Former RNC boss: The GOP is at risk of becoming a “permanent minority”
“I don’t think the party dies immediately,” Gilmore says. “It’s not going to just disappear like the Whigs did, since there is so much law that supports the two-party system. But Republicans will be locked into a permanent minority at the national level unless we seriously rethink our approach.” …
“The world has changed beneath us,” Gilmore says. “Shrillness and extreme language are driving away the voters who could help us build a majority. We’re not speaking to them as reasonable conservatives. Republicans have to decide if they want to govern or play ideological parlor games.”
“Young people today have a more tolerant, hands-off perspective,” he says. “Their libertarian philosophy, for example, has to be taken into consideration. Yet we keep projecting anger at the gay community and the Hispanic community, even though they’re open to many of our ideas.”
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Indeed. We really should cut out the violent anti-gay and anti-Hispanic rallies (especially since my arms get so tired from carrying the pitchfork and torch). /
changer1701 on January 31, 2013 at 11:24 AM
Libertine and Libertarian are not the same words Gilmore.
Flange on January 31, 2013 at 11:25 AM
There are certain intelligent (R) politicians, a new breed of Republicans, who understand this. The old ex politicians who couldn’t be reelected to their old jobs running against a cardboard box will be divisive and shrill and ultimately cast away. Probably will take ten years or longer.
Marcus on January 31, 2013 at 11:28 AM
“Just one more time with a CINO squish, come 2016. We promise it’ll really, really work, this time! PINKIE SWEAR!!!”
Kent18 on January 31, 2013 at 11:29 AM
I’m starting to think a guardian angel is preventing me from posting certain, shall I say, over the top crap.
Dr. Frank Enstine on January 31, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Yes, shrill and hysterical attacks on the base by know-nothing party hacks like this guy need to stop immediately. Another thing that’s changed is that we’ve hit the breaking point on spending and so the old model of “talk up conservatism while spending like a drunken sailor” no longer applies either. The GOP must reform to face these new challenges!
Of course, Gillmore isn’t talking about any of that.
It’s funny that this guy is talking about how the party needs to “change” by doing the exact same things it’s been doing for the past twenty years or so.
Doomberg on January 31, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Actually, he has a point.
Some of the opposition to gay marriage and the extreme “deport ‘em all” positions of some on our side appears to be driven by bigotry. Not all, but some.
Of course, I’ve always said the GOP would be better off ditching the socons, or at the very least stop pandering to them so much.
A more libertarian philosophy (which is where I think the Party needs to go in order to survive and NOT become a permanent minority) would remove federal funding from all sorts of things, abortion among them, as well as removing most of the social programs that act as bait for some illegals so they self-deport and/or stop coming across the border – all without singling anyone out. On the contrary, these would be moves in keeping with our Constitution that would benefit everyone.
DRayRaven on January 31, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Let the gnashing of teeth begin.
Pablo Honey on January 31, 2013 at 11:33 AM
This is politics. You don’t have to be carrying a pitchfork to piss people off. Sometimes, it just comes through in the tone in which you speak.
I live in a wealthy part of the gayest metropolitan area in the nation, and maybe the world. There are lots of gays (even some of whom are opposed to gay marriage!) who, if the GOP would stop engaging in and defending reflexively anti-gay rhetoric, would see very clearly where their economic interests lie. These are people who work pretty hard in high-paying sectors, who invest their money, often in small businesses, who don’t like paying taxes any more than then next guy.
This is low-hanging fruit (no pun intended) that, for reasons inexplicable, we are leaving on the tree…
JohnGalt23 on January 31, 2013 at 11:33 AM
Yes, yes it is. Remember, when the Israelites pissed God off, he sent them out into the wilderness for 30 years…
Remember when the House of representatives was controlled by the democrats for 50 straight years? Remember when the contract with America finally got the Republicans the majority in the House of representatives? Remember when the Republicans thumbed their noses at conservatives from 1999 through 2006? Remember when the Republicans got thrown out of office in 2006? Remember when they were finally given another chance in 2010? Remember how they treated us between 2010 and now? Do you think that their God, the conservative base, thinks they have learned their lesson yet?
They just might be out there in the wilderness a LONG LONG LOOOOOOONG time.
astonerii on January 31, 2013 at 11:33 AM
Has this guy looked over the congressional districts? The red districts are generally really red and blue ones are really blue. Not much is going to change. Republicans are strong in the mid-terms and we need to squeak out three more points in the presidential elections because the dynamics are different.
mwbri on January 31, 2013 at 11:34 AM
I am so sick of hearing these falsehoods. Since when has Boehner, or anyone for that matter, been “shrill?” He speaks as though it is typical that the Reps are on TV shows, etc. being “crazy.” As far as I’m concerned, they’re not shrill enough for me. I wish they would get out there and debunk the MSM lies. To me, it appears they just let it get put out there and they don’t debunk any of it. That’s what the problem is, not that we need to “change.”
