2016 Presidential Elections
The Republican Party in the United States, also known as the “Grand Old Party” is one the two greatest and the oldest political parties in the U.S after the Democratic Party. The first President to vie on a Republican ticket was the 16th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln who served from 1861 to his assassination in 1865(Anderson 4). The Republican Party dominated the national scene from Lincoln’s time to 1932 where it lost its majorities and the Democrats under Franklin Delano Roosevelt formed a ‘New Deal’ coalition that became dominant until 1964. In 1964 after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act, the Republican Party resurged, winning seven out of the ten presidential elections from 1968 to 2004(Anderson 15). However, in the last two decades, the Republican Party has been in its weakest position losing two elections in a row the latest being the defeat of Governor Mitt Romney by Democrat candidate, Barack Obama. In the last five out of the six elections, the Republican Party has lost the popular vote giving a clear indication that the party no longer has support of the majority of the Americans. After losing back-to-back elections, a number of issues have to be addressed before the 2016 elections including;
Choosing candidates for any elections including the presidential elections plays a key role in any party winning an election. The Democratic Party won the elections four times in a row from 1932 to 1945 because of the right choice of candidate. Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the elections four times becoming the only U.S president to break the tradition of two terms and served for four terms because of his plans to restore the country’s economy during the worst economic recession. With FDR’s legacy, the Democrats were able dominated the U.S politics for three decades. One reason behind the republican’s loss is the failure to produce good candidates to match the democrats’ candidates (Bommarito, “Elections 2012 Results: Republicans Lost Because of the Ultra Right Wing Agenda”). For example, during the 2012 elections, Governor Romney had the minimum qualifications thus not able to match the incumbent president Barack Obama. Romney had little experience in issues such as foreign policy. Some underlying issues such as his failure to end the scandals of the Salt Lake Olympics negatively affected his quest for the White House.
For the Republican Party to win the 2016 elections, they will have to present strong candidates to compete against the Democrats’ candidate. The probable candidates to present a formidable challenge to a Democrat candidate include Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, known for balancing the New Jersey State budget for three successive years. Governor Jon Huntsman, former Utah governor who is known as a tax reformer and by serving as the U.S ambassador to China, he has experience in foreign policies thus making him the suitable candidate. Senator Marc Rubio of Florida who also has experience in foreign policy has also a chance of offering a stiff competition to the Democrats.
Currently, the Hispanic population account for 10% of the total voting population in the United States. This clearly indicates that they play a major role in determining the winner of the presidential election. During the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney garnered only 27% of the Hispanic vote against President Obama who got 71%. This outcome was contributed by many factors including the failure by Governor Romney’s speeches to reach out to the Hispanic population. The main concern for the Hispanic community is the immigration policies, education, and healthcare but Romney failed to give a positive response to those issues (Bommarito, “Elections 2012 Results: Republicans Lost Because of the Ultra Right Wing Agenda”). For the Republican Party to win the votes of the Hispanic community in the 2016 elections there is a need to abandon conservatism stand and be liberal in policies such as immigration policies. The party should support immigration reforms and provision of amnesty for illegal Hispanic immigrants mainly from South America and Mexico.
In the 2012 elections, 43% of the women for Romney while 55% voted for president Obama. The concrete explanation behind these results is the policies of both parties concerning women issues. During the campaigns, the republicans’ election promises did not support women’s well-being and equality. Some of these policies advocated by the democrats and faced opposition from the Republican Party include access to healthcare, abortion, birth control, domestic violence and equal pay. For example, the Republican Party does not support abortion on grounds of incest and rape (McVeigh, “Women’s vote carries Obama to victory on historic election night”). Before 2016, the party should abandon it conservative policies concerning reproductive health and equal pay for women to ensure that it gains the confidence of the women population.
