Lessons of this election for Republicans

It's over. Now comes the gnashing of teeth and the rending of clothes by the Republicans.

What has this election determined:

1. John McCain was better than his campaign. He allowed Lee Atwater -type operatives to hijack his genuine nature and run the campaign into the ditch of defeat.

2. Tough economic times moves the electorate toward a we're in this together philosophy and away from the individualist attitude of every man for himself.

3. Fear no longer drives votes enough to win. Hope is better in the end. This fits with American optimism anyway.

4. Exploiting factions for electoral gain has limited efficacy. Finding common ground and looking for compromise ultimately wins the day.

5. America is not a conservative nation. America is a moderate nation that flirts with conservativism and liberalism.

6. Race remains an issue. I spoke with a number of people who voted for McCain, but none could give a cogent reason for their vote, except that Obama was an other and their fear wouldn't allow them to vote otherwise. A nice-sounding pretext doesn't excuse a racist rationale. Maybe the wish to move beyond race is ahead of the reality on the ground.

7. The Republican party faces a choice. If they continue like they have for the past 20 odd years, their only pockets of support will be in the deep South amongst white rural voters. Most Americans live in urban areas or close to them, so that dog won't hunt for too much longer.

8. Latino voters opted for the Democrat ticket. This bodes ill for today's Republicans, since Latinos are set to become the largest minority group in the U.S. Combine Latinos with African-Americans and you have a very large Democrat voting bloc.

9. Due to number 8 above, the Republicans are paying the price for their reliance on pretext racism to drive uneducated whites to the polls. Uneducated rural whites are an endangered breed. The Bubba vote, although staunch, is diminishing in value as the population shifts toward cities.

Republicans have their work cut out for them. If they manage to re-invent themselves, they won't look like Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh--they will look like Bill Richardson and Colin Powell. Republicans will need to cut loose constituencies that depend on subtle, code-word driven bigotry if the party hopes to capture those targeted by such petty prejudice.

It's a hard choice.