NJ Red on January 31, 2013 at 11:35 AM
Yeah, cuz if there’s one thing I think of when it comes to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, it’s that they’re shrill and extreme. We lost because a bunch of voters were either too stupid or afraid to blame the incumbent for the current state of the economy. And that’s in no small part due to the GOP’s refusal to go hard after Obama. The moral of the story is not to play nice and try to get along better with the other side. It’s to draw a stark contrast and explain in no uncertain terms why voters should pull the lever for you.
Doughboy on January 31, 2013 at 11:35 AM
Last stand of the RINOs.
Let the DNC be the party of progressivism, let the GOP be the party of conservatism. Let the chips fall where they may. Judging from the last time the GOP strongly embraced conservatism – 2010 – the chips will fall just fine.
The idea that the GOP can out-hispander and out-gay the democrat party, is simply ludicrous.
Rebar on January 31, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Oh, and how does this Gilmore explain 30 Republican governors if we can’t get a message out?
NJ Red on January 31, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Agree to immigration reform. First we secure our borders. If they are deemed secure then we move on to the. Ext step.
Also all states can fully enforce the immigration laws on the books.
Heck states should do this anyway.
No amnesty.
GardenGnome on January 31, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Why rethink the approach?
Follow me here …
No ONE can fix this current mess. Jesus Christ – if he came down from all high wouldn’t be able to stop this country from going over the cliff due to socialist and marxist policy.
So let it GO OVER!
Let the freeloaders learn what it’s like when Uncle Sugar is out of money and can’t take any more from rich people.
Two things cure the patient … the medicine, or the disease. Let the disease run it’s course.
HondaV65 on January 31, 2013 at 11:38 AM
I think this says more about the people in the country than the party, and to an extent this former boss and many others are aware of this and state it, however I think their conclusions diverge from what will or at least what should happen – in my certainly unpolitical opinion.
People keep saying that they need to reshape how they brand and promote the GOP and conservatism to the public, but everything always seems to come down to compromise, whitewashing and wishy-washiness if not downright change in ideological direction. And the GOP wonders why for years many see them as nothing more than the flip side of the Democrats…
People are thinking they can change things starting in and from the wrong perspective and spot. You’re not going to change this nation thru politics and the GOP isn’t going to do itself any favors by sticking a wet finger in thei air, all the while claiming to still hold to conservatism while sitting in a leaky dingy on a sandbar in a swiftly rising river. There’s a Rock over on the shoreline and it isn’t the Democrats, liberals or secular, humanistic relativism. Start there.
That said, as I was telling a friend, while we should endeavor to save Sodom, it will most probably still burn as it rightly should.
Logus on January 31, 2013 at 11:39 AM
Well, if they put Christie up as the nominee in 2016 they will lose my vote. I just won’t vote…I know that is frowned upon, and I held my nose two times too many. I’m not holding my nose anymore, I’ll vote down tickets but that will be it.
They were sent the message in 2008 and 2012…if they don’t get the picture then I’m not sure they ever will. I’m never voting for another squish again.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?????
NJ Red on January 31, 2013 at 11:40 AM
This guy is basically a run of the mill establishmentarian who is terrified of the changes in a GOP electorate that is now demanding real beef on issues like cutting spending. The party leadership wants to keep the gravy train of the good old days of the 1990s and early 2000s rolling, and is unable to accept that things have changed and we can’t just keep happily implementing feel-good socialist policies.
Essentially he’s demanding we keep doing the same things we’ve been doing for the past 20 years while cloaking it in the language of “progress.”
Doomberg on January 31, 2013 at 11:42 AM
Can these people come up with anything new? Ever. I’ve heard this same b.s. attached to both parties. That’s the real problem, these people couldn’t come up with an original thought or idea if their lives depended on it.
Cindy Munford on January 31, 2013 at 11:42 AM
“Paid political announcement, brought to you by the Committee for the Second McCain Administration Inaugural, and/or the Committee for the First Romney Administration Inaugural.”
Kent18 on January 31, 2013 at 11:44 AM
You’re in Chicago too? Heh.
The “tone” ascribed to conservatives is usually provided by the Legacy Media, which will usually take an ignorant (or out of context) comment and apply to all conservatives or Republicans, for all time. This is a problem.
Was Obama “anti-gay” when he won in 2008? Sure sounded like it.
Further, if gays that “get” economics vote against their own interests because of fringe issues then that’s their problem. No candidate or party can be all things to all people. You man up, take the good with the bad, hold your nose, and cast your vote in private. It’s about adult decisions and trade-offs. If people throw away the solvency of this country for a permanent Euro-style decline then they are fools.
visions on January 31, 2013 at 11:50 AM
They don’t want to explain that, because it’ll mean they’re out of a job soon. The reason the GOP is doing so well at the local and state level is because genuine fiscal(and to an extent social) conservatives are running for office and are unabashed about their views.
