Second look at Project ORCA?
1) The ORCA-as-villain narrative is working because too many people find it convenient. As long as conservatives and Republicans are talking about ORCA, they aren’t talking about how the percent of Hispanics for Obama increased since 2008; they aren’t talking about how all of the Republicans consultants predicted that Obama’s voter turnout among his key constituencies would decrease, when on Election Day, it stayed level or increased; and they certainly aren’t talking about how Republicans, and their support groups, spent hundreds of millions of dollars without moving the meter one damn bit.
2) The ORCA-as-villain narrative is working because it’s an easy target. Most folks don’t really understand what ORCA did, or didn’t do, and so long as data guys aren’t invited on “Meet the Press” — and, by and large, they aren’t — folks aren’t going to find out.
3) The ORCA-as-villain narrative is working because Romney lost, and he lost big. The media only care what went wrong when people lose.
Blowback
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Second look at beating that poor dead horse?
JPeterman on November 24, 2012 at 2:43 PM
Romney was the reason he lost. Plain and simple. He should have run on the Democrat ticket.
astonerii on November 24, 2012 at 2:53 PM
Really?
Del Dolemonte on November 24, 2012 at 2:57 PM
You global warming deniers are as back as pedophiles: http://www.ambitgambit.com/2012/11/24/paedophilia-climate-science-and-the-abc/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
You’re all a bunch of perverts!
davidk on November 24, 2012 at 3:06 PM
The man making the statement was actually trying to compliment global warming deniers. He himself is part of the ideology that believes in free love and totally open sexuality…
astonerii on November 24, 2012 at 3:08 PM
The ORCA-as-villain narrative because it was a horrible failure that left 30,000 GOP volunteers sitting around holding their expletives in an election decided by about 500,000 votes across 4 states.
Not clever enough?
Of course, in a loss so narrow with a campaign and candidate so flawed, there are many things to blame, but ORCA certainly deserves a major award.
HitNRun on November 24, 2012 at 3:08 PM
See Pat Caddell’s speech, as featured on Daily Caller.
Romney apparently listened to consultants who told him that he didn’t need to respond to character attacks over the summer, because no one’s paying attention, and the only issue that mattered was “the economy.” (even if he used up his primary funds, he could have used his personal fortune to run some ads in swing states summer.) Consultants told him don’t really go into any specific issues; just keep harping on the “economy” and run out the clock on the election. Consultants planned the content-less convention, too.
Of course this is what heppens with a candidate who has no clear governing philosophy, and hires someone to write a philosophy for him. It was “tell me what I should say I believe,” as opposed to “This is what I believe; how can I communicate it to the voters.?”
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 3:10 PM
A third look at why Romney lost: http://www.infowars.com/22-signs-that-voter-fraud-is-wildly-out-of-control-and-the-election-was-a-sham/
davidk on November 24, 2012 at 3:10 PM
So more amnesty, higher taxes, and government spending, yes?
Punchenko on November 24, 2012 at 3:13 PM
A third look at why Romney lost: http://www.nnnforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248937
davidk on November 24, 2012 at 3:14 PM
ORCA? Pub tech? Yeah right. Reminds me of pagers.
tommy71 on November 24, 2012 at 3:46 PM
Just wait until the media unleash the forthcoming Republicans are stupid meme. Sarah Palin will come out looking like Einstein compared to the ugliness that awaits.
The stats are being parsed, compressed and reanimated to frame the election and ultimately Republicans as dumb. The PRECISE tactics about which the left has complained about for decades are being prepped for widespread demonizing of conservatives, evangelicals and Republicans.
Capitalist Hog on November 24, 2012 at 4:00 PM
ORCA should more appropriately be called another marine “life” such as, Beached Whale.
Or even better, FLOUNDER.
Joe Mama on November 24, 2012 at 4:01 PM
Not exactly “big”. It was a 3 point victory with a D+6 turnout. In many states the margin was under 100K votes. As of this moment according to the current vote counts (which as still continuing) Romney got 279,225 more votes in 2012 than McCain got in 2008. Romney lost Florida by 74,309 (so far), less than 1% of difference. Romney lost Ohio by 107,241 (so far). Romney lost Virginia by 149,311 (so far) votes.
