Is it possible that President Obama might not have been re-elected if not for the bad acts of the IRS targeted at conservative groups? Seriously? While we Conservatives like to look elsewhere for blame rather than our own poor decisions, the fact is we nominated Mitt Romney. As long as we support lousy candidates the results will continue to be disappointing.
There may have been a minor negative effect by the IRS intimidating conservative non-profits during the last election cycle; but face it this wasn’t a close election.
Republicans didn’t only nominate a weak opponent for Mr. Obama, they also nominated a number of candidates for the 2012 Congressional and Senatorial elections who couldn’t keep their feet out of the mouths.
Case in point: Missouri Republican Congressman Todd Akin, who was in a perfect position to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. Unfortunately Akin allowed his mouth to engage while his brain was still in neutral and in a TV interview said that he believes pregnancy can be prevented by a woman involved in a “legitimate rape” because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Score one for “legitimate stupidity.” McCaskill rode Akin’s Joe Biden moment to success in the Missouri election.
And Akin wasn’t alone. Richard Mourdock, another cerebral giant, decided to jump into the Indiana Senate campaign and challenge well-known Senator Richard Lugar. With great support from Tea Party organizations Mourdock defeated Lugar in the primary. What had been a safe GOP seat for many years washed down the toilet when Mourdock, like Akin, couldn’t figure out when to keep his mouth shut saying in a debate, “I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” Any doubt how that election was going to turn out?
And the list of poor candidates goes on and on. From the impossible election of Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts against Freshman Senator Scott Brown to the unlikely victory of staunch Liberal Tim Kaine over the twice-failed George Allen, it all came down to horribly weak candidates.
The GOP headed into the 2012 election in a very strong position. Odds-makers gave the GOP a strong chance at retaking the Senate and holding their margins in the House. Yet despite strong Tea Party support they couldn’t overcome the fact they’d nominated bad candidates from the top down.
Regardless of Mr. Obama’s involvement in the scandals, the fact is he didn’t need the help. The president and his team, likely concerned about the president’s poor numbers, a deathly ill economy and high unemployment, simply could not have anticipated the GOP would commit electoral suicide.
So it’s time to stop whining. Those who broke laws should pay the appropriate price. Stop looking for an excuse for poor performance, ill-advised choices and move along. Learn from the disaster that was the 2012 election. The next election is only 18 months away.
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