Republicans will say it was the media. They will say it was Hurricane Sandy. They will say Romney was too liberal or that he was too conservative. Some will blame the Establishment. Some will blame the Tea Party. All of that is true, and none of that is true.
Few will accept that the world changed in Election 2012, that the political ground shifted in a way that requires a fundamental reevaluation of the overall approach for conservatives - a transformation. However if we don't accept that, then we better get used to more nights like this past election night.
Does that sound too radical? Does that sound like panic? If so, then look at the Senate races that were lost and come to a different conclusion. Akin and Mourdock (Tea Party), Allen and Thompson (Establishment), Brown (the ultimate moderate), Mandel (a conservative statewide elected official). All could have won in their respective Senate races. All lost. They only had one thing in common, the R behind their name.
The Republican brand has a problem. That problem is deep, and it is complex.
But what about our very own state of North Carolina you may be asking? That proves that Republicans can win and win big. Doesn't it?
Here's the irony of that. As much as Establishment Republicans may want to think otherwise, the party won in North Carolina this year primarily because of the Tea Party tsunami two years ago. That and the fact that Pat McCrory was running a 4-year campaign flush with cash against one of the most unpopular governors in the country. The Legislative and Congressional victories were primarily a result of last year's redistricting. Democrats actually received many more total votes in the combined Congressional races than Republicans. They won three seats in overwhelming landslides skewing the results for several of the others. However, in other statewide races the Democrats still locked down most of the Council of State with the only other partisan statewide race, Lieutenant Governor, still locked in a recount. It's hard to say Republicans won a landslide popularity contest in the state when redistricting is taken out of the equation.
Eight short years from now, we redistrict again.
The question is will Republicans recognize what needs to be done prior to that.
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