Why they Lost, Really!

There have been numerous reasons given for the loss by Republicans in the 2012 elections.  One reason has not yet been given.  Consider the fact that there was a significant change in demographics over the years.  Even though George Bush was declared President in the 2002 election, by most accounts but for eight bad decisions Republicans actually lost that election.  The Gore campaign made three of the bad decisions.  First, the Gore campaign failed to campaign and win in Tennessee, Gore’s home state.  Second, the Gore campaign failed to utilize Bill Clinton, the sitting President, and perhaps the best political campaigner in modern time.  Third, the Gore Campaign was dependent upon winning in Florida, a state where the Governor was George Bush’s brother.  The other five bad decisions that gave George Bush the Presidency were made by the five Justices of the Supreme Court.  Considering that Gore actually received more popular votes than George Bush, but for those eight decisions, he should have become President.  One factor in this election overlooked by the Republican Party in 2012 was the significant change in American demographics.   In 2012, the Republican politicians responded to the revolutionary change in demographics by doing just what they did in 2002 and 2006, but they only did it more energetically.  There are those who call this “inactive inertia” and this is also the reason many other good organizations, both political and business, fail.  When faced with change in the world around them, organizations trapped in active inertia just do more of the same.  They may do things a little faster or may tweak the margins of their actions, but basically they just do the same old same old.  These organizations resemble a car with a driving wheel stuck in the mud.  Rather than get out of the muddy rut, they just step on the gas, spin the wheels even more, and actually dig in deeper. Just because policies worked in the past is no guarantee that those same policies will work in the future.  Even today, the Republicans fail to realize this fact.  Their voiced solution is not whether or not today’s demographics embrace their brand of conservatism but their solution is that they were not conservative enough.  In other words, keep the foot on the gas and keep spinning the wheels.  Fortunately for most of us, they will adhere to this policy and spare the country of more years of their failed policies.