So what went wrong?

I managed to get thru the entire day without turning on the TV, not even to watch the stock market croak. Unwinding from the election is called for. Do not start thinking about the next election, let the victors of this one do a little governing before resuming the unending election battles.
But, while the memory is fresh (and painful) let me set down some causes of GOP defeat. Exhibit A, a photograph I took on the opening of GOP headquarters in Littleton. Group shot of all the local republicans in front of the storefront. "How come everyone in the picture is old and greyhaired?" asked my mother. Whereas Obama was running a children's crusade. Maybe if the GOP decided to legalize music downloads? Hollywood and the labels wouldn't like it, but they don't like the GOP anyhow, so what's to loose? A few campaign contributions?
There were a lot of specific things McCain should have said and didn't. On the other hand Obama said little or nothing of substance during the campaign, so maybe what you say on campaign doesn't matter?
Party platforms. The NH GOP had a state party platform 20 pages long, written in lawyerly obfustication, making it useless as a campaign document. We streamlined it, boiled it down to a few simple statements in ordinary English and presented it to the state party convention. The convention turned down the new platform in favor of the old, the 20 pager that didn't really promise anything. Was that because they feared making even vague campaign promises?
McCain never promised the electorate anything you could put a word too. Hope and change worked well for Obama. Next time the GOP ought to at least promise prosperity and a 14000 Dow.
Trashing Ayres, Wright, Rezko and that Islamic fellow wasn't bad, but you can't win just by pointing out the the other guy has scumbag friends. You have to offer reasons to vote for you, not just reasons to vote against the other guy.
McCain wanted to equalize the tax treatment of helath care between the company workers and the self employed. He presented the plan, but neither he nor Palin explained that feature. The democrats attacked it saying McCain was going to tax health care benefits. The GOP never hit back saying it gives the self employed the same tax break on health care that the company workers enjoy.