VIDEO - Wolf Blitzer to Ted Cruz: You can’t be overly idealistic, you have to compromise because Obama won
Editorial ~
What the GOP should stand for: Opportunity
By Ted Cruz | January 4, 2013 | The Washington Post
Ted Cruz, a Republican, represents Texas in the Senate.
Since Election Day, much energy has been spent analyzing why Republicans did so poorly. Many have urged that Republicans must “moderate their views,” by which they mean we should adopt more policies of Democrats.
That advice misdiagnoses the problem. The 2012 election did not reflect popular approval of the Obama policies of out-of-control spending, taxes, deficits and debt. To the contrary, 51 percent of voters on Election Day agreed that “government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.”
Nor did the election reflect satisfaction with the paltry economic growth that President Obama’s abusive regulatory approach has produced. Voters are rightly unhappy with the anemic growthin gross domestic product the past four years; the average, just 1.5 percent, is less than half of our historic average since World War II, but 53 percent of voters believed the economy was George W. Bush’s fault.
Why did voters believe that? Obama repeated it relentlessly, and Republicans never responded.
First you win the argument, then you win the vote, Margaret Thatcher famously admonished. Republicans did neither.
Nothing better illustrates that failure than “47 percent.” Not the comment itself nor the good and decent person who uttered it, but, rather, the overall narrative of Republicans. Voters were convinced that the GOP is the party of “the rich” and that Democrats are the party of everybody else.
That characterization is false, but as long as a majority of Americans believe that Republican policies do not benefit them, Republicans will continue to lose.
SIBYL WEST, EditorHeretical conservative, inquiring transcen- dentalist, western soul, eastern training. 
GEORGE SCAGGS Freelance writer, commentator, and audio/video producer based in Austin, TX.
BARGAIN CITIZENJust another betrayed and abandoned average American.
JOANN FLEMINGChairman, Advisory Committee to the Texas Legislature’s TEA Party Caucus.
J.C.Vietnam veteran, 5th generation Texan, conservative activist.
ANGEL ABITUARetired government worker (38 yrs). Hispanic “community organizer”, grandpa, active member of AFP. 
MICHAEL BARAM Former computer geek and retired corrections officer. Libertarian with a conservative cant.
NANCY COPPOCK Tea Party activist behind the virtual barbed-wire of American gulags because if you do the right thing you must be insane.
On January 4, at the Statesman online, I read a similar story on the arrival of Ted Cruz at the Senate. There were about 9 “comments” posted to the story, 5 were negative, 1 positive and 3 were apparently so vile and full of “hate speech” that even the Statesmen had to erase them because they “violated visitor agreement.” And the libs are the ones who say conservatives are the negative guys.