Scott Brown is not the Panacea for GOP Revival

GOP Savior or just #41?

Battles are either won because the victor defeats their opponent or they are won because the other side simply lost.  These two ideas are not contradictory of one another.

One could say that Republicans lost in 2008 not because they were defeated by a superior ideology or force but because they themselves were divided.  The race really was that close!

Thus, Obama’s victory was more because he was “not George W. Bush” than because he was Barack H. Obama.  Barack H. Obama’s “defeats” of late in several races, most notably the Massachusetts senate race, stems from the fact that he thought he won in 2008 because of who he was not that the Republicans lost.  Confusing one with the other led to his party’s downfall.

Yes, that’s right… I said downfall… you ain’t seen nothing yet…

Let us not think that Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts was because he won, more so that the other side lost.  It is true that his opponent made several tactical errors such as flying to Washington, D.C. to raise money while Brown, though he took out-of-state money himself, did not fly down there.  Coakley’s campaign was absent from television during a crucial part of the contest and they treated Brown as if he was not a threat.

Brown wrapping himself in Detroit steel (his GMC pick-up) was a nice apple pie touch but he simply rode the same wave of discontent that Obama and his party rode in 2008 to victory.

Do not misunderstand what I am saying… Scott Brown ran a top notch campaign overall and used his opponent’s strengths against her but his struggle became national and thus changed its fundamental dynamics.

There will be talk of “Brown for President” now.  Indeed, the GOP has no front man.  Huckabee’s Christians slayed Romney’s Mormons and John McCain was never loved by GOP faithful and he’s too old now.  Virginia’s George Allen had a shot at being party rep but the Macaca monkey did him in (much as Dean’s Scream did him in).

Brown might be a Republican but at his core he seems to be more Left-of-Right than people realize.  Right now, Brown is only important for three things: taking Ted Kennedy’s seat away from the Democrats, giving the Republicans 41 votes in the Senate, and handing Obama his first taste of a major defeat.  Brown himself is thus unimportant in the big scheme… his name and/or voting record could be replaced with any other Republican no matter how Liberal and the accolades would remain the same.

Expect over the next 12 months for Scott Brown’s name to be less and less in the headlines as the Republicans tire of his opinions (much the way it went with Lieberman).

The Scream did in Dean.

Republicans have every right to pat themselves on the back for the symbolism of defeating the Democratic Party Machine in their own backyard but let us not forget the reasons why that Machine took over the country: Bush spent too much, ran up too much debt angering many core Republicans, and his party descended (with the help of the Liberal press) into one scandal after another in the minds of voters.

I never voted for George W. Bush (or his father) and have never been a registered Republican (this does not make me a Democrat).  I never trusted either Bush or thought them competent or inspiring enough for them to have earned my vote.  It’s not like my vote in D.C. (1992) would have counted or that my vote in Kalifornia (2000 and 2004 or 2008 for that matter) would have counted but there are others like me and their votes would have counted for the Republicans.

All I am saying is let’s not build up Brown (or his victory) into something that it is not.  Core Republican values such as a strong national defense, low taxation, personal freedom, limited government, and free trade must become priorities for the Republican Party again or, in the end, the GOP “victories” of 2009/2010 will be meaningless.

The Democrats are blaming themselves, George W. Bush, and those “stupid voters” for their losses.  Let’s not forget that Republicans are most likely making the same type of mistakes in claiming “victory” for Scott Brown.

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