At the national level, we’ve got a bunch of incompetent morons who sound like they haven’t left the Beltway in decades. They continuously talk down to the base, urge “modifying” or “evolving” with regard to the conservative principles that they claim to stand for, cave in repeatedly to the Democrats, and do a p-ss poor job at mobilizing voters(at least compared to the opposition). It’s no wonder they can’t win a general election.
It’s really not that complicated. First, run on a conservative platform. A real one, not a watered down Romney version. Get your base locked in. Then widen your support by targeting specific voters and areas of the country with issues that appeal to them. That doesn’t mean you abandon your core principles, just market to the people you’re trying to reach. In other words, if you’re in coal country, talk economics and energy, not abortion or gay marriage.
Doughboy on January 31, 2013 at 12:03 PM
Shrillness and vile rhetoric won the elections for the traitorous democrats. A liberal cannot speak without being shrill and hateful. That is a simple fact. To say shrillness and vile rhetoric doesn’t work is a lie. Bitter clingers, war on women, Romney kills with cancer, Binders of women? Hello idiot, that was all spewed forth by democrats, that’s all the democrats have is hate, and they win with it.
Flange on January 31, 2013 at 12:03 PM
Mr. Gilmore, answer Rush’s question — why is it that shrillness and extreme language only drive away Republican voters, never Democratic voters? Or don’t you think lying on the Senate floor about Romney filing tax returns or running an ad accusing Romney of at least indifference and at worst complicity in the death of a cancer victim counts as shrill or extreme?
Mr. Gilmore, please explain why Republican percentage of the Hispanic vote dropped by 7% after the Reagan amnesty bill? Why didn’t Hispanic voters reward McCain for supporting amnesty?
Seriously, Mr. Gilmore — did you sleep through the Romney campaign? Did you just wake up yesterday morning and read David Brooks piece and think — yes, that’s the problem: Too many of those Western Big Sky Liberty Shoutin’ Republicans; no! we need more Eastern Republicans focused on growth and the economy!
Just one more question, Mr. Gilmore — how many counties did you carry in your Virginia Senate bid? And now you want to share your winning strategy with the national Republican party. Mr. Gilmore, go back to insignificance.
EastofEden on January 31, 2013 at 12:11 PM
THIS is the reason the GOP is losing ground.
Guys like this who are always so ready to attack his own party and bend and cave at every loss.
He wants to label the GOP as shrill…?
Where the hell has he been for the last six years?
The Democrats and their media allies are the nastiest, meanest, angriest bunch you will ever meet.
If the GOP want to start winning elections again they need to start showing some damn loyalty to the people who send them money and work hard to get them elected.
Nobody votes for John McCain or John Boehner because they are thinking “Wow…this guy is really singing my song. He will sure fix things and make Washington right.”
Those guys get reelected because the alternative is even worse and the voters accept a lame RINO or a corrupt Democrat but nobody is happy about it.
If the GOP wants to win elections again they need to show us some courage and stick up for the people who send them to Washington instead of always betraying us and reaching out to Democrats who despise the GOP base.
NeoKong on January 31, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Nonsense. Nobdoy uses more “shrill” or “extreme” language than the Dems. Obama’s entire campaign was based on it.
tommyboy on January 31, 2013 at 12:19 PM
You want to tell that to the liberals, Spanky?
Yet another windbag who came out of a coma yesterday. Where’s this clown been for the past decade?
Shrill and extreme language. *SNORK*
kim roy on January 31, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Strange New Respect ™
Kent18 on January 31, 2013 at 12:26 PM
San Francisco.
That we have a problem with the media in all matters, not just gay issues, is undeniable. It’s also something that has been true for my entire lifetime. That is no excuse for not beating Rick Santorum to a figurative bloody pulp over comparing gays to child rapists. In that case, dear Brutus, our faults lay not with our media stars, but with ourselves…
When it leads to collectivist victories, for no better reason than some of us believe that God calls on them to fag-bash, it becomes the problem of all free men, gay or straight…
JohnGalt23 on January 31, 2013 at 12:26 PM
It doesn’t even take an “ignorant” comment. If a conservate politician were to say, “I just don’t believe in gay marriage” the media headline is “extreme conservative Senator blasts gays and seeks to impose theocratic government”.
tommyboy on January 31, 2013 at 12:37 PM
They’ll do it to anyone, not just politicians, even 22 year old women if it suits them, just ask Carrie Prejean.
Flange on January 31, 2013 at 12:42 PM
Or better/worse yet, Whigs.
Bmore on January 31, 2013 at 1:18 PM
Or for,
Bmore on January 31, 2013 at 1:35 PM
Another area where GOP politicians can finesse the issues is say that they oppose gay marriage at this time, but would also oppose any effort to enshrine opposoition to gay marriage in the Constitution. Even this level of reassurance to gays about GOP intent would win some voters, both straight and gay.
thuja on January 31, 2013 at 1:42 PM
Since he did such a great job as RNC head and got elected President we should definitely listen to this….wait….nevermind.
ChrisL on January 31, 2013 at 2:32 PM