Things Republicans Do Very, Very Well

I've been as critical as anyone about the GOP's use of right-wing tactics and its members' utter disrespect of President Obama.  But with yesterday's election results and the Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives, one has to give them credit for the political things they do very, very well.  They are simply better than the Democrats with some of the tactics they utilize.

• Messaging:  Republicans are good at sending a coherent, easy to understand message and repeating it over and over again.  Their messages rarely have anything to do with the truth or the facts -- often they are completely false.  But they get a message and stick with it.  Their message this time was that President Obama and the Democrats have taken over people's lives with a massive increase in government control.  They know most of the electorate, particularly their constitutents, don't read the details; they only read the headlines.  In other words, facts don't matter.

• Unity.  Republicans stick together.  Unlike the Democrats, they don't throw each other under the bus or abandon their leaders when times get tough.  They all sing from the same page of the same hymn book and they stick to the script.

• Appealing to emotional triggers.  Republicans understand their constituents.  They know that people are frightened by what has happened with the economy.  They know that many people don't like the idea of having President Obama in the White House (and, yes, much of this is racial).  They know that many people in the majority (that means white people) are nervous about what is happening in the country:  Their percentage is dwindling and the percentage of blacks, browns and other minorities is growing.  They don't realize that when Republicans talk about "cutting government spending," some of the programs they actually like are going to be affected (like Social Security, Medicare, defense spending, etc.).   Republicans know that the solutions they offer -- tax cuts for the rich and letting the free market run amok -- will not solve any of these problems.  But they know that an appeal to the emotions is more likely to get people to the polls than a cerebral, intellectual argument.

Granted, I find some of these Republican tactics disgusting, but they are extremely efffective.  Will Democrats learn anything from the shellacking they took in yesterday's election?  That remains to be seen.  But it is clear that the advantages they had in the 2008 election have evaporated.  They'll need to go back to the drawing board if they expect to retain the White House and Senate in 2012, or have a prayer of regaining a majority in the House.