Buzzword demographics and New Coke

On November 7th 2006, Republicans not only lost, but lost their way. Twelve years after the 1994 Republican Revolution, we saw energetic idealists dissolve into Washington's lethargic bureaucracy. They came into office promising sweeping reforms: term limits, smaller government, and lower taxes. Today exit polling suggest voters now view Republicans as the party of big government.

They should have seen this coming. Conservatives felt like they no longer had a political party because their leaders listened to the media proclaiming the rise of new voting blocks. It was a race to target "Security Moms", "Nascar Dads", "Walmart voters", and the like.

Republicans did not learn the lessons of Coca Cola. When Pepsi appeared to be gaining too much ground too quickly, they subsituted a New Coke for Classic Coke only to see it drown it in its own hype. Shortly thereafter, Classic Coke returned to great success. So perhaps in 2008 we will see a return to fiscal conservancy and with it, a new era for Classic Republicanism.

--Joey