Reactions to election

It has been interesting to read the various Republican reactions to the outcome of the presidential election. Based on the op-ed columns which have appeared in the Southeast Missourian this electoral loss is difficult for them to appreciate and understand.

In his column of Nov. 11, David Limbaugh appears to attribute the loss to the fact that millions of Republicans stayed home. He correctly points out that Mitt Romney received fewer votes than did John McCain in 2008. However, this statement does not fully describe the election returns. Romney did receive approximately 800,000 fewer votes than Sen. McCain. But President Obama received approximately 6.8 million fewer votes in 2012 than in 2008. Apparently a large number of Democrats also stayed home.

Thomas Sowell gives his opinion how the Republican Party could improve its standing in his column that appeared in the Nov. 18 Southeast Missourian. He said, "It is not necessary to explode every single lie put out by liberal Democrats. All that is necessary is … exposing them as liars." This is hardly an approach that will change the mind of an individual who voted for Obama.

Republicans would be better advised to listen to opinion writers such as Michael Gerson who in his Washington Post column of Nov. 8 cited Edmund Burke when he said that social change is a constant, and the goal of conservatism is to ease a nation's way through change while retaining what is strongest in its traditions.

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau