Posted on 11/13/2008 9:32:30 AM PST by goldstategop
I’m a lifelong Republican and I want to root for the home team. Problem is, I look out on the field of battle and I can’t tell which team is wearing the white uniform.
What do Republicans stand for anymore? The GOP leadership in Congress has virtually destroyed the Republican “brand” and turned it into something of value only to white, well-off conservatives. They have vastly expanded federal government spending and influence. They’ve turned earmarks into an art form. They’ve walked down Main Street throwing cash into the air – in the form of economic stimulus plans – hoping that people can be bought off with a check from the government. And they’ve spent untold billions bailing out mortgage companies who made disastrous business decisions that resulted in unimaginable wealth for corporate executives.
Meanwhile the Democratic standard bearer (now the President-elect) runs on a platform of middle class tax cuts.
Is it hard to see why Republicans have failed to connect with the electorate?
But despite the decade-long mismanagement of the Republican brand, the GOP still has an opportunity to reconnect with voters, if they are willing to devote the financial resources, manpower and energy necessary to do so. And assuming they have the commitment to develop a winning game plan, they will also need the discipline to implement the plan over a period of years.
So, what’s the game plan?
First and foremost, Republicans have to stand for things that matter at an emotional, gut level to average Californians and their families. We have to appeal to their hearts as much as their minds.
It’s time to go back to the drawing boards and start talking to voters. The California Republican Party should launch an intensive voter research program beginning with focus groups across the state. A large part of this focus group research should be aimed at ethnic voters so that the GOP can develop policies that appeal to this critical constituency.
It was my great honor to manage, along with my business partner Jeff Flint, the successful Yes on Proposition 8 campaign in California. This was not a partisan campaign – in fact we went out of our way to make sure it was not a partisan effort. Still, 84% of John McCain voters supported Proposition 8. More importantly, we got nearly one-third of Barack Obama voters on our side, including large numbers of minority voters the GOP hasn’t courted in years.
We learned a lot in the Prop. 8 campaign that can help Republicans reconnect with California families, especially in ethnic communities, because we spent considerable time and money talking with ethnic voters. We reached out to them in their churches and neighborhoods. We talked with them on the doorsteps and in their homes. And we took the time to communicate with them in their own languages. Our campaign produced campaign materials in fifteen different languages.
According to exit polls, Prop. 8 was supported by 70% of African American voters, 53% of Hispanic voters and nearly half of Asian voters. If it weren’t for the support we got among ethnic voters, we might very well have lost Proposition 8.
What we learned from these ethnic voters when we talked with them is that family, especially children, is the center of their universe. They are people of faith with conservative family values. They believe in God. They crave economic opportunity. They care deeply about how their children are educated. They are involved in their communities, and they want government policies that address the things they care about.
These are people who are largely ignored and taken for granted by the Democratic Party, who can be wooed by the GOP. There are also vast numbers of unregistered voters among these ethnic constituencies.
The focus groups I recommend should aim like a laser beam on identifying policies that appeal to ethnic voters. They might include obvious GOP themes like providing economic opportunity by making it easier to start a small business. But it may be less obvious, like tax policies that make it easier for families to afford day care, policies that encourage elder care, after school programs, or detailed reform of the school curriculum.
I’m not suggesting that Republicans become like Democrats and start proposing new government programs to appeal to certain constituencies. Rather, I am suggesting that the GOP align the party’s core values with the values of these ethnic voters in ways that will connect with them in real and emotional ways. An example: ethnic parents want their schools to emphasize real educational excellence and achievement, they don’t want kindergartners asked to literally sign cards pledging themselves to be allies of gay rights when they are not even old enough to write their name in cursive. Think I am making this up? It was part of “Coming Out Week” in the Hayward Unified School District and who knows how many other districts in California.
Once the issues have been identified and a game plan crafted, then the truly hard work begins. It is not easy to reach ethnic voters. It requires an extensive, concerted and continuous outreach program. It will cost real money to do this. Leaders in these communities have to be identified and recruited. Volunteers and staff must be deployed to community events, neighborhoods, churches and gathering places. Materials must be developed in native languages and distributed.
It won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight. But it can and should be done. It’s time for a new game plan that helps California voters know for which team to root.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Maybe Californicators should be more like Oklahoma and bring in every country for the McCain-Palin ticket with 66% of the voters going to the Republicans...
Both of the largest Metro areas in Oklahoma went *all* for McCain-Palin. Even our metro areas are not liberal, here...
Oklahoma - in the Bible Belt (for a reason...)
Tulsa - the buckle of the Bible Belt... :-)
We ARE talking about Republicans, aren't we?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
the rest of the world gets it, but whites here don't because they have been beat down not to even though they have been under whithering political attack for 2 generations now
folks either understand values and responsibility or they choose not to and vote accordingly
we were told when I was young that when more blacks went middle class that they would get more conservative, they didn't
we are now told the same about poorer latinos who vote like blacks, they won't either.
this is an issue even larger than just the US and is happening in Europe, Australia and New Zealand too now in varying degrees
I have no answers but if whites continue fractured like they are and minorities are not then conservatism will continue to struggle
and no amount of pandering or choosing non white candidates will help
The outreach must be to teach them what conservative means, we have facts, history, and common sense on our side.
Educate, don’t pander.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32cxf_yuri-bezmenov
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The Republican Party is finished, in my opinion. The “brand” is tarnished. I believe a new party should be formed based on Republican principle. And yes, we must reach out to Dems that are not far left leaning. We need a good PR company!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
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Wrong. This is not the way.
That’s a great post. My wife and I have adopted from Guatemala and are beginning to adopt from Ethiopia. We were going to look for a diverse church because we don’t want our children to ever grow up and believe that Christianity is a white thing. I’ve heard about adoptees who do that and go on Obama-like journeys of self-identity. But I wonder if doing so is also a good way to plead the case for Republican politics and look for local leaders who might be successful running for office as Republicans.
“The GOP Must Connect With Voters - Not Just White Conservatives (Sound Advice Alert)”
Many Repubs will take this to mean that they are just not far left enough, darn it!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Born and raised in Tulsa here - and proud!
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That IS moving Left. We have to stand for something. Compromising our principles is not the way.
That's why we lost the election.
A real problem today is, special interest groups are growing and getting stronger politically. To these Democrats, government is the answer to all their problems. While conservatives push traditional values and beliefs based on the Constitution and the Founders/Framers ideas of original intent. Democrat special interest groups believe big government and even bigger government is a tradition they support the most. Its a tradition they've grown up with, had drilled into their heads and accept as the major factor to making their lives better.
I have read that 20% of conservatives voted Obama this election and many more stayed home. I think that Republicans simply connecting with conservatives would probably be a good thing to shoot for. I believe that if Republicans had run a candidate that was conservative, they would have won without pandering to various demographic groups.
Seems to me that the more, and the harder the GOP “reaches out” to the various voting blocs that AREN’T their base [and ignores the base they have], the more their arms get chopped off. Yep, two-thirds of Hispanics voted for the Madhi. BUT something like 20% of the GOP vote from 2004 stayed home. Does the phrase ‘bird in the hand’ ring any bells?
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