Poor Ann Coulter. I hear the wacko right-winger is just devastated that Mitt Romney lost the election (despite the fact that she said if Chris Christie didn't get the nomination Romney would be nominated and he would lose). Well, Ann, guess what - the biggest surprise isn't that Romney lost; it's that he came as close as he did (if Obama wins Florida as expected, he will have 332 electoral college votes to Romney's 206). Clueless Republicans the country over are wondering what they should pretend they believe in order to get their guy elected President next time. They just don't understand what happened... so they don't have to go out and buy a clue, I will give them the lowdown. Here are just the major groups of voters Romney and Ryan managed to piss off this election cycle, and why:
Women - Over half the country is women, and here's what Romney and Ryan said to them: we're coming after your birth control, little ladies. Not only are we going to overturn Roe v. Wade if we get in office and put more righties on the Supreme Court, but us white Republican guys (some of whom showed a shocking lack of knowledge of how your bodies work), are going to make the decisions for you about how and when you can get pregnant, and what should happen after you do, because we don't think you can make these decisions for yourselves. You know what we said about small government? Well, it doesn't apply here. We want to make the decisions for you about every possible aspect of your reproductive health. That includes de-funding Planned Parenthood.
Equal pay for equal work? We Republicans shot that down before, and we will again. Don't worry your pretty heads about it, since you all should have husbands to take care of you anyway. It's cute that some of you want to work outside the home (where you really belong), but if I need a woman for a job I'll have one of my people put together a binder of possibilities just to look good.
Don't you want to be taken back to the 1950's? Just hop in that time machine over there, little lady, we'll give you a ride.
Veterans and the military - Obama has done more for veterans and the military than just about any president I could name. He has ended one war Bush started under false pretenses and killed Bin Laden (remember Bush famously said he just didn't care about him). Obama expanded the post-9/11 G.I. Bill to help returning vets get a college education. He gave tax credits to businesses who hired vets and disabled troops, and came up with a plan for a Veterans Job Corps.
Disabled veterans and those returning from duty who are finding it difficult to get a job got this from Romney: you're part of the 47% of "takers" that I don't care about.
Seniors - Seniors are also part of the 47% of the country who are "takers." Despite the fact that people who actually took paychecks for a living, a concept foreign to Romney, seniors (and their employers) paid into Social Security and Medicare for their entire working careers. Those benefits are called "entitlements" because seniors are entitled to the benefits they paid for.
Several Republican-led states tried to block minority voters by instituting difficult voter ID laws. In their zeal to try to disenfranchise these people, they inadvertently forgot that seniors, usually the most reliable voting block for Republicans, may be among those who a) don't have an official birth certificate, b) don't have driver's licenses anymore, and c) may not even have utility bills if they live in assisted living or with children. Oops.
Young people - Romney and Ryan wanted to take away the PEL grants that many students rely on to help pay for college. The majority of this generation's views on birth control and abortion are not exactly those of the extreme religious conservative white guys that have by and large been controlling the Republican party. In addition, under new voter ID laws passed in some red states, student IDs were no longer considered identification for voting purposes. Way to piss off the next generation, Republicans.
Minorities - Where to begin with this one? Romney declared that he would make life so miserable for Hispanics that they would "self-deport." He made it patently obvious to everyone that the 47% of the population he didn't care about included blacks and Latinos, because a) they wouldn't vote him for him and b) because they wanted, according to him, to have the government take care of them. This is not only an untrue stereotype, but downright racist.
The poor and unemployed - Romney famously said that if someone wanted "more stuff," he should vote for the other guy. Having been set up in life by a wealthy father, he can't comprehend that people can struggle. To one guy's question about how Romney thought he could get a job, Mitt replied that he should start a business, borrowing money from his father. Seriously. He's not the only Republican to make an idiot remark like that. Herman Cain said during the Republican primaries that if someone wasn't rich, they just weren't working hard enough. But hey, at least Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan cared enough to have a photo op at a soup kitchen, where he washed some pots that were already clean for the cameras.
Auto workers - Romney's op-ed advising the government to "let Detroit go bankrupt" would have cost about an estimated million jobs. Instead, the bailout saved the American auto industry and has almost entirely been paid back. For a guy whose big selling point was supposed to be his business acumen, this was incredibly stupid.
Teachers, firefighters, police officers - Who needs these folks? Romney doesn't think we do and wanted cuts. 'Nuff said.
LGBT people and their friends - The Republican religious right is not happy that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, and their family and friends, are making strides in equality. The GOP has made it clear they don't welcome LGBT people in their party. So much for a "big tent."
Environmentalists - Despite the vast majority of the scientific community saying otherwise, Republicans are still denying climate change exists, what's causing it, that we might want to have clean sources of energy (what a concept) instead of dirty, filthy oil and coal that comes from blowing off mountaintops. Why would they not want something that makes so much common sense? Because oil and coal companies spend big bucks on their campaigns, that's why.
Secularists - According to CNN's exit poll, 12% of Americans who voted identified their religious preference as "none." I would venture to say that the actual percentage of Americans who are atheists, or secularists, is higher than that. But even at 12% this is a chunk of the population that the Republicans are willing to ignore. Paul Ryan, for instance, would like to legislate women's reproductive choices by way of the Pope and the Vatican. Oh, I don't think so, honey.
Disaster victims - When Hurricane Sandy hit FEMA and other federal organizations sprang into action to help the victims. Even Republican governor and Romney surrogate Chris Christie praised President Obama and the federal government for their response. What did Romney do? He asked people to donate a few cans of food. Well, what did we expect from a guy who wants to get rid of FEMA and have the states -- many of which are already fighting budget battles of their own -- take care of their own disaster response? Better yet, he proposed that maybe disaster assistance could be privatized. Well, what could be better than a mega-wealthy Republican suggesting that corporations should make big profits out of people's suffering after a multi-state disaster?
Anyone who believes in tax fairness - Not only does Romney want to keep the ridiculous Bush-era tax cuts that went almost entirely to the wealthy (remember, those were put in place supposedly because Clinton left a budget surplus), but he wanted to give even more tax breaks to people like himself and his running mate's wealthy wife. Guess Ann needs some more $1,000 blouses! This is the guy who set up tax shelters in Swiss banks and the Cayman Islands and refused to release more than a couple of years' worth of tax returns. All the while he and Ryan were beating the drum about lowering the deficit and the debt. Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon.
The only question Republicans should be asking themselves is this: how do we get our humanity back?
A little common sense wouldn't hurt, either.
