Local Republicans vow to regroup after Dems’ onslaught

LYNN – Local Republicans are unbowed by the Democrats’ election sweep Tuesday and vowed to refocus on their conservative roots as they prepare for future elections.”The Republican Party locally needs to be revamped and I don’t mean in the liberal direction. It needs to go in a conservative direction socially and fiscally,” said Revere City Councilor at Large Anthony Zambuto.Incumbent Democrats in Congress faced Republican challenges this year but only first term Rep. Lori Ehrlich faced off with a Republican locally.By contrast, U.S. Rep. John Tierney and Edward Markey faced GOP challenges in 1998 and two local state senate seats and two in the Massachusetts House saw Republicans challenging Democrats.One seat in Congress, two in the state Senate and half the local House seats mustered Republican candidates 20 years ago.”I’m very disappointed,” said Zambuto, reflecting on his party’s performance Tuesday.He called Barack Obama’s victory a backlash against President Bush and Republican policies, but said voters across the country, generally speaking, lean slightly away from the center of the political spectrum toward its conservative end.Jim Harrington, Saugus Republican Town Committee chairman for 15 years, said it is difficult to attract potential candidates.”A lot of people are reluctant to put their lives under a microscope,” he said, adding Democratic candidates draw on money donated by “special interests” to finance their races.On the plus side, Harrington said vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin “breathed a lot of energy into the party. Unfortunately she was painted as kind of daffy by the media.”Harrington agreed with Zambuto that the GOP must return to its “core mission” of advocating small, more efficient government and upholding individual privacy.Both men think former governor Mitt Romney is the party’s standard bearer going forward to the 2010 state and congressional races and 2012 presidential election.”If the financial crisis had struck six months earlier, we would be talking about President Romney,” Zambuto said.