November 10, 2912
By Saeed Qureshi
The prime reason for the Republican Party’s defeat in 2012 presidential
election was the negative genre of politics and issue-less strategies they took
to. Their overriding aim was to oust a black president as well as to safeguard
the special interest groups and the wealthiest by way of fewer taxes and more
perks.
They projected themselves to be pro war, anti-immigrants,
pro-privileged classes and indifferent to the middle and lower middle sections
of the population. They discounted and derided 47 per cent population mostly
downtrodden and poor as was revealed from a secret conversation of the Republican
nominee Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney relied mostly on generalization of his
perceptions and the mandate that he wanted to put in place to bring about a
change for a better America. He mostly dwelt on repeating his five points that he had
crammed. But he was vague and would be short of offering minute details and the
modus-operandi for their result-oriented implementation.
He projected himself to be an economic wizard capable of
buoying up America from fiscal quagmire it is stuck into. But he was far from
being candid with regard to reduction or enhancement of taxes and also spending
cuts. While he would talk in a roundabout method of cutting the spending, yet
in contrast, he was wont to increase the defense budget by 2 trillion dollars.
The Republicans lost female voters by denying them the right
to abortion and contraceptives for health reasons or to not have a child
because of the rape. The Republicans made it a moral issue, for being
conservative or Catholics. That also cut across the individual liberty and
freedom of choice by women to bear a child or not. This issue was in fact of a very
serious import and on this even a chunk of the conservative women among the
white population supported democrats.
Some of the
unscrupulous and imprudent Republican politicians even supported rape by
defining it as some kind of legitimate rape, a term that was despicably
offensive and stinking.
The Republicans lost majority of Latinos, the young
students, the veterans, the black segments.The
overwhelming number of the Muslim immigrants voted for Obama because he was perceived
by them to be much less antagonistic and biased than his Republican rival and
his party.Also the Asians, the Africans, the immigrants from the Middle
East and elsewhere favored the Democratic Party for its liberal, non-discriminating
and rather pro immigration profile.
The extra unwanted baggage came in the garb of such media
showy figures as Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove of George Bush fame, Hannity, Glenn
Beck and Jack Cafferty. They were highly biased, irrational and with their
passion driven predictions poured venom on Obama specifically and the
Democratic party generally.
The support and publicity of these anchors and analysts for
the Republican Party created negative rather than positive persuasions for the
voters. Moreover the Tea Party that anchors its political philosophy on race
and color also proved to be a liability rather than an asset for the Republican
candidate as their stance ran counter to the spirit of America and its
constitution.
In foreign policy domain, Mitt Romney projected him to be
immature and less conversant with the international affairs. He was
categorically against China and most of the Middle East, wanted an immediate
war against Iran, send army in Syria and thus re-engage United Sates in fresh wars.
He seemed to be possessing perfunctory knowledge about the world at large and
the imperative of lessening global tensions and removing dangerous flash-points via
appeasements than exacerbating these.
Internationally, Europe mostly was in favor of Obama’s’ re-election.
Israel that the myopic observers believed was opposed to Obama’s second term
was in fact supportive of him. Although Romney dashed to Israel to curry favor
with Israel and Jewish lobbies within United States, yet the leadership of
Israel was more sagacious that what Mitt Romney envisaged. A rational American
president was more desirable for Israel than an unreasonable sycophant.
Finally the Republican stalwarts were complacent and took it
for granted that they would win the elections. The volunteers and election corps
of the Diplomatic Party were more committed, fired and motivated. They reached
voters through emails, in person, by holding corner or indoor meetings and
dropping leaflets in the houses. That missionary zeal made a lot of difference
in molding public opinion in favor of president Obama.
Unfortunately the overall image of Republic Party during the last four years has been that of an obstructionist.
That it legislated only as a parochial party, in favor of minority of
privileged and wealthiest segments of America. That it whips conservatism not
supported by the secular American constitution and Bills of Rights. That it
stands more for the supremacy of the white and Caucasian races and less for the
racial and ethnic equality of the Americans as a cohesive nation.
The Republican leadership has to undergo a soul searching
and a rigorous process of catharsis to shed aberrations that overshadow its stature
as a national party.
The writer is a senior journalist and
a former diplomat.
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