“But Bush had two insights. He realized that the party had to win over the center as well as the right, and that unadulterated doctrine would appeal most only to the doctrinaire.”
Pah. This is absolutely the wrong way to deal with people in the so-called center. The right conception is that they are people you want to convert to your way of thinking, not you converting to theirs. Instead of trying to moderate your way to the middle, you convince them to immoderate and tilt to the right. Measures such as the prescription drug benefit and No Child Left Behind were absolutely the wrong sort of thing to do- trying to out-Democrat the Democrats failed.
This is absolutely the wrong way to deal with people in the so-called center. The right conception is that they are people you want to convert to your way of thinking, not you converting to theirs. Instead of trying to moderate your way to the middle, you convince them to immoderate and tilt to the right.
You don't convert the middle by preaching doctrine. That's the point being made, not that No Child Left Behind or the Medicare drug benefit was a good thing.
You lead by example and lead people to make the conclusions that make sense. You don't go preaching the 10th Amendment. People, normal people not FReepers and other political junkies, tune out on this kind of thing.
Preach that the EPA is killing the economy. Make it real. Use concrete illustrations. Then give it a doctrine name, if you have to.