Posted on 05/19/2008 1:02:16 PM PDT by calcowgirl
[ Ray Haynes is a Republican from California. He served in the
California Legislature from 1992-2006 as a Senator and Assemblyman. ]
Now that I am in the private sector, I have learned an important lesson. Last month, I was in Costa Rica on behalf of a company that I have been doing some work for. We found that one of our distributors had been taking our product and diluting it. It still worked, just not as well, and our customers were blaming us. To protect the brand, and the quality of our product, we got rid of the distributor. The company had spent a lot of time and money developing the brand, and had developed a market share based on that brand. This distributor was trying to take that brand, and sell an inferior product, trying to make a short term profit at the expense of long term confidence in the quality of the product. Our distributor still claims he was making the product better. We thought he was sacrificing quality. We just couldn't let that happen.
You don't need to rebrand a successful brand, but you do need to ensure the quality of that brand. The most successful brand of Republicanism in the last 50 years has been the Reagan, "conservative" brand of Republicanism. Even Schwarzenegger took advantage of that brand in 2003, running as a conservative in the recall, vowing to "sweep up" the Democrats in Sacramento. He then abandoned that brand, became a big spender, and still tried to sell himself as part of the Republican, claiming he just changed it to "make it better." People rightly blame Schwarzenegger for our current budget debacle, but the problem was created because Schwarzenegger abandoned the Republican brand, and then vilified those of us who were concerned about the quality of the product.
We had the same problem in Washington. We didn't lose control of Congress because we weren't spending enough money; we lost it because we spent too much. We watered down the brand that Reagan, Gingrich and countless others had developed over the years. Those who delivered the majority too us, our customers, got upset, and decided not to buy our product in 2006. Congressional Republicans diluted the quality of the product, hoping for a short term profit at the expense of long term confidence in the product. We lost market share, and for good reason. We didn't deliver on the promises we made.
There are two parts of politics. The first is convincing people that the agenda you advocate is the right agenda for people you are asking to vote for you. The second is, once you have convinced them to vote for you based on that agenda, you need to deliver on that agenda. People don't expect change over night, but they also do not expect you to renege on your commitment to quality. They will properly reject you if you break your word to them.
Those who advocate "rebranding" realize, quite correctly, that the Republican Party has a problem. People do not have confidence in us. The reason for that however is not because they think we are wrong. They just think we will do and say anything to get elected, and that once elected, we will act just like Democrats. History has shown that to be true.
We don't need to rebrand, we just need to ensure the quality of our brand. When we do that, we will start winning again.
Give this man a prize. He is correct.
Excellent analogy! But how many people in Washington have worked in the private sector recently enough as to have a clue to what the author is talking about? Any who do not need to go back to the private sector for a refresher course.
Well this guy hit the nail on the head.
Haynes or Bust in 2010!!!
A good egg for the most part!
We can and likely will do a helluva lot worse.
Poizner.. Fiorina.. Maldonado.. come to mind.. :-o
Conservative politics has never been an easy sell to the public at large, despite claims to the contrary by Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, etc.
After all, a large segment of the public believes that Republicans want to deprive kids of Christmas presents... that Republicans want to let the poor die of cancer....
Many people won’t vote for the party that tells people they should eat their spinach, to stop cursing, that it is better to be faithful than to cheat...
That people should work instead of grabbing free health care, free lunches, free everything....
The Democrat-loving press makes every racial hatred, every perversion, every ax to grind... out to be a noble cause.
They media convinces everyone there are no consequences to bad behavior.
The lazy people buy it hook, line, and sinker.
THAT is the main reason Republicans have such a hard time gaining support.
I'd go farther than that. It isn't a "big tent" philosophy. It is a group of liberals who are deliberately putting a stain on the Republican party because they WANT it to move LEFT. Take a look at who is calling for a "rebranding." Schwarzenegger and his Cali goon squad that are on record as wanting a "Purple Party." The GOP leaders in California have been trying to tell us that Steve Poisner is our best bet for Governor, a man who was a life-long democrat before seeking office as a Republican. Arnold and his cohorts won't lift a finger for some of the most basic conservative causes while leading the State into fiscal crisis with their big spending and borrowing schemes. I'm sure other states can come up with similar stories, Bill Perry comes to mind.
