Posted on 11/13/2012 5:30:52 AM PST by Kaslin
We conservatives may never reach a consensus among ourselves as to the main factors that caused our election defeat, but surely we can agree that we must do a better job of selling our ideas.
Never mind, you say. The electorate has irreversibly become a taker class, and conservative ideas of self-reliance, personal responsibility and individual liberties will never appeal to a majority again, especially with demographics working against the GOP.
We must reject that, or we are as good as surrendering. To accept it, we are confessing our skepticism of the power of ideas, which itself is contrary to the conservative spirit.
Conservatives begin at a considerable disadvantage, with a liberal media and academia telling people they are victims who aren't responsible for their own actions and demonizing the American system as originally conceived, including capitalism, producers, business, energy producers and the wealthy. Of course, conservatives are handicapped from the outset when these institutions evince hostility toward limited government, American greatness and a cohesive American culture. It's amazing we even have a fighting chance when Democratic elected officials use government money and power to buy votes with no regard for the destruction this causes these individuals and society as a whole.
Republicans could be defeatist and throw in the towel, or abandon our ideas and seek to become mini-liberals, but both choices are suicidal.
How about, instead, we pick ourselves up and show we believe in the power of ideas and our ability to sell them?
I agree with those arguing we need to be smarter about how we approach Hispanics, the young, blacks, single women and others who routinely vote against us. We can package and present our ideas better and send people who can better relate to these groups to "evangelize" them. But it is even more important that we start preaching our ideas as if we truly believe in them, instead of always being on the defensive and afraid of who we are.
I do not believe blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic because they are a purely homogenous group of liberal-leaning people. Rather, Democrats have poisoned their minds about Republicans, convincing them we are racists or at the very least don't have their best interests at heart. It's an "us" against "them" thing, and it wouldn't matter if blacks agreed with Republicans on most policy issues; they would still vote against Republicans as long as they believe we are against or don't care about them.
Similarly, Democrats have convinced many women that Republicans are sexists who are waging war on them and their access to contraceptives. They have also persuaded many people who are reliant on government programs that Republicans are greedy, wretched sorts who don't care about them either and generally have no compassion.
The irony of all of this is that Democratic policies, especially those of President Barack Obama, have particularly hurt blacks, the poor, the unemployed and those who desperately need a growing economy to escape from this destructive dependency cycle that robs their dignity and their ability to improve their lives.
Perhaps I am hopelessly naive, but I believe we can make inroads into these groups and dismantle these warped stereotypes if we make an intelligent and energetic effort both to counter the left's lies, indoctrination and demagoguery about our character, and to demonstrate the superiority of our ideas. We have to make the moral case for capitalism and show how our ideas and solutions are more compassionate and promising than liberalism.
Let's not give up on winning the hearts and minds of black Americans. Let's not sit still while Democrats continue to portray us as greedy, uncaring and indifferent to the poor. We must make clear that fewer people suffer under free markets. I don't believe the entirety of the black community and those on government aid have rejected our ideas as much as many of them haven't really been exposed to them or had their merits clearly articulated. Nor do I believe that most people who are currently dependent on the government for their livelihood want to remain so. It's crazy and insulting to write them off as perpetual Democrats.
Call me simplistic; call me Pollyannaish. I may well be. But I'm not offering this as some panacea. A multitude of factors worked together to defeat us last Tuesday, but misguided perceptions about Republicans were a large part of it and will continue to be unless we change them.
Regardless of whatever other ideas we employ going forward, let's show we believe in the winning power of conservative ideas and make a sincere, genuine effort to reach groups that have been soured against us by years of slander and misinformation. It could go a long way.
I mean really, what the heck is so hard about asking a minority if they value the lives of their children and what the future holds for them? And then showing them the way to get from there to here.
How hard would it be to teach a few of them how to be Donald Trump? How to go bankrupt and then recover from it. There are millions of us that know if we lost everything tomorrow, give us several years we would make it all back ...and then some. How to we market and sell that?
But then ...isn't that what we're trying to teach the nation? You see this is why I thought Romney was the right person at the right time and why 0bama is the wrong leader at this time.
Been there, done that. Time to move on. When one is losing money on a product line, they dump the line, they don’t lower the price to sell more.
