Guest Editorial: Mike Lowry on the Conservative Message

Mike Lowry is a GaPundit morning email reader who sent me some comments, and they were so well-thought out and written that I asked if I could post them as a Guest Editorial.

The Republican Message

After considerable effort to recruit others to the GOP and to activate them politically out of their apathy, I have come to believe there are only 2 things that will motivate the apathetic:

1. They perceive a substantial, near-term personal threat, or

2. They perceive a substantial, near-term personal opportunity.

Otherwise, they are more concerned with their tee times or tennis match. Anything short of these two forces will not be likely to move them significantly. The following items are intended to give substance to this concept.

What is the Republicans’ compelling value proposition?

I spend a significant amount of time working with startup ventures to help them get organized, funded and reach the point of revenue generation. The single most frequent discussion point, regardless of the type of venture, is the ability to clearly, concisely state their value proposition. For the GOP, I suggest:

Freedom.

Free market capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty and generated more wealth for ordinary citizens than any system in the history of the world. Government intervention, regulation and control destroys this freedom. Taxes prevent growth. No growth, no jobs or upward mobility.

The more the government gives you, the more it must take. When you take benefits from the government, you are taking from the rest of us and making everyone weaker.

Spending more than we take in creates debt, which requires
borrowing and paying of interest. Printing money to finance debt weakens the dollar and erodes your savings.

Fairness.

Fairness can’t be established by government regulatory action. Regulations can only enforce sameness. Fairness can only be established by individuals freely choosing to do business or not do business with other individuals or companies based on their ability to meet the individual’s needs. Complex taxes create loopholes. Loopholes create unfairness.

Restoration of a growing economy with upward mobility.

A Proposed Statement: “The GOP stands for improving the American citizen’s life by promoting free market capitalism and upward mobility by reducing the role of government in our lives and businesses, and by reducing the resources taken from our free economy by government.”

Credibility

The standard GOP response when asked “What does the GOP stand for?” is “smaller government, lower taxes”. No one, outside the GOP or inside it, really believes this. The last 60 years of history clearly tells us this is a lie.

Changing the message doesn’t change the reality.

Proposed:

• Establish clear, concise core principles. For a recommended starting point, see the Fulton County Republican Party Core Principles. If these are not acceptable to the leadership, then modify them as needed. The key point is to be able to clearly, publicly commit to principles that will not be violated.

• Let the public know what they can count on. Get the party leadership to commit to them. Congressional seniority creates arrogance and corruption. Term limits will fix that.

The press will initially vilify this process and work to undermine any statement of principles. The public will recognize whether you mean it or not, and if you are credible they will respond.

Outreach

The GOP, and conservatives in general, debate too much. A debate has a winner and a loser. If you make someone lose the debate they will not vote for you. The GOP needs to SELL. It needs to clearly and simply answer my next door neighbor’s question: “Why should I join the GOP?” Right now, I have no answer for him.

The GOP needs to learn how to use social media and get all of its supporters to use it. The Democrats out-use Republicans by 4-to-1. Facebook, Twitter and the other tools are not widely used.

The message needs to be consistent, positive, principles-based, and be consistent for all members of the leadership. Instead of using the leadership machinery to force compromise, use it to force consistent adherence to marketable principles. Instead of shouting “NO” to all the Democrat insanity, the message needs to say why the GOP idea is better. (See Reagan, Ronald)

Stop feeding the liberal press. Anytime the liberal press “edits” the message to create their slant, they should be publicly called on it and punished with lack of access to anything but press releases.

Once these ideas are all in place, the GOP might have a chance at actually reducing spending. Otherwise, I don’t believe it has a chance. (BTW, “over 10 years” is a phrase that severely undermines GOP credibility. There is not a single 10-year projection that
anyone really believes. What will be reduced next year?)

Best regards,

Mike Lowry
Email ML@LowryProperties.com