How the Republicans helped Obama attain Victory?

Barack Hussein Obama has been re-elected. The man’s dismal performance in office which was at odds with his inflated rhetoric of change and hope, in the final analysis, was not a major factor in voter calculations. In more senses than one the man owes his victory to his opponents. This confidence in this assertion is premised upon the major omission and lacunae in the Republican campaign and strategy. The Republicans chose to focus on white America which, while still being the dominant cultural force in the country, does not reflect the contemporary United States.

 

 

The United States now is a mosaic of different cultures, ethnicities and cultural and value groupings-all jostling for space in the American firmament. Any politician or party worth its salt has to connect to this diverse voter base. The Democrats and Obama did; the Republicans did not. The results of this election would have been a foregone conclusion if the Republican Party would have expanded its tent and made it more inclusive. This would have entailed a slight tinkering or alteration of the core Republican philosophy and aligned it with the diversity that defines contemporary America. The results of the election and the victory of the damp squib Obama is then a travesty accruing not from the man’s inherent appeal or the Democrats’ winning strategy and formula but from a major and costly omission by the Republicans.

 

Now it’s all over. However, the nature of democracy as it is allows for power rotation. The Republicans will have another chance in four years. What should be the Republican team thinking now? What should be its future approach and strategy be?

 

 

Vigorous introspection and self-criticism should be what the Republicans should be doing now. They look analyse the premises of their campaign strategy, philosophy and approach and understand what went wrong, where it went wrong and how this can be remedied. However, their gaze should be fixed and oriented to the future. So what would the introspection and review reveal?

 

 

It would reveal the obvious: the United States has changed and is changing. It is no longer the country of only white anglo saxon protestants(WASPs) but a melange of cultures and people constitute the contemporary American firmament and electorate. Keeping this in mind, the Republicans should devise and craft a voter targeting and segmentation strategy that reflects this America. This would naturally entail tweaking some of the philosophical premises of the Republican Party, jettisoning some of its rusty shibboleths and finally making the Republican tent more inclusive.

 

 

This is a need now and becomes exigent if the Party wants to return to power. America also needs it. The country does not need rhetoric and loquacious figures like Obama to play the pied pipers game. It needs substance and substantive leaders to guide it through the shoals of the 21^stcentury. Hackneyed rhetoric and a feel good oratory by the loquacious Obama would mean more of the same. America does not need this.

 

 

The Republicans had a plan for America. However, aspects of this plan and philosophy like a very pro Israeli and anti -Palestinian tilt , warmongering insofar as Iran was concerned and its economic philosophy were jaundiced. This needs to be remedied. The Republicans should in the future be more balanced and nuanced in their approach and philosophy. This can happen when they cast their net, so to speak, far and wide and become more inclusive, and tolerant and supportive of diversity. This has to be the summum bonum of the new Republican approach, philosophy and has to be integrated into their strategy.

 

 

Obama got lucky the second time. He did not deserve the presidency initially and does not deserve it now. Projected and promoted as an example of America’s social engineering and race relations and its evolving ‘dynamic, Obama became the beneficiary of America’s affirmative action program in a convoluted way. He did not earn the presidency. However, he is a very lucky man and the stars, so to speak, were aligned for him. He neither has a vision for the country; nor is he competent. This has to change. It is about time that the Republicans reorient their philosophy , orientation and strategy. Let them align the party with the nature of contemporary America. It is essentially vital and important that they do so and do it soon. Otherwise they will invariable be on the losing side and on the other side of the fence.