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 Michael Medved

The Conservative Losing Streak: In Perspective

December 11, 2012 @ 11:44 am (Updated: 11:45 am - 12/11/12 )

Conservatives feel understandably discouraged by the dismal results of November's elections, but we ought to put our recent presidential losing streak in perspective.

It's true that Republicans lost the popular vote in five of the last six contests for the White House, but in the previous six elections - 1968 through 1988 - they won five out of six. What's more, in the six recent elections where Republican presidential nominees fared badly, the GOP won the House of Representatives most of the time - capturing four out of six contests. But during the earlier Republican White House winning streak, the GOP didn't win the House even once-going 0-for-six in that Congressional battle.

What this means is that for 50 years, the American people didn't choose liberalism, or conservatism. For better or worse, they've been selecting divided government.

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Comments (29)


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  • PaperMachete wrote...
    Too many people
    December 11, 2012 1:20 pm
    Treat politics like a team sport. The left and the right both far too often are more concerned about what is best for their party and not the country. Personally, I think no party should control all branches of government. I like a divided government; it prevents one party from ramming through partisan bills. We the people need to force our politicians to actually work together though.
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    An interesting bit of voter trivia....
    December 11, 2012 4:40 pm
    Democrats running for the House of Representatives during this election received a combined total of slightly more than 1 million more votes than did the combine total votes for Republicans that were running....
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    The rich are the vitims.
    December 12, 2012 3:05 am
    Victims of this regime of hate, racism and revenge and you Parrots programmed hate of them. Your Dear Leader raising the taxes on them and the middle class will not pay down the ObamaDebt. Not even a little. But you mindless Left wing Parrots are brainwashed to believe anything and everything your Dear Leader and his ministry of Propaganda says.
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    Every time someone claims Republicans are smarter
    December 12, 2012 11:10 am
    You appear.

    And prove otherwise.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Michael, if too many people didn't treat this all like a game, we might get back to winning tor the American people.
    December 12, 2012 5:41 am
    But, let's see. Three of the last six presidential elections featured a Bush - and both strongly braced by Dick Chaney. ... And starting with Bush I, the republican party has been steadily moved away from the principles of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. And, not coincedently, back to the party of Richard Nixon and Jerry Ford.

    Not really surprising in that Dick Chaney never forgave Ronald Reagan for running against Jerry Ford in 1976.

    .

    Guess what, guys. It's time to get back to the 'big tent' and back to policies that help ALL Americans.

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  • sportsguru wrote...
    I'm with Ronald on this
    December 12, 2012 7:47 am
    I can get on board with the big tent, everything else is just divisive in my opinion. Unless you have a model that ANY AND EVERYBODY has a chance at succeeding in, anything else is just, just UNCIVILIZED.
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    A reach
    December 13, 2012 7:36 pm
    Coming from medicated medved, I would say he is as discouraged as the rest of the republicans. Wonder why? Could it be that the the dim bulb of REALITY has finally started to show through? The realization that the republican way is not the way to happiness, financial security, job growth, ending the wars? Hasn't been since I have been able to vote, and that's a long, long time.
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  • rational wrote...
    longwayhome
    December 14, 2012 6:29 am
    The problem is the republican way is the same as the democrat way, and neither lead to happiness, financal security and job growth. That is because both the democrats and republicans are run by progressives. Progressivism as a philosophy is a failure (although successful in elections). The conservative way, on the other hand would lead to greater freedom...but it hasn't been tried since the first century of our nation...since then it's been a shift to progressivism.
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    Rational
    December 14, 2012 8:39 pm
    How about a lesson in Reality? I read so many of the negative posts about how this country is going to implode during a second term of Obama, how much better things would have been if the Darkside had been the winners in the 2012 election. Nothing would be different. The only thing that would have changed would be that the expense of moving the Obama family out of the White House would be at the expense of the taxpayers. There will never be another 4 year President (unless he or she is republican) and that concept is at least 16 years down the road. Hillary will certainly be the next President and carry it for two terms, and hopefully eliminate the republicans altogether. Merry Christmas!
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  • rational wrote...
    longwayhome
    December 16, 2012 6:45 am
    ...how much better things would have been if the Darkside had been the winners in the 2012 election. Nothing would be different.

    The "darkside" did win...or do you think Palpatine presented himself as a conservative? And to answer your question, not much would be different, both Obama and Romney are progressives...Romney would have driven us off the cliff at a slower speed. Obama seems intent on doing a full Thelma and Louise with the nation's economy.

    That aside, Obama's 2nd term hasn't even begun yet, don't you think it's a bit early to discount things going badly during that term?

    And finally, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!

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  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Back To The Topic.............
    December 15, 2012 12:00 pm
    Fascinating that Mr. Medved has encapsulated the "conservative losing streak" into: a sentence.....a short paragraph.....and a sentence.

    I wish I had that talent when I was writing term papers. I would have had a lot more time for bird-dogging girls.

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  • Forrest wrote...
    Republicans are out of touch with a new generation of voters.
    December 18, 2012 6:20 am
    Voters who want single payer healthcare.

    Voters who want a college education and not be put into debt for the rest of their lives.

    Voters who communicate with the internet and don't want government intrusion or control of the medium.

    Voters who believe in science and not superstition.

    Voters who are tired of the Wall Street greed.

    Conservatives are dying and progressives are being born. The times are a changing and there is nothing Republicans can do about it.

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  • longwayhome wrote...
    Well said Forrest
    December 22, 2012 7:51 pm
    Times are changing, attitudes about race, gender orientation, wars, the fact that women need to make their own choices about birth control, not some fat republican politician catering to his southern voter base. There is a new generation of voters out there and that gives me hope that haters like we have on this site (you know who you are) will realize that the world would be a better place without them.
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  • gaymarriedchristianfromhollywood wrote...
    I think women want politicians to regulate vaginas.
    December 25, 2012 1:39 pm
    I'm pretty sure it's in the constitution.
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