Reason 3. The “lesser evil” mentality. It
is interesting, also, that the Republicans never
embrace a candidate with more energy, and never
behave with such intensity of vitriol toward any
doubters or critics, as when the candidate is a man
whom they themselves consider a candidate of dubious
conservative credentials. Mitt Romney, the oft-styled
“Massachusetts moderate“, was surely such a
candidate, as numerous conservative Republicans did
not hesitate to admit, until Romney seemed
likely to secure the nomination. But once the
nominating process was trending Romney’s way, many
of those same Republicans reacted with every
possible tactic to undermine Romney’s opponents and
critics. Perhaps the hatred of Obama (and the
irrational inflation of Obama as the Evil Communist
Atheist Muslim Kenyan-Born “Community Activist” Who
Threatens to Destroy the Very Fabric of America by
many Republicans) led the reluctant Romney
supporters to consider absolutely anybody to be
preferable to the strawman Obama they had built up
in their minds – and also any means to be acceptable
for achieving Obama’s defeat, including lies, fraud,
voter suppression, and violence against peaceful
critics. It is often the case that the mentality of
supporting the “lesser evil” causes people to behave
with the greatest evil. Surely, in their
behavior on the campaign trail in 2012, the
Republicans were by far the more evil party.
Reason 4. Refusal to differentiate based on true
principle. While Romney continued to attack
Obama on the basis of factually false trivialities,
the substantive principles of Obama’s
governance did not come under attack. Completely
absent were any criticisms of drone assassinations
of American citizens and foreign civilians; the
threat of indefinite detention of Americans on US
soil; repeated attempts to control the Internet in
the name of “cybersecurity” or “intellectual
property”; political favoritism and bailouts
directed toward large financial institutions; a
bizarre and perverse surveillance and “security”
state, exemplified by the Transportation Security
Administration’s backscatter X-ray machines and
grotesque full-body pat-downs; the continuation of
bloody and unsustainable foreign entanglements; an
increasingly impoverishing fiscal and monetary
policy; and the escalating devastation caused by the
War on Drugs. Of course, Romney did not wish to
criticize any of these policies, because he would
likely have supported their escalation were
he elected. The substantive policy differences
between most Republicans and most Democrats have
been narrowing over the past three decades. This
election cycle, they have been reduced to virtually
nil – even as the political rhetoric achieved levels
of virulence and polarization unprecedented over the
same time period.
Reason 5. Xenophobia and demonization of “the other”.
It is truly unwise for a party seeking to
win elections to brand entire vast categories of
peaceful persons as undesirable. Yet, in their
rhetoric, this is precisely how many prominent
Republicans portrayed immigrants, homosexuals, the
non-religious, and people whose income is below the
threshold for a positive income-tax obligation. Is
it any wonder that many such individuals chose to
vote against the Republicans, if only because they
wished to secure the defeat of the party that so
vocally advertised its intent to oppress them and
restrict their rights? Perhaps the lessons of this
election will teach the wiser among the Republican
pundits and politicians that collectivistic
demonization of large numbers of people not only
fails to win elections, but it is a generally sordid
practice to engage in. Commentators such as
Sean Hannity seem to have already shifted their
positions on immigration. One can hope that others
will follow suit – though I suspect the changes in
attitude will be too little, too late, especially
with other pundits, such as Bill O’Reilly,
decrying the demographic changes and the alleged
decline of the “white establishment” in America – a
mild expression of the not-so-latent racism and
xenophobia that, unfortunately, still plague too
many in the Republican Party.
Fundamentally, the Republicans lost the election
because many of them lost touch with any semblance
of truth, liberty, and basic human decency. It would
be a welcome outcome if the results of this election
chasten the Republicans to cease suppressing
libertarian ideas and to instead embrace a
full-fledged advocacy of civil liberties –
especially including the right to engage in peaceful
behaviors of which many Republicans may personally
disapprove. The success of ballot initiatives
permitting same-sex marriage in Maine, Maryland, and
Washington, as well as legalization of marijuana in
Colorado and Washington, should teach Republicans
that their advocated intensification of crackdowns
on personal freedoms will find only ever-dwindling
support, particularly among young people. Unless the
Republican establishment dramatically changes its
ways, it will increasingly sink into irrelevance
(though not without inflicting tremendous damage in
the meantime). And, unless it changes its ways, it
will be justified to say of that irrelevance: “Good
riddance!”
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