As I lick my proverbial wounds, I'm realizing that politics is 90% marketing and 10% real ideas. Look at Obama's rise to power. He's young, vibrant, and for some reason he's convinced allot of voters that hope is all that matters. Now like most politicians he's going to have to do something about it and time will tell if he can make good on his promise of hope.
Anytime you lose, especially in a sporting event, the object is to figure out what went wrong and what the other team did right. In the case of this Obama win he did a number of things right, and here they are in order.
#1 Keep your message simple, sweet and ambiguous. In other words, you find a good catch phrase and you beat it into the ground...."Change" and "Hope"....
#2 Learn how to communicate with those segments of the population that are normally not engaged. Obama learned that the Internet and it's social communities are perfect goldmines to spread his message. He was able to utilize this medium in way's that haven't even been thought of until recently. A majority of these young voters we're spoken to through the medium of face-book and My-space. The next Republican candidates need to understand these forums and be able to use them more effectively then their counterparts.
#3 Republicans need to redefine the issues. Arguing about Abortion, gun rights, lower taxes, etc.. is boring! Sorry my friends, but listening to long toothed old men ramble on about issues that they've been unable to change even when they had complete control of the congress and presidency is outdated and boring! We need to redefine the debate, and jump on "new" issues that will be tomorrows challenges.
Example,
Abortion - it's an old argument that has been hammered into the ground. Yes it's a great one to get Evangelicals engaged in the South, but it's one that has been repeatedly beaten down by Congress and the Supreme Court. Why beat the dead horse, why not focus on other future concerns like cloning, gene therapy and stem cell research. These issues will be more of a concern to Americans in the next 10-12 years then Abortion.
Energy Policy - It needs to be progressive but sound. Why not admit that Oil and Gas are not the future, but are necessary in the transition. Drill now and drill often, but have a game plan to eliminate fossil fuels in the next 20-30 years. Encourage the growth of alternative energy but through private enterprise by offering tax incentives and credits for successful breakthrough's. Explain to the American people the necessity of relying less on foreign oil and the need for energy independence now (which means drilling for our own oil), so that in 20-30 years we won't need another drop from the Arab's ever again.
Defense spending - Focus on technological advancements in our ability to defend the homeland and wage war with minimal casualties. Get rid of waste-full defensive spending (pork barrel) and define what our military's roll is going to be over the next 50 to 100 years. Don't cut for the sake of cutting, unless it's pork. Those republicans that have districts straddling military bases need to being focusing on legislation that will provide high-tech jobs to their constituents by creating factories and manufacturing that will supplement this new military. In other words, quality and technological superiority over quantity.
Social Spending - Focus on social programs that spur science and math skills in our youth. Encourage local retraining centers that will offer high-tech programs to unemployed workers. Work with the Democrat's to modify current unemployment and welfare programs into aggressive re-education and re-training programs. If we're going to give people money, then we can direct them in regards to how to spend this money. No sense giving anyone a blank check.
Economic Policies - Depending on the damage caused by Obama and his administration, we need to focus on way's to restore less government. Republicans need to spend more time offering "enforcement" solutions to regulation, rather then giving away WELFARE MONEY to these financial institutions. If there would have been better enforcement of banking, SEC, and other business regulations, this problem with the housing industry would never have been as severe. Furthermore, we need to focus on re-establishing manufacturing in our great lakes region. But this manufacturing needs to be focused on HIGH-TECH and not trinket's or low cost items. The Chinese and 3rd world is always going to beat us in terms of labor cost's, but we have always had an advantage in "IDEA's" and "INNOVATION". We need Republicans that understand the global economy, and have a working knowledge of the economy...something John McCain was woefully lacking!
Campaign's - We need to focus on the grass roots. We are always more successful when we do. Democrat's can be good at this as well as demonstrated by Obama, but Republicans have always in the past been able to rally the vote through grassroots efforts. One of these grass roots strategies should be how to utilize social networks like My-space and Face-book and use them to their advantage. These forums are amazing in regards to the number of people they could connect with each day. These social networks are the future and present, and people love using them. We also need to focus on using alternative media outlet's to get our message out. You cannot count on the mainstream media as a Republican. John McCain thought he was their darling, and they turned on him like no other candidate. The Democrat's are going to try hard to control the public airwaves and possibly the Internet. We need to fight hard as Republicans to defeat these efforts and spend any amount necessary to keep them from accomplishing this task. One last factor is getting political contributions through
Finally, we need a youthful leader to step up in the Republican party. Someone in their early 40's, someone who isn't afraid of email or computers. Someone who has their own Facebook account and knows what "twitter" or "Facebook" means. We need someone who isn't afraid to let their hair down (or has hair). I like Sara Palin, but she does need to improve her game. Perhaps she could be a viable candidate in 2012, but I'm hoping we see some other fresh faces as well.
That's my suggestion in regards to the "New Republican party"
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