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Sobering realization for Gwinnett: Democrats are more formidable
While the GOP swept all county government races yesterday, I must wonder if this is the last election we will see such a result? Yesterday showed that the Democrats are gaining power in Gwinnett. Are the days where Gwinnett races are over at the end of the Republican primary coming to a close? How much of this Democrat strength was due to the very long coattails of Barack Obama and how much of it was from a shifting demographic empowering Gwinnett Democrats? I agree with Gwinnett GOP chairman Gregory Howard that this is a wake-up call for Gwinnett Republicans. All of us in Gwinnett must get active, involved and aware of our local government. This is important to protect our property rights as the County Commission decides various issues, but it is even more important in strengthening the party to fight the battles that are likely coming down the road. As I discussed in my general election endorsement of Mike Beaudreau, we may have issues with the GOP primary winners, but at the end of the day I trust that Charles Bannister, Shirley Lasseter, Bert Nasuti, Mike Beaudreau, and Kevin Kenerly will make more “right” decisions than a Democrat in their seats.
I plan to promote conservative ideals for Gwinnett County in this blog. However, I would like to do more and would hope my readers would as well. I know this blog is read by active members of the Gwinnett GOP and I would ask that you respond to this post with suggestions for what myself and others can do as we head into possibly tougher races in 2010. Whether you approve of his record or not, Barack Obama showed what can happen if people pull together. We are at the stage in the history of Gwinnett County where we need to pull together and work hard to ensure that Gwinnett remains great and remains a county we want to call home. If we do not, we may suffer the consequences of Democrat chairman Mike Berlon’s hopes for our county:
If the Democratic party can improve its methods of fundraising, Berlon said, Gwinnett can look forward to a more balanced local government.
Tags: Bert Nasuti, Charles Bannister, Democrats, election, government, Gwinnett County Commission, Kevin Kenerly, Mike Beaudreau, politics, Republicans, Shirley Lasseter
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November 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
G’Buzz, the problem in Gwinnett is a microcosm of the problem McCain had - 90% of the voters who voted for Johnny Mac were white. The GOP needs to and must find a way to appeal to blacks, Hispanics and Asians if they are going to compete.
Thanks to the county commission who allowed so much ‘afforable housing’ to be built in Gwinnett, we are now innundated with non-whites and in fact, by the next election whites may well be a minority in Gwinnett.
As we’ve seen in the national election, these people vote. And if the GOP is to have any relevance nationally and in Gwinnett, they have much to change in the marketing of the party.
November 6th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I think the GOP is going to have to change (I know…”change” is a bad word to use right now, but it fits). If the Grand Old Party doesn’t move away from the white-haired, Old guy to someone a little younger and definitely someone more motivating, they will never change the demographic that they appeal to. I’m not saying they need to get Bobby Jindal to make a run for it (although he wouldn’t be a bad choice), but they need to start appealing to the younger voters out there. I think younger voters may not tie a certain race to a party as much as people think, so over time the younger Gen Xers and Millennials would not associate the GOP as the party for just old white guys.
Obama got people motivated to vote in the Presidential election, but many of them don’t have a clue about their state government, much less their county government. I’m curious to see what happens in the mid-term election as I doubt many of them will be returning for the mid-terms. If the GOP can get people motivated to vote for them on a national level, then there is a great opportunity for state and county GOP candidates to educate people about the local government and how important it is in their everday life. Then show them how great Gwinnett county is and that it was built on core conservative values and that the GOP that still runs the county now, wants to keep it great. If that doesn’t work then have them look at DeKalb to see how the democratic party does it. (Sorry for the slander, but I grew up on Memorial Drive and still hate that they renamed it after Cynthia McKinney)
Sorry for the long post, but I’m still in awe of this election. (Both the good that has come of it and what we can learn from it)
November 8th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I would welcome appealing to non-white voters by the GOP. However, we must not compromise what our ideals are to do so. The GOP must represent strong, conservative values. The party has tried to move to the center in recent years to disastrous results.
I am convinced that the Republican Party is a closer match for members of the black and Hispanic communities than the media would have you believe. The exit polls for the California Proposition 8 issue showed that 7 of 10 black voters opposed gay “marriage” in their state. Over half of Hispanic voters felt similarly. This tells me these communities care about and share traditional conservative values. If we agree there, where else might we agree?
The point that we must market better to these constituencies is evident and there is an opportunity to do so upon our common values. A big challenge to this goal will be Democrats and their allies in the media who continually promote the false notion that conservatives are little more than racists and xenophobes who have nothing in common with minority voters. Thus, I agree that the GOP needs to do a better job at communicating those values and overcoming the bitter partisan stereotype forced on the party.
November 8th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Finance Buzz,
I hear ya, but the numbers in this election don’t show the way to win is by being true to ’strong conservative values’. If you go state by state, McCain did better than the more conservative candidate, and worse than the more moderate republicans.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
And how well did he do in the election? Worst performance since 1992. If you go moderate, you will lose the base. I never got enthusiastic about McCain until he named Palin as his running mate. Until then, I even considered not voting for President to make a statement to the party. I eventually decided I needed to vote against Obama. However, the yard sign and such only came after Palin.
If the party decides a drift to the left is in order, they do that without my vote and I suspect without many others. You can only compromise so much. Where would we go? Not sure. Perhaps move in on the Libertarian Party, with our number correct what I see as glaring deficiencies and make our home there.
The Republicans have done there best when they ran as conservatives. Reagan, 1994’s Contract with America, 2000 and 2002. They started losing ground when they started trying to “appease” the center - 2006 and it got worse this year. I fail to see how this is a receipe for success.
That all being said, I think we have to be careful about reading too much into this election. First, this was the worst environment for a Republican in my memory. If the Democrats could not win this year, they would have had to have almost thrown the election. It was a slam dunk. Also, you had the economic meltdown DURING the fall campaign and this was unfairly pinned by the media almost solely on the GOP. Finally, you have a lot of people not happy about Iraq. Sure, mistakes have been made, but I really think that, especially with constant media coverage, Americans in general really do not have the stomach to fight like we did in previous generations. This was the “perfect storm” for the Democrats. Most years will not be like this.
We have to be fair and see how Obama does, but if he performs as he has in much of his political career, I think a swing back to the right on the part of voters in 2010 would not be surprising.