Posted on 02/08/2007 6:37:39 AM PST by B Knotts
Two simple and succinct comments made by Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich at the National Review Institute Conservative Summit last month provide guidance to the conservative movement and the Republican party on how to sell their ideas and widen their base. Were the advice to be followed, the entire country would benefit.
Gingrich observed that conservatives have a tendency to take self-defeating pride in not paying attention to language. By this he wasn’t saying that conservatives should employ politically-correct language, but rather, that conservatives need to improve their ability to communicate their ideas and message to the broader public.
For his part, Steele stated that despite his opponent’s furious efforts to dissuade black voters from supporting him, he received 30 percent of the black vote because he took his conservative message directly to such voters and declared, unapologetically, “This is who I am.” (Yes, being black didn’t hurt either.)
Support for the Republican party among blacks remains abysmal. Yet Republicans may have recently begun to do a slightly better job of following the advice of Gingrich and the example of Steele. Despite averaging about 12 percent of the black vote over the last two decades, Republicans have shown faint signs of progress. For example, in 2004 President Bush nearly doubled the number of black votes he received in 2000.
Republicans have suffered a setback due to the racially charged rhetoric surrounding Katrina, but there’s no evidence that the effect will be long term.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Sounds like they hired Frank Luntz.......
Truth is not hard to articulate.
Very interesting article! Those two are my top choices for vice presidential candidates - both have outstanding conservative credentials, are extremely good speakers and can not be elected President (yet). Newt has extremely high negatives and Michael needs more national experience and exposure before he could top the ticket.
This is true. However, it is hard for many people to accept. I agree with Newt that articulating the truth may be done in ways that make it even harder to accept. For example, if you accept that affirmative action is bad, you may make your case by emphasizing the truth that it is unfair to whites. This approach to the truth may be hard for many minorities to accept. Alternatively, you may truthfully point out that it hurts minorities. Both are true and both support the underlying truth that affirmative action is bad. One approach is likely yield more minority votes than the other.
We have a Eugenic society that supports and promotes among other things a contraception mentality. We are either forced of encouraged to have small families and to follow the jobs wherever they take us without regard to family. We postmodern "conservatives" bemoan abortion without realizing that it is just another form of contraception which is necessary to sustain our Eugenic Society.
All of this was explained back in the 1920's by Chesterton in "Eugenics and Other Evils" What is amazing is that most of us are unaware of our own biases and how they blind us.
It is THIS theme that we need to defeat. We need to demonstrate clearly, convincingly, and repeatedly that the "heady days of the civil rights movement" were a nadir for our country's unity, and that most of the agitation was inspired by socialist rainmakers or bored youths who wanted to skip their English Comp class. The "egalitarian" societies of the utopians have resulted in the worst horrors this world has ever seen, from the French Revolution to Stalin's purges. And the "right thing" to do is to allow people their own freedoms, rather than having a false set of values imposed on them by their ideological overlords.
The image of the Caring Liberal versus the Cold-hearted Conservative CAN be defeated. But it takes a consistent message driven by a consistent philosophy and backed by an unapologetic adherence to principle.
I have long thought that a team of volunters could put together a course on practical economics and take it into disadvantaged areas with good results.
Because he continues to move the GOP leftward.
I believe that this is true. It is true and vitally important. At this moment in history however, sadly, it appears that too few people grasp this and are willing to do their part.
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