The GOP's Empathy Challenge

[Geee]

American Spectator:

There has been a lot of discussion since Election Day about what went wrong for Republicans, and what they need to do to win again in the future. In my view, Republicans' challenge is captured in one word: empathy, the act of understanding and being sensitive to the feelings and experiences of others.

While Republicans are not necessarily less empathetic than Democrats, they are perceived that way by voters. And in politics, perception is reality.

Mitt Romney brought many qualities to the campaign. He exuded competence and had a keen grasp of the issues and a plausible plan to fix the nation's problems. He had a proven record of business accomplishment and had shown the ability to bring disparate political factions together. One quality that eluded him was empathy.

Polls throughout the campaign showed Romney behind President Obama by sizeable margins on empathy-related issues -- on which candidate cared about average people; which would represent ordinary Americans; which was more likeable.

On Election Day, exit polls found more voters shared Romney's values and felt he'd be a better steward of the economy. But Obama won the empathy vote going away.