Changes the Republican Party Must Make Part 1: Abortion

   Not long ago I was helping a friend campaign for a county row office and I had the chance to observe first hand the strangest of things; the single-mindedness of the one issue voter. I cannot tell you how many people asked this exact question "what is your stance on abortion?" but suffice to say it was a rather embarrassing number.

   I found it embarrassing because I consider myself to be a conservative republican. Strangely, these people asking that question of somebody running for a county row office, probably consider themselves the same. Therein lies the embarrassment. People like me will get lumped in with people like them.

   You see, I know that a county row officer has absolutely zero say in the abortion debate, The simple fact is, nobody other than the Supreme Court does. So why was it such an issue for them? I couldn't say even though many of those that asked are in fact pals of mine. The sad reality is that they happen to be single issue voters and frankly I wish all single issue voters would just stay home on election day regardless of what their issue is. They are a menace and an relentless boat anchor dragging down whichever party they attach themselves to. 

   I am not denigrating the beliefs of the pro life movement as I happen to agree with them with a scant few exceptions. The simple fact is that no sane person can honestly say they are pro abortion period. But alas, this isn't the black and white issue both sides would like to present it as. Like life, it is filled with grey areas. The exceptions I have to my anti-abortion stance are in the instance of rape or incest. I cannot fathom that anybody has the right to tell the victim of such horrendous crimes that their suffering must be prolonged and that they must actually give birth to a permanent reminder of their darkest moments. Is it the baby's fault? No, it sure isn't but to every rule there must be at least one exception and in this instance there must be at least two.

I now offer an example of pandering to one side of the movement that was definitely a contributing factor to Romney losing. A major douche by the name of Akin actually said that women have a natural defense against getting pregnant in the instance of legitimate rape. I've heard every explanation as to "what he actually meant" and none of them are true. It was a declarative statement designed to elicit a  positive response from the pro life voters. Some of whom may actually believe such utter nonsense. What that horse's ass didn't count on was people being able to see the other side of the statement which was essentially that any woman that got pregnant from being raped must have secretly wanted/enjoyed it and thus became pregnant. It was a terminally stupid thing to say and in fact undermines the very people he was trying to court.

If Conservative Republicans want to change Roe v. Wade and actually have some impact in saving babies, they need to pick the battles to fight and concede those that cannot be won. It isn't rocket science. It will appeal to the vast majority which would demand a new look at the supreme court case. Simply, fight to ban all late term abortions. Fight to make adopting an American baby simpler and cheaper than going out of the country. Fight to make abortion for teens the same as any other medical procedure meaning they must have parental consent for the procedure. Bring into the fight  that women's birth control is now covered by Obamacare and there really isn't any legitimate reason for getting an abortion. I think if you screwed up (pun intended) and got knocked up, you should take responsibility. Besides, who knows, maybe the child you may have can grow up to be the one that cures cancer or invents a tachyon drive.  Before anybody points it out, yes I know that birth control isn't 100% effective. To you I say that abstinence is in fact the only 100% effective form of birth control but we don't want to teach that do we?

Once we can get the douchenozzle politicians to quit pandering to special interest groups I think our elections will start to straighten themselves out. The next part of this series is coming soon. Stay tuned.

Why Did Romney Lose?

It's been a week since the election and I have heard  many theories as to why Romney lost. I don't think any of the pundits have touched on reality.

The fact is that whether you want to accept it or not, Romney just wasn't a great candidate. He is a real life Gordon Gecko and let's face it, while everybody wants to be GG, nobody actually likes GG.

When we add in what I consider his campaigns biggest gaffes, he really didn't have much of a chance. The 47% comment was probably the biggest gaffe and it certainly put most of the nails in the campaign coffin. laying down in the last debate was a huge mistake but nowhere near as big as not putting massive distance between himself and the "legitimate rape" faction of the party.

Could Romney have been a lot less flippy floppy? Sure. Could he have told the ultra-far right wing religious zealots to pound sand? Sure (let's be honest, how many of them are there? not even close to the number of social moderates). Could his campaign of done a better job playing hardball and blasting the President for his outlandish lies and distortions? You bet.

I truly believe if the Republican Party wants to start winning that the formula to do so is incredibly simple. Become a whole lot more socially moderate and a whole lot more fiscally conservative. I am hoping the powers that be within the party start listening to reason and stop listening to entertainers like Rush Limbaugh.