Midterm: The GOP Will Double Down, Keep House Majority in 2014
Isabel Allen
Insanity, as defined by Albert Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The Republican Party can relate. In the words of Reince Pribus, the RNC Chairman: “The way we communicate our principles isn’t resonating widely enough. Focus groups described our party as narrow-minded, out of touch and, quote, stuffy old men.” Pribus’ interpretation confounds me, along with the thought process behind “The American people have twice elected a liberal President because we didn’t communicate our conservative values enough!” I call into question Pribus’ sanity for literally assuming that the focus group didn’t take issue with the narrow-mindedness itself- but rather the method of delivering said narrow-mindedness. Alas, the GOP will persevere on its path of self-destruction by investing $10 million in a PR campaign directed at young, female, and minority voters about “what it means to be a Republican”. Good luck. As a young female, I know exactly what it would be like to be a Republican. Yikes. National Ratings for the party are at historic lows. In the long run, electoral success isn’t feasibly possible for the GOP without ditching 1950 for 2013, so to speak. That leaves us with the question of when this adapting will occur. In 2012, Republicans won the House majority despite Democrats receiving 1.4 million more votes than Republicans. This was due to gerrymandered districts in key states, along with Democrat’s high concentration in cities. As for the 2014 Midterm races, particularly for the House, it’s likely that we’ll see candidates not only double down on the ill-favored platform, but also keep majority in 2014, regardless of how unpopular they are.
In 2012, The House of Representatives, what should be the most democratically representative branch of elected