. Nothing’s really changed. Wait until Democrats figure out that the limousine liberals won’t be running the party anymore. That’ll be fun. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/844 "2013-06-28T05:06:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Not in your lifetime. > > And to Gigobuster, for the purposes of this thread, yes, it’s a popularity contest. It does no good to say the Republicans should be better, but less popular. Although I can see why Democrats would want that. Democrats aren’t about to lose just to do the right thing. That’s why they voted for DOMA while now cheering its demise. They didn’t have the courage of their convictions back then and they were willing to sell out anyone to stay in power. Nothing’s really changed. > > Wait until Democrats figure out that the limousine liberals won’t be running the party anymore. That’ll be fun. Useless pap. Once again, where it counts the results are just to get the laws to be declared unconstitutional, as a commenter on Reddit said, the Governors in the states that are passing these laws are just pushing for job programs to benefit their buddy lawyers that play golf with them. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/845 "2013-06-28T09:54:28Z")
What I want to know is why the Republicans lost the Congressional baseball game 22-0 to the Democrats. That’s just pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/846 "2013-06-28T10:08:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Not in your lifetime. > > And to Gigobuster, for the purposes of this thread, yes, it’s a popularity contest. It does no good to say the Republicans should be better, but less popular. Although I can see why Democrats would want that. Democrats aren’t about to lose just to do the right thing. That’s why they voted for DOMA while now cheering its demise. They didn’t have the courage of their convictions back then and they were willing to sell out anyone to stay in power. Nothing’s really changed. > > Wait until Democrats figure out that the limousine liberals won’t be running the party anymore. That’ll be fun. > [@adaher](#): > > If we are to believe the posters here, Republicans should become pro-choice, Wrong - Republicans should follow the polls and stop pushing for even more stringent abortion regulation, because people want other things - you know, like _jobs_. > [@](#): > > abandon the idea of American exceptionalism, Because it’s wrong. > [@](#): > > and join the few Americans(almost all democrats) who oppose voter ID. Yes, and in doing so, they’d stop being among the _reasons_ that only a “few Americans” aren’t _dead wrong_ about voter ID. Do you know why voter ID is popular? It’s not because it’s necessary or because the data supports it. It’s because _people don’t know the facts_. The vast majority of Americans have IDs and don’t usually spend much time thinking about that fact, and when they hear about Voter ID laws, they don’t think, “Wait, how much voter fraud is there _really_ - getting ID can be a long and arduous process”, they think, “Huh, that makes sense - almost everyone has ID, and _I_ didn’t have any trouble getting it”. Of course, they miss the point, because they never had to understand it. But that doesn’t mean they were right. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/847 "2013-06-28T13:21:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What I want to know is why the Republicans lost the Congressional baseball game 22-0 to the Democrats. That’s just pathetic. Because all of their fielders were positioned on the right field line? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/848 "2013-06-28T13:44:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Because all of their fielders were positioned on the right field line? It’s the Teabag House…the fielders were all off the field out in the right-side parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/849 "2013-06-28T15:41:12Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Wrong - Republicans should follow the polls and stop pushing for even more stringent abortion regulation, because people want other things - you know, like _jobs_. Voters want politicians to focus on jobs like a laser beam. Democrats have violated these wishes far more often than Republicans, and still are. > [@](#): > > Yes, and in doing so, they’d stop being among the _reasons_ that only a “few Americans” aren’t _dead wrong_ about voter ID. Do you know why voter ID is popular? It’s not because it’s necessary or because the data supports it. It’s because _people don’t know the facts_. The vast majority of Americans have IDs and don’t usually spend much time thinking about that fact, and when they hear about Voter ID laws, they don’t think, “Wait, how much voter fraud is there _really_ - getting ID can be a long and arduous process”, they think, “Huh, that makes sense - almost everyone has ID, and _I_ didn’t have any trouble getting it”. Of course, they miss the point, because they never had to understand it. But that doesn’t mean they were right. I think Americans realize that the only way to live without ID is if you depend on someone else to take care of you because you are mentally incompetent. In which case you shouldn’t be voting anyway. If you collect government benefits, you have ID. If you have a job, you have ID. If you have a car, you have ID. If you either rent or own your home, you have ID. If you travel anywhere, by bus, train, or plane, you have ID. Which leaves people who never get out of the house because they rely totally on someone else to do everything for them. