As the Schnook of Mormon continues to tour the country in his ongoing effort to self-deport what's left of his political future, other Republicans have taken to the public highways to admit that; yes, we got our asses kicked. And, yes, we need to rethink, retool, and readjust. But what is fascinating about all this is that, had they prevailed in the election, they would have come out guns blazing and mercilessly whacked so-called entitlement programs, all in the name of fiscal responsibility. But they didn't win. They lost. They lost bad. So, now the, I guess you could call them, less unreasonable members of the party, have come out and admitted that they need to reach out to non-white voters, whose numbers are sadly increasing. Even with their horrendous polling job during the last election, this has become a stark reality for them.
But as they come forward, all reasonable, penitent, and reflective -- this following four years of stonewalling and intransigence -- one thing becomes obvious: they still don't get it. Their revelation is more of a "Come to Hey-soos" moment. It's about the appearance, not the reality. The presentation, not the policy. For Bobby Jindal, who at one point was the GOP's 'they got an ethnic guy, we'll get us an ethnic guy" to state that "for minorities to like us, we've got to like them" is all well and good. But it's not about being liked. It's not about putting a kinder, gentler, or darker face on the same old dickish policies. It's not about trotting out Marco Rubio to explain how trickle down economics is good for everyone and sell the same rising tide bullshit that didn't work during the Bush years. "We're turning Medicare into a voucher program" sucks just as bad in Spanish as in English.
For all the lessons of the past two presidential elections, they still don't get it. The "gifts" that Romney lamented weren't handouts. Democrats weren't giving out free cheese and condoms out of the back of a panel truck. These were programs that made people's lives better. The one lesson they just won't learn is that it's not about coming off more compassionate. It's about being more compassionate.
Mitt Romney can make an appearance with an African-American group and bust out into "Who let the dogs out" because in his stick-up-his-ass Caucasian mind, he thinks that would be a good way to connect with these people. "I'll sing one of their songs."
As the GOP prepares to retool for 2014 and 2016, I'm sure they're looking to the ethnic bench to see who might be a better mouthpiece. Jindal? Maybe. Most people will have forgotten how pathetically stiff he was in his State of the Union rebuttal. Rubio? Could be. Though the one thing he'll never shake is that he just looks like a dick. Even when he smiles, it's the smile of an 8-year-old who just burned a trail of ants on the sidewalk. Christie? Maybe. And of course there are the gals of the party, who can reach out to women voters. Though their success would necessitate the silencing of the "God planned rape babies" crowd.
So, as they move off the last four years of giving blow jobs to Grover Norquist and take one in the shorts on taxes, while secretly laying in plans to take the government back in the midterms, my advice would be to keep thinking the way you do. Let Rubio visit Iowa. Let Jindal tour the country. You don't need a new product. You just need to retool the brand and find a new spokesperson to reach out to that growing Latino population to esplain how deeply you care. Who knows, maybe Sophia Vergara or the Frito Bandito have political ambitions. And by all means, keep Reince Priebus in the job. What better guy to advance dickish policies, than a guy whose own name is an anagram for pubic sneer.
Oh, and one more thing: to the smug, dick-faced asshole I met at a birthday party a year ago, who bet me $500 that Obama would lose the election, I've been holding this in for a year: FUCK YOU!!!