Fact is that Obama *barely* won this election. I think it seems so big because there is a lot in the balance in this election and people are truly afraid of what is going to happen over the next four years. A lot of families are going to suffer that didn’t have to suffer as a result of it. We are going to see the disparity between rich and poor increase, we are going to see the big corporations get bigger and the small businesses go bust or get smaller. We are going to see people killed in the Middle East. This makes this loss feel “bigger” than it really is.
What this election shows is that Democrats put party loyalty ahead of ethics and logical sense. We lost two Senate seats we shouldn’t have lost. Aiken was the worst possible choice in the MO primary and we shouldn’t have thrown Lugar out in IN (yet. That should have happened after we obtained a Senate majority). We lost a seat in MA to a woman who practiced law without a license and claimed minority status she wasn’t entitled to for personal gain.
But overall, if you look at the current state of things, we fared much better at the state level and at the Congressional level than we did after the 2008 elections. We are poised well for 2014 mid-term elections and there are Senate seats up in a lot of “red” states that are currently held by Democrats.
In the 2008 elections we lost 21 seats in the House and the Dems controlled it 236-199. In 2012, despite the loss of 10 districts in CA and IL, we lost only 8 seats and still hold the majority 234-201.
In the 2008 elections we lost 8 Senate seats and the Democrats held a 57-41 majority. In 2012 we lost 2 seats and the Dem majority is 53-47.
The 2008 elections in Congress were due to Obama being at the top of the ticket and his GOTV effort in the urban areas. That won’t happen in 2014. There will be no “coattails”. In most Congressional races it will be two “old white guys” running against each other.
We stand in a pretty good position to take both houses of Congress in 2014 *IF* people pull together and make the priority about ejecting Democrats and not be so worried about “purifying” the Republican candidates.
At the state level we took several more governors. For the first time since Reconstruction ended, AR, AL, and MS have complete Republican control of their state legislatures. These states had been considered “red” because of how they voted in Presidential elections but their state governments had been run by Democrats for over 125 years. In West Virginia we made huge strides in taking seats in the legislature. We are only 5 seats shy now of “flipping” the state government of WV from Dem to Rep in the lower house.
By Christmas time next year, people are going to be absolutely sick of Democrat economic policy. We are going to see tens of thousands laid off or moved to part time because of those policies. When April 15, 2014 rolls around, people are going to discover the impact of the return of the marriage penalty, of the cutting in half of the child tax credit, and of the Obamacare penalty.
Overall, we are in a LOT better shape after 2012 than we were after 2008. Obama’s coattails shrank. We are looking pretty good for 2014 in my opinion.
crosspatch on November 24, 2012 at 4:18 PM
I am not going to disagree with you on Republicans shape for 2014 wins. To what end? What will they do or promote to improve anything?
astonerii on November 24, 2012 at 4:23 PM
This is what Caddell said at Restoration weekend 2011
Mitt Romney clinched the GOP Primary on May 29. So Caddell was right. The Primary went on far too long and left Mitt insufficient time to beat a campaign that been organizing for 5 years.
As for you Wethal, you have to be pretty thick not to understand that Romney was offering smaller government, fewer regulations, more efficiency, less waste, reduction in spending, lower taxes, balanced budgets, support for small business, a more ethical government, etc, etc, etc.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Ad hominem fallacies are not arguments.
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 4:31 PM
Are these numbers within the margin of fraud?
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:34 PM
Too incompetent to win early even with the single largest primary war chest in Republican history.
Too incompetent to know who the voters were going to be.
Too incompetent to save enough money to defend post primary elections.
Too incompetent to spend his own money to defend himself in the absence of having primary funds to do so.
Too incompetent to inspire the base beyond vote against Obama. (Vote for me, at least I am not a Marxist, socialist light sure, marxist, No.)
Too incompetent to not inspire the other side from coming out in force to defeat him by saying they were the 47%, in a way that allowed them to be painted as moochers.
Too incompetent get out the vote.
Too incompetent to win.
astonerii on November 24, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Also interesting how so many Hispanic Americans could vote for Obama after he was instrumental in the slaughter of over 300 Mexicans. It just shows once again that Democrats put party loyalty ahead of ethics every single time.