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/850 "2013-06-28T16:12:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Voters want politicians to focus on jobs like a laser beam. Democrats have violated these wishes far more often than Republicans, and still are. Oh dear Lord you’re serious. > [@](#): > > I think Americans realize that the only way to live without ID is if you depend on someone else to take care of you because you are mentally incompetent. In which case you shouldn’t be voting anyway. Thanks for proving **BPC** ’s point. > [@](#): > > If you collect government benefits, you have ID. If you have a job, you have ID. If you have a car, you have ID. If you either rent or own your home, you have ID. If you travel anywhere, by bus, train, or plane, you have ID. And even if I accept these as true (and frankly I’d be surprised if Greyhound requires a passport to board), not all forms of identification are accepted under many voter ID laws. ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/851 "2013-06-28T16:27:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If you collect government benefits, you have ID. This is blatantly false. There are many older people who collect their social security check without the type of ID required in any of the proposed voting laws. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/852 "2013-06-28T16:31:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Nope, read it again, the majority of Americans, Even in Texas do not agree in putting even more restrictions than the ones the Supreme court supported recently. That hasn’t been true since… ever? > [@](#): > > But this is in the end not a popularity contest, just like in the evolution question the fact that also half of Americans oppose its no reason to support Intelligence Design in schools. What does one of those things have to do with the other? > [@](#): > > And then one should remember that in the most recent “20 weeks” abortion laws passed in a few states, the courts have declared them unconstitutional. And? > [@](#): > > No, you are just once again avoiding the point, It is not that they need to become pro-choice, they need to back off from imposing even more restrictions that the ones they already got. Why? I’ll use a common Democratic talking point. “They won, so they get a mandate in the state to do what they want”. That’s how it works, right? Democrats try to legalize gay marriage (see: virtually any state with a Democratic legislature), ban guns (see: Colorado) or extend abortion rights (see: New York and California), but you **never** see the same people railing against Republicans rail against Democrats for “not focusing on jobs”. Why, exactly, is that? > [@](#): > > Seeing that in Texas “63 percent say the state has enough restrictions on abortion and 71 percent thinking that the Governor and legislature should be more focused on the economy and jobs.” IMHO there is yet another reason why Texas will become blue sooner rather than later. Have you even looked at the job situation in Texas relative to the rest of the U.S.? Of course you haven’t. Perry has done a damn good job of keeping Texas relatively unscathed (as when compared to the U.S. as a whole) during the economic downturn. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/853 "2013-06-28T16:38:36Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Democrats try to legalize gay marriage (see: virtually any state with a Democratic legislature) This is true. > [@](#): > > ban guns (see: Colorado) This is not true. > [@](#): > > or extend abortion rights (see: New York and California), but you **never** see the same people railing against Republicans rail against Democrats for “not focusing on jobs”. Why, exactly, is that? You mean supporters of Democrats tend to criticize Republicans? Stop the presses! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/854 "2013-06-28T16:39:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Voters want politicians to focus on jobs like a laser beam. Democrats have violated these wishes far more often than Republicans, and still are. Again, the Republicans doing everything to stop measures to concentrate on that and then having them claim that it is the fault of the other party is only fooling a few, but it does not fool most people. > [@adaher](#): > > I think Americans realize that the only way to live without ID is if you depend on someone else to take care of you because you are mentally incompetent. In which case you shouldn’t be voting anyway. And another ignorant point that forgets that Literacy tests and other moves like that were used to deny votes to the less able. In any case, only in severe circumstances that is the case, but many that can make a living still have their rights threatened, and usually by conservatives too. > [@adaher](#): > > If you collect government benefits, you have ID. If you have a job, you have ID. If you have a car, you have ID. If you either rent or own your home, you have ID. If you travel anywhere, by bus, train, or plane, you have ID. > > Which leaves people who never get out of the house because they rely totally on someone else to do everything for them. And this was