Look how do you reach a population that is willing to give up evryone’s liberty for a cheap free cell phone and a $150.00 EBT card?
How do you sell them the latest sneakers?
How do you get them to download the latest hits?
How do you get them to watch American Idol?
>>> ... or we are as good as surrendering. To accept it, we are confessing our skepticism of the power of ideas, which itself is contrary to the conservative spirit.
If one correlates the link between “the power of the conservative spirit” and our belief and trust in God, then it’s not really a matter of surrendering to the liberals. It’s a matter of surrendering to the will of God.
Unfortunately, our ability to “sell” our idea that this country needs God must succumb to God’s will to SHOW US that we need Him.
If however you are of the mindset that conservative ideas are independent or separate from our faith in God, then you fail to see what the liberal needs (in their own mind), and what they are in the market for.
The liberal, who is convinced that they don’t need God is looking to bring peace and prosperity to society without Him... this requires that THEY be given the CONTROL to do so because only THEY understand what needs to be done.
You cannot sell water to a fish in the ocean... You can however lead a fish to water once it realizes it has beached itself on the land, and faces death.
You don't. What you do is make it a condition of getting the stuff that they relinquish their ability to vote.
we need our leaders to get out there on any venue they can and sell it. They need to leave the bubble and go forth into the world.
Sadly enough, there are a lot of working liberals who can do basic math yet will ignore the fact that their policies and ideas do not add monetarily or socially to the outcome. These folks seem embrace negative results as necessary to their dreams of some little understood collective hell. They can lose everything they have and still believe. It’s like some sort of religious fervor. It’s never their fault. Those that follow them will stay on board until the goodies run out and then will turn on them. You cannot reach some of these folks.
Trying to bring their children’s future into the mix is of no importance. They never see passed the moment. They are of this idea that if enough people will just wish for it, it will happen. Yet they can never actually define what it is they are wishing for. At least not in any broad sense.
Those ideas work so well with Massachusetts politics./s
An intuitive leap is required to understand why conservatism is important.
Those ideas work so well with the majority of the rest of the world that’s stuck on some sort of leftist politics (including, but not limited to, leftist dictatorships), for many decades and counting./s One of the reasons for my tagline.
and the fault of that lies with the GOPe. They COULD point out how the democrats and union have formed a parasitic partnership, they COULD have hammered the O on Benghazi, they COULD have discussed all the Dems that were convicted of voter fraud in the 2008 election and how it could affect 2012......
but they DIDN'T.
The only conclusion a rational person could come to is that the GOPe doesn't care if they win, because they'll be 'reaching across the isle' no matter what.
The conservative movement’s biggest enemy, one that continues to grow exponentially, funded by our own money, is the government school system. We’ve created a monster that will lead to our own demise.
Mark my words.
EBH - that’s an excellent point. The problem is that you are trying to sell something that people have no experience in doing.
Look at it this way. If you’re a young person - what do you know about bankruptcy? What do you know about making money, about leadership?
We aren’t giving young people the tools they will need for the future. So why else wouldn’t they expect to vote for the party that offers security? I call it learned helplessness.
We do everything in our power to insulate and protect young people, and then we expect them to vote for conservatives? No. What they need is a chance to cut their teeth and gain real self confidence.
Well, after what has happened and been going on in the last week, selling ideas seem almost useless.
It would seem we have a real American crisis going on. What is going on?
Something is. We have the people who don’t care about anything other than the feeebies, we have who or whatever behind the unfolding nightmare that is rolling out, that would include Obama and his admin. We have feckless repubs who seem too slow to get to the bottom of it, and then we have real Americans who realize we are under some kind of attack and feel like the country has never been more vulnerable for attack from the enemy.
Inside-outside. One now, both later? Who knows?
We need a boatload of miracles, selling the brand to a F’ed up nation right now would be impossible.
Can you imagine that? In the United States of America, there are MARXIST teachers conferences? This ought to be simply outlawed. In fact, Marxism and Communism and any other ISM should be outlawed.
Where are the teachers conferences where the principles of liberty and freedom are taught? If we don't teach the teachers, we are lost. It's going to be tough undoing this because the teachers have been steeped in this evil stew since they were children.
BTW, the video at the linked site will make you SICK.
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