I've been fascinated by the pearl clutching on the right, and have spent several hours today immersed in conservative blogs reading about what they think went wrong. I'll just say, there is no consensus.
The pundit types keep banging the "we have to kowtow to Hispanics" drum. Let me just say there is a LOT of resistance to this. The "true" conservatives in the comments are derisive and seem to feel quite insulted. One came out and said "we might as well be liberals". They are not going to go along with this. They don't think they are racist, of course. They just think that only "real" Americans should get to be in America. Amnesty? No way!
I haven't seen anyone suggest that the social conservatives have to go, or even have to lighten up. Apparently it's just the messaging that needs tweaking. They have to get the message out that they aren't anti-woman, (sluts that we are, why else would we need birth control?), and they are totally ok with abortion in cases of rape. Um, ok. That'll work. Alternately they talk about just shutting up about social issues and focusing on economic ones.
Then there is the predictable "we need to run a real conservative". This seems to be the overriding sentiment. Romney and those "northern" republicans are just too darn liberal. They don't excite the base. I quite agree. Next time how about a Santorum or a Bachmann? Good luck with that.
The funniest blog post of all was at RedState and it suggested that republicans would tone down the anti-gay/woman rhetoric if Libertarians would join with them. Or, at least they would have a real "discussion" about it. Coming on the heels of being stabbed in the back at the RNC I had a feeling it wouldn't sit too well and I was right. One commenter said:
Great letter, but it's hard to have a discussion with a bunch of people who flat out tell us that we're going to burn in hell because we don't subscribe to their particular take on reality. We got knifed in the back at the convention, and that scar isn't going to fade any time soon. I'm exactly who you're talking about: a pro-life, pro-gun fiscal conservative that doesn't think the government has any business legislating the bedroom, that the war on drugs has been a tragic, costly failure that has done nothing but expand the powers of the government, and that fighting against science is a losing battle.
"You're traitorous scum, but we need your vote" is the usual dialog. Yours is certainly better, but I have no faith that it is shared by much of anyone, especially around here.
We can add to this list, random chatter about a 3rd party (mostly seen as not helpful) and lots of anger at the establishment. They feel like they've been had. And of course they have. They are angry with McConnell and Boehner mostly. They feel a deal coming on and they don't like it not one little bit.
Whoever is going to have the job of herding this bunch of cats is going to need some of that legal weed.