a point that has been shown to be misleading so many times, it is really a silly one. > **[How Voter ID Laws Are Being Used to Disenfranchise Minorities and the Poor](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/03/how-voter-id-laws-are-being-used-to-disenfranchise-minorities-and-the-poor/254572/)** > > Conservatives say this kind of legislation is meant to curb voter fraud. But while evidence of fraud is scant, proof of the regulations' failings is not. > [@](#): > > **How Voter ID Laws Are Being Used to Disenfranchise Minorities and the Poor** > > … > > Even though the Justice Department acted first in December in blocking a South Carolina voter-ID law, election law experts seem to agree that the Texas case is going to be the tip of the spear. Here’s how the Justice Department responded when it reviewed Texas’ new voter-ID law. Federal lawyers wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > ``` > > [W]e conclude that the total number of registered voters who lack a driver's license or personal identification card issued by DPS could range from 603,892 to 795,955. > > > > ``` > > > > … > > > > Even using the data most favorable to the state, Hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver’s license or a personal identification card issued by DPS, and that disparity is statistically significant. > > There’s more. As Brentin Mock wrote earlier this week at Colorlines, the practical reality of life in Texas makes it difficult, if not impossible, for people who want to comply with the new ID law to do so. Mock wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > Texas has no driver’s license offices in almost a third of the state’s counties. Meanwhile, close to 15 percent of Hispanic Texans living in counties without driver’s license offices don’t have ID. A little less than a quarter of driver’s license offices have extended hours, which would make it tough for many working voters to find a place and time to acquire the IDs. Despite this, the Texas legislature struck an amendment that would have reimbursed low-income voters for travel expenses when going to apply for a voter ID, and killed another that would have required offices to remain open until 7:00 p.m. or later on just one weekday, and four or more hours at least two weekends. Even though the supreme court relaxed the law, Texas was shamed to offer a free ID for voting, just 8 days ago… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/855 "2013-06-28T16:44:46Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > That hasn’t been true since… ever? Since you are not paying attention, we can disregard the rest. > **[Wash. Post's Henneberger Misleads On Failed Texas Abortion Ban](https://www.mediamatters.org/washington-post/wash-posts-henneberger-misleads-failed-texas-abortion-ban)** > [@](#): > > On June 25, a Democratic filibuster during a special session of the Texas state senate effectively blocked a bill that would have banned all abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The bill included exceptions for cases when the life of the mother was threatened but not for rape or incest, and if it had passed Texas would have some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country. Governor Rick Perry has called a second special session to take up the bill again, starting July 1. > [@](#): > > But a recent poll revealed that in fact a majority of Texans do not support the restrictions on abortion the bill proposed. According to the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR), a representative poll conducted June 17 - 19 found that 51 percent of Texans opposed the legislation. 63 percent said the state has enough restrictions on abortion already, and 80 percent did not want the special session to deal with matters of abortion at all. Fifty-two percent of Texans think abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and 74 percent – including a majority of Republicans and Independents – say private medical decisions about abortion should not be made by politicians. Fifty-seven percent do not trust the governor or the legislature to make decisions about women’s healthcare. > > Moreover, Henneberger glossed over the realities of the bill, which unconstitutionally limits women’s right to legal abortions and would severely limit women’s access to safe and legal abortion procedures. As Mother Jones reported, the bill’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a woman’s right to a legal abortion until the point the fetus is viable outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks. In recent months, similar bans have been struck down as unconstitutional in two other states. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/856 "2013-06-28T18:33:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Voters want politicians to focus on jobs like a laser beam. Actually, there appear to be a great many voters out there with completely different priorities. (There are even some who appear to reject the notion that the jobless rate is a proper concern of government at all.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/857 "2013-06-28T20:04:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Voters want politicians to focus on jobs like a laser beam. Democrats have violated these wishes far more often than Republicans, and still are. Neither party has paid attention to jobs because they are both slaves to the one percent, and the one percent does not give a damn about jobs. Neither does Congress and the White House, though of course they SAY they do. