This morning I am taking a look at the third key John Hawkins mentions in his post Six Keys to Turning Around The Republican Party. This will leave three more keys to examine this week. Here is what John had to say:
What the last four years have proven conclusively is that there is no future for a “Democrat-light” party in this country that talks about small government, keeping spending under control, cleaning up corruption in Washington, and law and order while delivering none of those things. Yes, we do need to continue to be a socially conservative party and we do need to continue to stand for a strong American foreign policy. However, those two issues alone will not carry us back to the promised land. We also need to “walk the walk” on the other parts of our agenda that were all too often ignored during the Bush years.
I’ve never been real happy describing the Republican Party as a brand as if it were a car, beer, or the latest battle in the Cola Wars. However, the analogy is apt and serves as a way to describe the dynamic between the message we offer and the American voters.
There are, I believe, two intertwined issues surrounding rebuilding the party brand — education and control of the message.
As in advertising, either you make your case to the consumer or your competition will do it for you. You will not be successful if the opposition is given free reign controlling the message that people hear.
Rush Limbaugh repeatedly describes how the liberals and Democrats describe us as “Sexist, racist, bigots and homophobes”. Quite frankly, they have been very successful at doing so. It isn’t enough to complain that we are being mis-portrayed as even that has been used against us to paint our party as paranoid and whinny.
If you’ve listened to AM radio at any length you have probably heard an ad campaign produced by The Famous Radio Ranch with the theme, “It’s called advertising, and it works.” Those spots focus on several important areas — saying nothing allows your competition to control the message, getting the message out has to be done constantly and consistently, and the underlying idea that advertising is really about education.
However the most important point that I can make about rebuilding the party brand is that no matter how well we control the message or educate the people it means very little if the “brand” itself is something people don’t want. I believe very strongly that what conservatives have to offer is what people honestly want and what is best for their lives. Rush Limbaugh was correct in his speech to CPAC this past weekend when he said,
The American people may not all vote the way we wish them to, but more Americans than you now live their lives as conservatives in one degree or another.
Unfortunately, John’s description of recent Republican offerings being “Democrat-light” is right on the money. We can not keep portraying ourselves as not quite as bad as the Democrats. As they say in South Carolina, that dog won’t hunt. It’s time for us, as conservatives, to Reclaim Conservatism and take the lead in showcasing our brand.
Other posts in this series:
The job of the loyal opposition is to oppose
Stop conceding so many groups of voters
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