Three decades as a Portage-area GOP precinct committeeman taught retired steelworker Bobby Ralph what his battered national party must do for a comeback.
"I don't want us to turn to liberalism. I don't want any candidate to condone abortion," he said last week while attending the Porter County Lincoln Day dinner, which gave Republicans throughout Northwest Indiana a forum to digest their November defeat when Indiana went Democratic blue for President Barack Obama.
One of the dinner's speakers, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, told The Times last week many in the party are brooding over the results.
"What did we do wrong?" she asked. "Did we not have the best candidate? Why didn't we encourage independent voters to swing our way?"
An Associated Press-GfK poll released recently underscores Obama's partisan advantage. Of the 1,000 adults interviewed nationwide, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 46 percent to 28 percent, including those leaning toward either party.
Recent surveys by other organizations show similar breakdowns. A Pew Research Center poll released recently had a 51 percent to 35 percent Democratic lead, while a Gallup Poll showed Democrats with a 53 percent to 34 percent majority.
Dan Dumezich, a Schererville Republican and former state legislator, said the state party can take comfort in the fact it generated 1.5 million votes for Gov. Mitch Daniels' re-election, more than Democrats cast for Obama or their gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson.
"Mitch Daniels is a true Republican," Dumezich said. "People really like his management and his style. (U.S. presidential candidate John) McCain was the wrong candidate for Indiana and the party. You didn't know where he was.
"We have got to return to the things that attracted people to the party, like being a watchdog on spending now that Obama has gone into deficit spending to a degree that is unfathomable."
Skillman said Republicans need to be reassured.
"Conservative principals are not a thing of the past," she said. "I give them a few words of encouragement. Always have a better idea to combat what your opponents and detractors are saying. Don't just say no."
Harold Greshman, who was part of Portage's contingent at the Lincoln Day dinner, became nostalgic for Ronald Reagan's "It's morning in America" era.
"Most people can look back at that with fond memories," Greshman said. "Our future lies with somebody like that. We certainly have people in the in the conservative realm who can do it equally as well as he."
Porter County GOP Chairwoman Joyce Webster said last year's election became a media love fest for Obama and change. Voters have become distracted from what the real issues are, which are not raising taxes or spending money foolishly, she said.
Ralph Ayres, a former state representative for Chesterton, said the key is winning the independent voter.
"The Republican Party was so dominant in this country, but now the majority of Americans don't identify exclusively with one party or another," Ayres said. "But they do tend to lean more one way or another."
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
