The Shock is Gone…!?

Posted: November 16, 2012 in Contributors, Political Opinion

Like many of you, I’ve spent the last week digesting the results of the election. Similar to any emotional trauma, I’ve progressed from shock to utter disbelief to anger to frustration to fear…now, to a form of acceptance: the country is plagued with Obama and his policies for another four years.

Tens of thousands of words have been written in the last week. Blame and finger-pointing abound. Politicians, particularly Republicans, are scrambling around in the debris, looking for causes and effects…all jockeying to avoid blame or position themselves for future campaigns. Surprisingly, some in the GOP display rare aggressiveness, a behavior lost to them until after November 6.

We grassroots conservatives flail away in frustration at the election’s outcome; why did we lose?

Voter fraud. Romney wasn’t tough enough. The electorate has been dumbed down. The ‘takers’ now outnumber the ‘makers.’ The GOP can’t connect with the Hispanic voters. The military vote was suppressed. Real conservative principles were ignored. The list could go on and on.

Pick one, some or all of the above; each is valid to one degree or the other.

How have we reacted to defeat? It’s all over the board: outrage/acceptance, a loss/renewal of hope, tuning out/tuning in, attack/retreat, aggressiveness/passivity. On the whole, we conservatives are like drunken sailors, stumbling around on the pitching deck of a ship in a storm …knowing, down deep, that the ship is sinking fast.

Do we plug the leaks, reset the sails and try to save the ship? Do we abandon ship and desperately swim for our lives? Or, do we have another drink and go down with the ship, assuming future martyrdom if/when the country rights itself and regains its collective sanity?

As a commentator, it’s easy to sit at the keyboard and pontificate…offering up self-described pearls of wisdom and advice. And, unlike writers who attempt to manipulate their readers (and there are more than a few) I try to present and justify my honest opinions. Same when I suggest the readers adopt my point of view.

However, I am the personification of the confusion and contradictions described above. Therefore, advocating a particular course of action or way of thinking would not be grounded on what I think and feel…because, frankly, I don’t yet know what I think and feel.

I suppose, over time, I’ll get my act together. Clear courses of action will make themselves known to me; a logical and potentially successful strategy will reveal itself. Haven’t yet, however.

Perhaps I’m still in shock.

Author Bio:

graduate of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia, Rodney authored “Leading Your Business to the Next Level,” a non-fiction business book in 2005. “Powers Not Delegated” is Rodney’s first foray into fiction; the book meshes his knowledge of history, business and current events to produce a relevant and plausible tale of domestic and international intrigue. Additionally, Rodney writes political commentary on his own blog and for other nationally known blogs/websites. Rodney lives in Atlanta. His passions include hiking, photography, history, reading, and, of course, University of Georgia football.
  • Mario__P

    Rodney, no matter what the GOP will do in the future as an attempt to remedy its dire situation, it’s all over for them. If the Party remains unchanged, the aging conservative demographic will slowly, but continually, die out, and the younger, more liberal electorate will fill their shoes. If the Party decides to become more conservative, they’ll alienate even more of the various demographic they already failed to attract, and there is not much conservative vote to be picked up. And if the Party decides to become more liberal, their ploy will not be convincing to attract the targeted demographic who already belong to a party that meets their needs, while the GOP will lose the extreme conservative vote to other hard Right options. Yeah, put a fork in it, it’s done.

  • Wheels55

    The only shock I felt was when I realized that there were fewer votes for the 2012 Romney than the 2008 McCain. It didn’t shock me that Obama got fewer votes and it didn’t even shock me that Obama won. But it troubles me that conservatives became disinterested.

    • DanB_Tiffin

      Yes, those supposed conservatives that have actually seen the last four years, but still did not vote.