On a national level, we have Bill Kristol and his bunch trying to tell us that John McCain is the only savior for the GOP because he can avoid the tarnished "brand" despite the fact that it is the likes of McCain and Schwarzenegger who have led to the corrosion.
I wonder, in the days the CPUSA was very active, if any of these partisan campaign "strategerists," who care more about "winning" than actual goals or accomplshments, could take off their eyeshades long enough to notice that they had been INFILTRATED.
I think what Haynes says nails it on the head.
Another good article was posted HERE, highlighting the wrongheadedness of the Schwarzenegger call for "rebranding."
LOL. Ah... the irony.
We have the new chairman of the RNC Victory campaign, Ms. Carly Fiorina, the one who almost singlehandedly destroyed two companies. Now, she is the leading economic adviser for McCain and her name is getting floated around for Veep or Commerce Secretary.
While working in the private sector SHOULD give one a clue, I'm pretty confident this one doesn't. LOL.
The Republican Party needs a lot of quality control that it isn’t getting because the general market wants a diluted product, or so the managers seem to think. Forget the Republican Party. Conservatives should start concentrating on promoting and supporting conservatives, even if they are Democrats. My straight Republican ticket days are gone for good. The Republican Party is destroying conservatism.
Maldonado..
I just read on Flshrpt that he may be ‘rewarded’ for having joined with the Dems and Arnie in passing all that big borrowing stuff (and spending, and minimum wage hikes, etc.)
Apparently the Dems still aren’t happy with him and are pumping up to defeat him in the next election.
Feel the love?
Regardless, it isn't a hard sell, IMO. Even Arnold won the California recall by talking like a common-sense conservative.
Unfortunately, for those who looked under the covers, they knew it was all talk from day-one.
If we keep "selling" something that isn't what it is marketed to be, we'll lose. I've voted Republican all my life because it was the party of personal responsibility, strong defense, and smaller government. Now Republicans have opted for big spending programs and trying to be the solution to problems that don't exist. If that is the new "brand," I think they can count a lot of people out. The Democratic party already offers those things--we will be destroyed with a single ideology being embraced by both of the leading parties.
I agree with much of what you said. The Republican Party has lost its way. I’ll support good conservatives and those of good character. I’m so sick of the partisan BS where a proposed government action is once wrong(D) and then correct(R).
We saw this in California, a lot. When the Democrats had proposed something, it was vociferously opposed by all Republicans. But when our new liberal(R) governor proposed the same thing, the marketing brigade was out pushing it as the best thing since sliced bread. Corruption, double standards, nanny-state policies—all need to be purged, IMO.
Hear, hear!
If that is the new "brand," I think they can count a lot of people out.
We went to different schools together.
From Richard Milhouse Nixon’s, “I am not a crook”, to George Herbert Walker Bush’s, “Read my lips. No new taxes!” the Republican Party has secretly adopted a new agenda, the globalist agenda, and it is not “for the people”.
The middle class is being ritually disseminated today. The vital stepping stone from poverty to prosperity is being grievously undermined. Everything is now in place for it’s complete disappearance.
The country no longer has two viable political parties. A one party nation is a nation of tyranny.
As we stumble blindly into third world status, the body politic rubs it’s hands in glee. UNLESS Americans fall on their knees for instruction and courage from their Maker, then stand firmly on the solid principles upon which this nation was inspired today, the world’s greatest experiment will be but a dim memory tomorrow.
BUMP
Very well said!
McCain should just choose Perry/Rudy/Mitt/Crist for VP and get the demise of the GOP over and done with
I’m still thinking he has Christie Todd Whitman on his list.
No matter the choice, I think heads will explode when he makes the announcement.
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