The Republican political strategy for regaining the presidency and regaining control of congress is covered in this web page. The strategy discussion follows a detailed discussion of the 2004 Presidential Election.
As the Election of 2004 approached, the Republican Party had an easy time deciding what they wanted to accomplish in the election. The Republicans obviously wanted to keep all they then controlled - the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate, they wanted to pick up a few additional seats to increase their ability to place conservative judges in the many judgeship openings around the country. For the future of the Republican Party, the Republican political strategy was to pick up a few governor's chairs to add to their majority.
Election Outlook for Republican Party in Election of 2004. The outlook for the Republican party was less rosy as election-day 2004 approached than it had been earlier. The Democrats were waking up!
Still, the Republicans were in pretty good shape and the gamblers had them as a slight favorite to retain the White House. The questionable Iraq War of 2003 had been apparently won and some preliminary attempts at postwar nation building had been successful in Iraq although things were still pretty erratic there.
In Iraq, there had also been some successes although Iraq casualties (American and Iraqi) had been high. These successes included the Iraq Elections and the formation of an Iraq constitution.
Even the War on Terrorism seemed to have advanced as many of the top al Queda leaders had been rounded up. (However, it should be noted that al Queda, though losing many of their leaders, appears to be actively recruiting in the Middle East and Asia and may actually be stronger in some aspects than when the War on Terror began.)
"You just want to be on the side that's winning"....Bob Dylan
Tax Cuts and the Election of 2004. The Democratic Party may complain that the tax cuts of 2001 and 2002 essentially help only the well-off but that was an advantage for the Republicans in 2004 as they continued to raise enormous amounts of campaign funds from those that benefited from the tax cuts. These funds helped the Republicans in the Election of 2004. Additionally, the non-stop message from Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media hosts had convinced many of the middle class that they too benefited greatly from the tax cut. Many of the middle class believed they were "in" with the big boys.
That is all many of these middle class people ever wanted - "to be on the winning side". The Republican strategy for winning was working well in 2004.
Rush Limbaugh and His Effect on the Election of 2004. As election day 2004 approached, Rush Limbaugh was leading the charge against the Democrats accusing them of disloyalty and cowardice (never mind his avoidance of the draft during the Vietnam War) because some of them opposed the Iraq War. Much of this Rush Limbaugh propaganda was obviously sticking as his never-questioning ditto heads carried the message from the multi-hour daily radio broadcasts to the offices and homes of America. The American people's apparent great need for groupthink at this time was helping Limbaugh as many Americans appeared to be swallowing his statements as if the statements were a message from God.
Rush Limbaugh had done his job well. He was running gleefully amok to the great joy of the Republican Party.
Limbaugh's only problems appeared to be the possibility of losing his unofficial conservative propaganda minister title to the rising conservative star Ann Coulter or possibly to one of the upcoming conservative radio talk hosts like Neal Boortz or Sean Hannity .
Results of 2004 Election. Well, the election of 2004 ended and the Republicans won a resounding victory.
Visit Senate-Governor-President Elections 2003-04 for the results of the 2004 election.
The Republican political strategy for winning appears to be pretty good. What can go wrong for the Republicans in future elections? Plenty.....
1. President Bush Stays in Office and Continues His Incompetence. Over and over, President Bush has proven himself to be an incompetent......and, also, determined to continue acting out like a three-year old. Even Hillary Clinton, as unpopular as she is among many Americans, can beat the Republicans as long as Bush remains in office.
2. The U.S. Economy Becomes Stagnant. On the surface, the U.S. Economy is doing fine largely due to the Iraq War government expenditures, the growing budget deficit (living on the "credit card") and the massive trade deficit. Economies boom in wartime! Economies thrive (temporarily) on big deficits. My personal economy would also temporarily boom if I got a big second mortgage on my home, bought a Hummer, new furniture, etc., etc. But then the boom would eventually turn into a bust as the bills came due.
You can't live on credit forever! Or can you? (Rush Limbaugh says deficits never hurt anyone and not to worry! And if you can't believe Rush Limbaugh on the economy, who can you believe?)
One item that may hurt whoever is in power concerns oil and natural gas. Peak oil, or the time of maximum oil production, occurred in 1972 in this country and is due to occur in the next few years in the world. After Peak Oil occurs, oil prices will skyrocket and, as a result, economies around the world are projected to take a beating. Presently, oil prices are about $95 per barrel, up from $20 - $30 just a few years ago. The oil prices continue to move upward!
Has Peak Oil already begun to occur? Is it here now?
3. If Rush Limbaugh is Contained and the Great Right Wing Conspiracy is Revealed. It is my opinion that containing Rush Limbaugh and fully exposing the Great Right Wing Conspiracy are key elements for the Democratic Party if they have any hope of defeating the Republican Party in future elections. Rush Limbaugh has been allowed to run rampant spreading stories about the Democratic Party and non-conservatives.
There has, until recently, been precious little response from the Democrats to Limbaugh's rampage.
Did the Democrats not see what damage that Limbaugh had done to the Democratic Party over the years? Or have they been just too frightened or weak to fight back?
As far as revealing the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, it is obvious, in retrospect, that Hillary Clinton did a great job in exposing the conspiracy years ago. It was just that no one was really listening at the time. Are they listening now?
4. If Iraq Nation Building is Abandoned. Despite all the recent events, I don't think Americans now expect much in Iraq as the American people realize that former President Bush sold them a bill of goods on Iraq.
5. American CEO's Continue Their Shady Activities and Become Even More Audacious About it. Many American CEO's don't appear to have any shame any more. They seem to believe that, if they proclaim themselves to be conservatives, that proclamation alone implies their high morality and gives them freedom from prosecution. No matter how conniving they are, they feel justified in continuing the shady activity.
Under the Bush administration, the CEO's almost had a free hand and they should have appreciated it. Under President Obams, the free ride is over.
6. New Democratic Party Leadership Rises to the Challenge. A few years ago, the old Democratic leaders were dropping out of sight. More and more of the old established elected Democratic figures were retiring, and bowing out of politics. Newer, more combative figures e.g., former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton, and Barrack Obama began moving to the fore.
Despite their 2006 midterm and 2008 presidential election victories, the Democrats still have some work to do since those victories were due more to the total failure of George Bush than to any Democratic message. Now that Bush is gone, the free ride for the Democrats is over.
So, there are things that could go wrong for the Republicans. Most of the above items are just sitting there waiting for the Democratic Party to exploit.
1. Election 2008. The Democrats have won both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the midterm elections and the presidency in 2008. Can they continue with their political victories?
2. Planning & Strategy. Republican and Democrat political strategies for winning elections is about as close to a war strategy as you can get.
3. Political Information - Republicans vs. Democrats. Books, web sites, and other information and references on U.S. politics.
The Republican political strategy for winning worked well in 2004 but they, with the presidency and congress in hand, had a really rough time rolling up their sleeves and actually getting things done for the country. As a result, the Democrats have made a comeback and the Republicans are beginning to lose elections.
Last Updated: 08/07/11