After the election, Republicans vowed to think long and hard about why they lost the election. All that soul-searching culminated in a report released yesterday that attempts to explain how it all went so wrong in November. It’s admirably forthright in some of its admissions: the GOP is terrible at interacting with anyone who isn’t a white male, its perceived homophobia scares away voters, and it is too closely aligned with the wealthy elite. But the report stops short of making any substantive policy recommendations. I suspect that party leaders understand that some moderation is necessary to remain competitive, but they haven’t summoned the courage to stand up to the true believers who are willing to follow their principles into political oblivion.
The Republicans could still get lucky. External events could still push the country to the right without Republicans having to examine themselves in the mirror. I’m just not sure wishful thinking is a viable strategy for winning elections.
