Thought On the Election

Two weeks after the election, I'm struck by the various reactions from Republicans over the election.  Newt Gingrich said it best when he acknowledged the President deserves our respect over his great victory.  He was shocked that Obama won, as was Romney.  Romney's concession speech on election night was graceful and poignant; however, his remarks a few days later over the reason he lost -- the gifts Obama gave to his constituents -- has been criticized by everyone.  Apparently, he's still reeling from the defeat.  Did he really think he was going to win?  Still last year, I really thought he was going to lose.  Romney had one core conviction throughout the campaign:  I want to be president.  That's all he really believed in, and he would say anything to make it happen.  No one told him that strategy doesn't work in this country.  You have to believe in something and stick with it.  That's what we respect.  You can game the electorate, at least not on the national stage when running for president.  I'm glad we will no longer have to listen to another Romney political speech in our lifetime. 

It seems to me the problem with the Republican Party can be traced back to the Republican Primary debates and some of the extreme positions so many of the candidates chose to take.  The competition to see who was the most conservative candidate became a contest to see who possessed the most extreme hostility toward the federal government, women, immigrants and Obama.  If Republicans can remove their extreme hostility out of their primaries, they'll stand a better chance in 2016.