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/858 "2013-06-28T20:39:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I think Americans realize that the only way to live without ID is if you depend on someone else to take care of you because you are mentally incompetent. In which case you shouldn’t be voting anyway. There are millions of Americans who don’t have a photo ID, and to call them incompetent is simply insulting, primarily because it isn’t true. You obviously have no idea what it means to be a member of the working poor who literally subsist day to day concerned if they will have food for themselves or their children by the end of the week, and for that perhaps you should get a pass, but ignorance of others’ circumstances is truly no reason to insult them. > [@adaher](#): > > If you collect government benefits, you have ID. If you have a job, you have ID. If you have a car, you have ID. If you either rent or own your home, you have ID. If you travel anywhere, by bus, train, or plane, you have ID. There is at least one cite in this very thread that dismisses your contention. You are also quite incorrect about renting and traveling by bus or train. In many places in the US, you need nothing more than a SS # and a recent pay stub in order to rent an apartment. I have never heard of an ID requirement for traveling by bus or train. In fact, I traveled to Boston for business via Amtrak a few weeks ago and I wasn’t asked to present any ID at all. > [@adaher](#): > > Which leaves people who never get out of the house because they rely totally on someone else to do everything for them. Again, not true, but I don’t expect any facts presented here will disabuse you of your delusions. **adaher** , you and I are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but I always considered you a reasoned debater. No, I don’t expect you to roll over and believe what your adversaries state just because they say it, but some of what you contend is simply easily refuted. Why won’t you even consider that some of your positions may need adjustment? It seems you’re being purposefully obtuse in this thread, my friend. What I can’t figure out is why. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/859 "2013-06-28T22:42:47Z")
Look, Pubs, I’ll give the game away. This is why you lost – it comes down to two reasons, which will continue to apply whether the economy gets better or worse: **1. The GOP has become a lot more RW than it used to be.** Not **conservative,** but RW, which is much more radical and less cautionary. E.g., no **conservative** would ever shout “End The Fed!” or “Drown it in a bathtub!” or “Molon Labe!” There was a time when both major parties had their liberal and conservative wings, but that changed with the general party-realignment of the 1960s and '70s, which was coincident with movement “conservatism” falsely-so-called taking over the GOP. That takeover is now all but complete; liberal “Rockefeller Republicans” are a thing of the past, and moderate-conservative “Main Street Republicans” are struggling with RWs for the soul of the party and not struggling very hard. The GOP still has internal divisions – in fact, they appear to be growing worse – but, apart from the Main Street/RW divide, the divisions are now between different flavors of RWs – bizcons and neocons and paleocons and theocons and libertarians agree on some points, but their fundamental world-views are all very different. Nevertheless, all would agree in dismissing Reagan or Goldwater as RINOs if they were running for office today. **2. Becoming more RW has increased your zeal but decreased your appeal.** You have a very zealous, turnoutable base now, or perhaps a better word would be desperate – as desperate as the 19th Century Plains Indians who danced the “Ghost Dance” in the hope it would make everything again as it was before the palefaces came. But, all politically interested people run the risk of misjudging their own political viewpoint to be much more popular than it is, because they tend to hang out with like-minded people. “How could X have won?! Nobody I know voted for him!” In fact, the American people are not nearly as RW or even as conservative as they would need to be for a majority of them to support your party in its present formation. See the [Pew Political Typology 2011](http://www.people-press.org/2011/05/04/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology/). “Staunch Conservatives” make up only 9% of the general population, “Main Street Republicans” 11%. Add in all of the “Libertarians” and the “Disaffecteds” and you’re still only up to 40% – and you have **almost no appeal to anybody else** but those groups. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/860 "2013-06-28T23:03:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > OAnd even if I accept these as true (and frankly I’d be surprised if Greyhound requires a passport to board), not all forms of identification are accepted under many voter ID laws. Under the voter ID laws upheld by the courts, not only are all forms of state-issued photo identification accepted, but also utility bills. And yes, Greyhound requires photo ID. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224.md?page=44)