Chapter Two
Lessons from the train wrecks of 2006 & 2008
There are certain traits and beliefs that voters attach to every political party and by association to its candidates. While these can certainly change over time, there are basic assumptions that the voting public makes when you call yourself a Republican. Such things as ensuring fiscal responsibility, fighting to make government smaller and closer to the people, protecting family values and reducing taxes are beliefs that if you choose to label yourself as a member of the Republican Party, you had better be prepared to conduct yourself in accordance with such principles. When a member of the GOP fails to embrace the Party’s core value system, they face the significant risk that the voters, who typically support Republican candidates, might just choose to stay home on election day or, as we have seen with an interesting frequency, cast their vote for some third party candidate as some form of a protest statement. Additionally, when a fresh and inspiring new face appears on the political scene, one like Barack Obama, many middle of the road voters become so captivated by charm and personality that the political party without a clear message has virtually no chance to compete.