I am just bummed out Fetterman won in Pennsylvania. I just can’t believe it. As he watched battle cruiser after battle cruiser explode and sink in the battle of Jutland, Admiral Jellicoe exclaimed, "there seems to be something wrong with our bloodly ships today."
There seems to be something wrong with our Republican brand today and it ain't just Trump, or McConnell, or the quality of the candidates.
Except in Florida we saw a systemic breakdown.
The point is to define it, quantify it, correct it.
If this were an Army losing battles, a football team losing games, the first step is obvious and it includes Trump, McConnell, McCarthy not because one is more blameworthy than the other, but because they stand as impediments to revitalization.
“There seems to be something wrong with our Republican brand today and it ain’t just Trump, or McConnell, or the quality of the candidates.”
The ideological positioning of the Democrat brand is clear. The votes of Democrat politicians are consistent, predictable, and in alignment with their world view. Democrats are passionately unified because they are aligned philosophically and fully committed to the ultimate goal of a big government, socialist state where elite experts rule the population.
There is no such ideological unity or commitment in the Republican brand. Without commitment to core principles, the brand has no integrity. Republicans claim to be the Conservative party but the definition of conservatism varies. What common values and principles do Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell, Dr. Oz, Liz Cheney, Lindsay Graham, Ron DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Thom Tillis, Kari Lake, Larry Hogan, Rand Paul and Brian Kemp share? Does the Republican brand mean the same thing to each of them? If not, it is a weak brand.
It can be argued there is no Republican brand. The commitment of the Republican leaders to individual liberty is lukewarm at best given support for Covid lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and complete silence regarding denial of due process rights to January 6 protestors. Certainly there is no demonstrated commitment to fiscal responsibility or shrinking big government.
The Republican party seems to be comprised of pragmatic political deal makers trying to win elected office by appealing to voters who have rejected Democrat socialism and big government authority. When elected they focus on short term issues, not long term goals. As deal makers, not ideologues, they can be completely flexible in compromising to secure the deals important to them. They can ignore issues of great ideological importance to their voters because their voters have no other option.
Strong brands offer consumers consistency and integrity with respect to the brand values. Democrats have a strong brand because the brand is aligned with their values and it consistently delivers. Democrat politicians never compromise core values. The Republican brand lacks shared values, absolute commitment to values, and consistency.
A political brand whose only consistent message is “They are bad and we aren’t them”, is not a brand. It is at best a default parking place for people seeking an alternative that doesn’t exist. In the United States there is no political party with an unqualified commitment to individual liberty and limited government.