A note to the Republican Party: ______________ Why cant the Republican Party win? The Republican National Committee spent millions on a study and has found numerous answers: Women vote for Democrats; African Americans vote for Democrats; immigrants, legal or otherwise, vote for Democrats; Hispanics vote for Democrats; the media supports the Democrats; the Media lies about the Republicans; conservatives are not voting for the Republicans; Old White guys are a problem; etc. In summary, the Party concluded it was just a messaging/branding problem besmirching their otherwise stellar actions. +++++++++ Its clear the Party has concluded their failure to elect their candidates is the fault of everyone (especially the voting citizen and occasional illegal) BUT the Republican Party and its leadership. ++++++++ In the face of polls showing the two political parties losing support while those classifying themselves as Independents is growing (gallup/poll/166763/record-high-americans-identify-independents.aspx), the Republican Party believes their tent is not big enough. Their answer is to change the Republican Party messaging: clearly the problem is not their behavior/actions/governing. Its just a public relations problem. Interestingly, in the face of the passage of left leaning legislation (2009-2010), polling showed a shift in the growth of people identifying themselves as liberals changing down to growing conservatism. But, Republicans did not gain from this shift to conservatism.(gallup/poll/170741/conservative-lead-social-economic-ideology-shrinking.aspx) You might think Im fond of polls. Not so much. Its not that polls lie or incorrect, its whether the questions are unbiased, the question is so clear that everyone can understand it the same way and respond appropriately, the population is random but reflects the population the poll says it reflects, and finally, that age old saw, figures dont lie but liars figure. They can be indicative but are only a snapshot of a point in time fraught with potential errors. But maybe important for their indications, not treating them as concrete proof of anything. So why does the Republican Party have a Branding/messaging/PR problem? In the face of growing discontent with the Democratic initiatives, why isnt the Republican Party not seen in a more favorable light? People still identify themselves as Conservatives more than they identify as liberal? So why is the Party, which continues to try to brand itself as conservative, not able to capitalize? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ People hate duplicity. Now I contend they put up with it better when the parties involved are viewed more favorably. In other words, I like my liar better than I like your liar. However, if you have a trustworthiness problem, lying will only work for those who are already aligned with you. Another way to say it is: If you want me to trust you, dont lie to me!!. This is even more true when you are trying to win over a skeptic. The Republican Party is in the unenviable position of convincing skeptical people the Party should be trusted. ++++++++++++++++++ How has this come to pass? Why isnt the Party more trusted? One does not have to look very far back in history to identify issues which may have contributed to this perception. First of all, Conservatives are not of one mind, and the Republican Party is made up of numerous factions who identify themselves as conservative. I want get into the regionalization of some of these issues, but all of these elements are fraught with conflicting/competing interests. But is this THE problem? If you hold yourself out to be Conservative and define conservative as for small government, low taxes, less interventionist laws and policies, free market and capitalist, and for Constitutional government there may be markers as to whether or not what you say matches your words. In other words, whether or not I can trust you, whether or not your deeds and words are consistent, integrity ++++++++++++++++++++ Not too many years ago, the Democratic Party had fallen into such disrepute, the term liberal was not accepted by many. The Republicans won elections giving them control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency. In fact, some were so bold as to predict the disappearance of the Democratic Party. Numerous elected Democrats switched over to the Republican Party. What did the Party do with this new found responsibility? I wont redebate that record. Lets just say, the behavior of the Republicans led to the Democrats sweeping the House, Senate, and the Presidency. In other words, the citizens were not buying the brand. Only since the election of the current administration has the Democrat excesses allowed the Republicans, bad branding and all, to come back to a majority in the House and a possible majority in the Senate this fall. +++++++++++++++++++ So how has the Republican Party responded to the citizens repulsion of the Democrat ideal. Arguably, the Republican Party appears to have adopted the politically expedient answer: get out of the way of the Democrat implosion so we can pick up the pieces at the next election. After all, what other option is out there for the voter. The Party leadership appears to have actively opposed and denigrated any Republican Congressmans or Senators efforts to move or promote any of the many legislative initiatives or floor statements intended to promote the very conservative principles it claims to adhere to. In essence, the Republican Party answer might be condensed into : Dont do anything to draw attention from the Democrat implosion. Key words: DONT DO ANYTHING!!!! Also, in keeping with the above approach, you cant govern if you dont win. This expression is consistent to the Obama dictum, there are consequences to loosing. So, the question of integrity aside, winning is the primary if not the only goal. Hold your nose and vote. To accomplish these goals, the Party structure has predictably attempted to reduce voices pointing to the inconsistencies, loss of integrity of the Party initiatives/leadership. This has created tremendous pushback from many who feel disenfranchised and who feel the Party has lost integrity. ++++++++++++++++++++ Finally, then, is this a branding/PR problem or the lack of leadership and duplicity coming home to roost? Is the perception of virtually every group or interest wrong, while the Party perception of itself is right? Thus, the remedy is in convincing the others of the errors of their ways? while avoiding the question of whether the Party has integrity as defined by the voter?
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 21:27:03 +0000
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