Twenty Minutes with Michael Steele

Congratulations to Michael Steele, newly elected head of the Republican National Committee. I liked him when he was running for the Maryland Senate seat, and I like him still. If I could have 20 minutes of his time, this is what I would suggest to revitalize the RNC:

1. PR
Republicans must get some truly savvy PR support. Lets face it. The Democrat Party has outdone us on this one. They know how to shape public perception. Irregardless of the truth, they are able to mobilize in such a way that they can make the story what they want it to be. A perfect recent example is the housing crisis. President Bush, through various members of Congress attempted, tried multiple times during 8 years, to introduce legislation which would add regulation to the Housing/Banking industry. Thanks to C SPAN (which, lets face it, very few people actually watch) and You Tube (which is significantly more popular) I was able to watch footage of Senate committee hearings in which Franklin Raines was all but declared the most capable man in finance. I thought Maxine Walters was going to drool all over herself praising this man who contributed significantly to the problems we have today. However, when the housing "bubble" burst all you heard on the news was that George Bush did this to America by opposing regulation of the industry. A plain, and bold faced lie, but it didnt matter because the Democrat machine, not just members but also the mainstream media, had swung into action. (Yes it is quite a bit more complicated than that, but its a good example nonetheless. Check out this article to see a well laid out time line: http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_11631591 and decide for yourself who is really at fault here.) Another good example is the outrageousness of the media's behavior and inaccurate reporting about Sarah Palin during the campaign. Acting very much as the PR representative of then candidate Obama, every rumor was treated as gospel truth and report as such. What happened to her was shameful and should not ever be allowed to happen again. We can stop that by creating an effective PR machine.

We have women, minorities, and yes-white men-who came from nothing but worked hard and have achieved great things. Do a series of commercials, advertisements, etc sharing their journeys and let them give tips on how to be successful. Imagine this- with pictures for emphasis: "Hi, I am Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. For the first few years of my life I lived in a shack with no indoor plumbing and never wore shoes most of the year. My mom couldn't support me or my brother so we went to live with my grandfather who taught me some valuable lessons about what it means to be a man, be a citizen of this country, and my responsibilities to both of those jobs. He taught me.... x, y, z. No it doesn't sound like a lot of fun, I will admit, but it served me well later when I...Because I worked very hard in school I was able to go to Yale, and by the way I was still paying off my student loans when I joined the Supreme Court! If _I_ can do it, so can you."

Suddenly we would be a party of people who have achieved prominence but come from lives to which the average American can relate. Imagine how that could affect the young men and women of our country? We could show the country a whole new (to them) face of the Republican Party. We are not just the party of old white men, and its time we started show the country the real faces of moderate and conservative Republicans.


2. Language
Republicans must define the language used to communicate our values. The American Public is well educated. A significant number of us have been to college, and a large percentage actually left with a degree. However most of us were educated at a liberal arts school, which all too frequently means that those standing in front of the class are actually politically liberal. Conservatives need to learn to speak in a way that conveys what conservatism really means so the public can easily understand and identify with those principles.

We also need to educate citizens about the language of politics. Progressive doesn't mean forward thinking. It is the term liberals have adopted to label themselves because "liberal" gives off bad vibes. Its that whole packaging thing, see item #1. Its the inherent language of labels: Anti-abortion or Pro-choice? The labels themselves make a clear value judgment about your stand on the issue. Too often we speak the same language that liberals use, but totally different dictionaries are in play. The RNC can and should be a vital part of re-educating and re-defining the language of the party.

3. Understanding who your "base" really is
Pollsters will tell you that white men are basically conservative, as are the elderly, the religious, and upper income business executives. The minority populations are basically liberal, as are young adults and low to middle income households. Maybe so. But I can tell you that I talked with more than a few life long Democrats who are holding tight to a label that no longer represents them. I have family members who said to me, "I have never voted for a republican. I don't like my candidate but I just dont know if I can vote for a republican!" They hang on to their understanding of what the Democrat party used to be, but cant quite find a way to reconcile what it has become. Unfortunately the Republican party has not articulated their stance in ways that these folks can identify with, so they also cant make themselves cross party affiliation.

Take my Mom for example. She is a life long Democrat. However, she is fiscally conservative, would reform the prison system, social security and welfare, supports the death penalty, is anti-abortion, and believes the government should be less intrusive in the lives of Americans. Sounds pretty conservative to me and diametrically opposed to just about everything that the Democrat party espouses. My father in law, a lifelong Democrat, has expressed many of the same issues Mom has. He has identified so fully with the party that while he was living his life and raising his kids he didn't realize how much the party had changed. Now that it is becoming more obvious, its become a real challenge to decide what/who to support. The habits of a lifetime are hard to walk away from.

4. Money
We have to return to our fiscally conservative roots. As we have seen time and time again in politics, money talks. I did not like Bill Clinton, but I will give him props for one thing. The man found a way to balance the budget. Now...much of his ability to do so was from groundwork laid by Ronald Reagan, and he had a Republican Congress to help him, but he didn't pull a Nancy Pelosi and go whole hog with spending. He spent, but he paid down the debt. I have so much more respect for George Bush, but he allowed us to spend more than we had. Yes we had to rebuild our military while fighting a war, and that is usually increases a budget, but it got a bit out of hand. At my house, if you have to spend more, say on car repairs, then you have to spend less on food and clothing for a while. We don't have the option of just spending more and more, and never paying the bill.

If you want to bring constituents across the isle to join the RNC, do something really radical. Make it our priority to ensure people get to keep as much of their money as possible. Not just businesses, not just the top 5% of taxpayers. Include those soccer moms, and the folks who are trying to get off of welfare and be contributing members of society. Make it a matter of personal pride again to be self sufficient and a matter of public pride that we have a government who understands how to be responsible with money. Not only will you be speaking to your current base, those silent majority Americans, but also introducing the truth of the parties priorities to those who should be with us already but believe the common lie (Republicans are all middle aged white people who "cling to guns and religion".).