They could produce a budget. Having the Senate in Republican control would force Obama’s hand on a lot of issues. It would force him to negotiate or flat out veto things that might be popular with the people. It also matters for confirmation of appointments.
crosspatch on November 24, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Romney’s conservative governing philosophy was told to you many times over the course of the campaign. You are thick. Or a liar.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:38 PM
I live in the Philadelphia area media market, and all we saw here from Romney and American Crossroads for weeks, was “The economy is baaaad, but it could be better, somehow, with Romney.”
If the issues you mention were indeed his positions, which they probably were, he never communicated them effectively.
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 4:40 PM
Ad hominem yet again.
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 4:42 PM
Firstly Romney offered plenty of inspiration to anyone who isn’t a moron.
Secondly, any member of your imaginary base who had to be inspired to vote against Obama is too incompetent to vote.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Disputing your stupid accusations are not ad hominems. It is setting the record straight, with gusto. Romney laid out a clear agenda to anyone with the humility and brains to listen.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:51 PM
Communication is a two way street. I heard him loud and clear. Either you didn’t listen or you are a liar.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 4:55 PM
Says you. Like most things, views diverge.
You, being a sycophantic nut case of Romney Worshiping certainly felt inspired.
Not one person I know personally voted happily for Romney. None were inspired. Several Republican fellow employees did not even go out and vote. At least 3 of them participated in the Primary and voted for people other than Romney in it.
When I did events for Romney, the people I did door to door contacts with said they were certain to vote Romney, but none of them seems excited. They talked more about fear of Obama. The people at another event only 4 or 5 seemed keen on Romney, the other 7 or so people I talked to were there with antipathy towards Obama. The night of the first Debate, I talked to about 30 total people, some before, some after. Those before were concerned he would come out looking bad, they thought Obama was going to damage him. Those after the debate were surprised by his performance and mostly his professed positions. Mostly they were happy he effectively beat up Obama and Obama came out looking weak. None really talked about how excited they were to vote for Romney and his positions.
Obama was the most effective inspiration for Romney voters that I noticed in North Carolina. I am not sure who he might have inspired other than sycophants who are prone to insanity.
astonerii on November 24, 2012 at 4:57 PM
Calling people “stupid, morons, thick or liars” or lacking in “brains or humility” because they disagree with you is not “setting the record straight.”
Name-calling says something about the name-caller, and not about the recipient of the pejoratives.
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Have you ever been in a real fight? I mean one where somebody was going to end up arrested or seriously hurt? Most people have not.
When you’re in a real fight, this happy-talk crap won’t work. To walk away or get away you have to be gravely honest with yourself about what you’re willing to do in that moment. Then do it.
What you’re doing does not work. It’s BS. Stop. It doesn’t help. And it really makes you sound like a whiny-loser.
Unless people are willing to admit to major flaws Until there is real change on the right and not just massaging the same dying-limbs the party will continue to diminish at approximately the same pace that white-Americans become the minority.
Complaining about a leak is not going to help when the ship is sinking. Fixing it now will. Your comments reflect the typical lame and useless response which I’ve heard.
Planning on the Dems to fail says VERY LITTLE about your hopes for the GOP. What ideas do you have that every person on this blog can walk away with and implement today?
Yeah, I don’t have an idea either. It’s not easy. But your easy-street BS isn’t going to work either. Waiting for the other team to fail is not an offensive strategy.
Capitalist Hog on November 24, 2012 at 5:01 PM
I’ve been practicing law in Philly for over 30 years, so I’d say I was pretty good at communicating and listening. Can’t be a litigator without them.
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 5:01 PM
You said this about a man who worked his butt off against all odds to save us from that incompetent thug.
I didn’t call you a moron because you said something which with I disagreed. I said you would have to be a moron, or a liar, to claim not to have known about Romney’s conservative agenda
Your description of Romney as having no core philosophy reveals you as lacking a core of decency. And you play fast and lose with the facts. Your comments are unworthy of someone in your station in life.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Ad hominem yet again.
“A core of decency”? Oh come on.
Although amusing. “My station in life”? Do you know what Shakespeare said about lawyers?
Wethal on November 24, 2012 at 5:42 PM
No core philosophy. Oh come on. You sound like an uneducated punk.
You mean to say you don’t understand the meaning of the expression: Let’s kill all the lawyers.
Basilsbest on November 24, 2012 at 5:58 PM