Wayne's World: LC GOP Chair on Tuesday Election

Lehigh County GOP Chair Wayne Woodman has penned a rather thoughtful missive to fellow Republicans, in the aftermath of Tuesday's largely Democratic victory on Tuesday:

"It is stating the obvious that Tuesday’s national and statewide election results were very disappointing. As a nation we spent several billion dollars and many
millions of hours of our time to essentially wind up where we started. While we had a status quo election it does not mean we must accept the status quo. The problems we face—runaway government spending, massive deficits and borrowing to finance them, an ideological divide which strains our ability to work together, a tax code in desperate need of reform and the continuing centralization of the country at the expense of states –remain and must be addressed. We must hope that President Obama will shoulder the mantle of leadership and do the hard work of incorporating our concerns into his policy proposals so that the work of resolving the many problems we face can proceed. Our Republican leaders must do the same and do it without sacrificing our principled message that it is high time for government to be restructured and reformed.

"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan ran as good a campaign as I have seen in some time. Despite the outcome, I am proud to have been a part of their effort and have no regrets. I am very pleased we will have Paul Ryan back in the house as our leading expert on the budget. I am certain his leadership will continue to solidly represent our principles, his policy proposals will be grounded in his deep understanding of the budget’s structure and his nature will cause people of differing points of view to come together in support.

"The Lehigh County Republican Committee has much to be proud of and as their Chair I must acknowledge that none of our effectiveness could have been realized without you and your dedication to our cause. We were very successful in reelecting all of our state house members and sending Charlie Dent back to Congress for a fifth term. While we lost the Presidential in Lehigh, our margin over 2008 improved dramatically from 25000 to 10000 votes. Our ground game was effective. In the townships and suburbs we had very high turnout in some cases over 85% thanks to all of you who stood the polls, acted as strikers and as poll watchers.

"We are up against substantial demographic shifts. The city of Allentown, particularly the center city polls, are stark examples of this with many going 90/10 against us. It is my commitment to begin to learn from those residents why they will not consider us. We are failing not just ourselves but those voters as well by not giving them a choice. I don’t think the answers here are simple and I think we need to be deliberate in how we go about finding solutions.

"In that regard though, I think we need to make a concerted effort to reconnect and establish real ongoing relationships within this community so that we are known not just as Republicans but as neighbors who understand the concerns and values of center city residents. We must find a way to translate our values and principles into an attractive proposition worthy of their vote. Any of you interested in helping this effort should contact Bob Toth or me.

"I would like to congratulate President Obama and wish him well in his 2nd term. I pray that he rises to the task of resolving the very difficult problems we face. I also want to acknowledge the Democrat Party’s ground operation and urge all of us to take note of their ongoing tactics to get their vote out.

"Finally, I would like to urge all of our Republican elected officials to do all they can to propose policies and support legislation that is both consistent with our principles and values while at the same time capable of gaining enough support to become law and cure the failing state of our governments at all levels. I pray that they will.

"Thanks again to all of you for your dedication, time and money for our cause. God bless you and God bless the United States of America."