Christian conservatives have been playing a key role in the Republican Party campaigns however; they have not been able to sway the voters. This clearly indicates that their agenda’s such as negative stand on same sex marriage, anti-abortion, and anti-legalization of marijuana campaigns (Bommarito, “Elections 2012 Results: Republicans Lost Because of the Ultra Right Wing Agenda”). With an increased secularization of the United States, such agendas will not convince the Americans to vote for the republican candidate. To win in the future elections, the Republican Party needs to work with liberal Christians rather than conservatives alone
The use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter contributed to defeat of Mitt Romney by president Obama. A study done a month before the elections revealed that the Obama campaign team posted five times more in the social media compared to the Romney team. This gap in the social media engagement gave Obama an upper hand in the elections. A leader who embraces social media and other forms of technology shows that he is well conversant with how the country is changing. The Republican Party should therefore focus on massive campaigns on the social media during the 2016 elections. In addition, celebrity endorsements are important because they bring money and they are influential.
Most of the republicans are anti-science and they do not believe in emerging issues such as global warming. Republicans are allied to religious conservatives and opposed to reality and rationality. Science is important because innovations in the science field have been the key contributor to America’s economic growth. Therefore, the Republican Party should embrace science for it to offer a formidable to the Democrats who are pro Science. They can do so by engaging scientist in getting advice on science issues such as climate change
A successful campaign and a win in the elections require real change agendas. In the recent time, both the democratic and the Republican Party governments have continued with the policies of the preceding government including the tax policies and foreign policies. For example, during the Clinton’s time, the Republicans were against war in Somalia and Kosovo but the Republicans government under the Bush administration continued with the same policies and invaded Iraq and the Democrats were against it. There should be a clear distinction between the incumbent administration and the next government. Most of the campaigners in the Republican Party in the last election blew their talking and focused on Obama instead of talking about what the party has for the electorate thus media portraying them as extremists. The party should give a clear distinction between it and the democrat party instead of frightening the electorate and talking of the competitor. The party should therefore focus on new agendas different from the ones in the Obama administration to win the 2016 elections.
The Democrat support for the social programs helped them win the 2012 elections. Some of these programs include the ‘ObamaCare’, which is a social health care program. These programs tend to favor the middle class who are the majority in the U.S (Bommarito, “Elections 2012 Results: Republicans Lost Because of the Ultra Right Wing Agenda”). The Republican Party should therefore focus on similar program it to win the next elections. In addition, the election primaries play a key role in the outcome of the general elections. The Republican primaries always favor the extremists at the expense of the moderates. The party should therefore embrace a moderate stand in its primaries so that the party gathers a bigger support during the elections.
For the Republican Party to clinch the 2016 elections, it has to reject the fiscal conservatism. For example, loans for students to be increased because it keeps them from working part time to finance their education (Kipling, “Republicans must reject fiscal conservatism if they want to win”). The democrat’s government under the Obama administration embraced the use of alternative sources of energy in an effort to comply with the conditions in the market and prevent the chances of the U.S becoming an importer of energy rather than exporter. Fiscal liberalism earned Obama a second term in the White House. A number of blacks and Hispanics support the republicans because of their social policies however; they are against the fiscal conservatism. To gain their support, the Republican Party needs to change its agenda concerning the fiscal policy and embrace a liberal stand.
The democrats support for investments and hard work contributed to its success in the 2012 elections. Their policy allows for tax cut on small businesses and this encourages investment from small business owners. Another campaign agenda by the democrat was the increase in the minimum wage unlike the Republican Party, which failed to address the issue. An increase in the minimum wages motivates the middle class to work harder make investments. The Republican Party should embrace similar policies, which aims at encouraging hard work and increasing investments. Additionally, the Republican Party should support the policies, which aim at strengthening the community, the church, and people at the local level to solve their own problems. At the local level, people are dependent and familiar thus being able to understand their own problems. This idea of localism helps in solving both economic and social issues at the local level.
Work Cited
Anderson, Dale. The Republican Party: The Story of the Grand Old Party. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2007. Print.
Bommarito, Sal. Elections 2012 Results: Republicans Lost Because of the Ultra Right Wing Agenda. Policymic Website, 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012. <>
Kipling. Republicans must reject fiscal conservatism if they want to Win. RedState Website, 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012. < >
McVeigh, Karen. Women’s vote carries Obama to victory on historic election night. The Guardian Website, 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012. <>
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