The “Right” Comeback Strategy for the GOP

by Aaron Wildavsky

Last year’s election was a crushing defeat for the Republican Party. The Party lost control of the White House and lost many seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, which it had already lost control of several years earlier. Approval ratings of the party’s stances were extremely low. It was almost completely undisputed among both conservatives and liberals that the party needed a comeback.

However, people disagreed sharply about how this comeback should be facilitated. Many claimed that having young, dynamic, preferably female or nonwhite candidates would be the key to success in swaying voters. This might be referred to as the “dynamic minority candidate” technique. Others supported abandoning the party’s core values and principles and becoming more centrist in order to attract moderate voters. This might be referred to as the “centralization” technique. I believe that neither of these would be effective, but that there is a third, less discussed technique that would most likely work very well in returning the Republican party to power.

The “dynamic minority candidate” technique has already been proven ineffective numerous times. Last year’s Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin was certainly young and dynamic. But there is certainly no doubt as to her unpopularity among liberals and moderates. The situation is no different for minorities. Despite the fact that many liberals love nearly all minority candidates of their own party, many do not have even a shred of respect for black Republicans. Jeremiah Wright, for one, has scorned Clarence Thomas and Condoleezza Rice, among others, as self-hating, simply because of their politics. The “dynamic minority candidate” technique is definitely not the answer.

“Centralization” would be no better. Although the party would probably gain support from centrists if that technique were employed, the party would lose support from the far right. Additionally, employing that technique would be simply giving up. There would be no party that advocated mainstream conservative values. Sticking by those values is important if we want them to be the ones that govern our country. Giving up is not the solution. There is a better way.

The ideal solution might be called the “smart image” technique. The main problem that Republicans face is their image. Many people consider all Republicans to be ignorant, out-of-touch, and bigoted. This is because unfortunately, in recent years, people who are very ignorant, out of touch, and bigoted, such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, among others, have become the faces of the party. However, most prominent Republican figures, such as Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, among others, are not ignorant, out-of-touch, or bigoted, but appear to liberals as having at least some of those characteristics. In other words, Republicans simply have a major image problem. The reason that the Democrats had such success in the last election is not that Americans became more liberal, but that Democrats appeared smarter than Republicans. This especially turned people against the GOP because the nation was in a time of crisis, and smart, sensible, sane leadership was what people wanted. The Democrats gave the impression of being smart, sensible, and sane. The Republicans did not.

An example of the kind of person who presents the smart, sensible, sane image that Republicans need is Brian Brown, the director of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which opposes same-sex marriages. The organization has been very effective in achieving its goals. It was instrumental in passing Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California. Recently, the very liberal Washington Post ran a glowing profile of Brown, in which they stated, “The reason Brian Brown is so effective is that he is pleasantly, ruthlessly, sane.” Brown is not bigoted. He simply believes that history and tradition have shown that heterosexual marriage is best for the public good. “I have gay people who are friends and family,” he said. “We can disagree on all sorts of things and still care about each other.

But to understand what really makes people like Brown so effective, one must understand that, as the article puts it, “this country is not made up of people in the far wings, right or left. This country is made up of a movable middle, reasonable people looking for reasonable arguments to assure them that their feelings have a rational basis. Brian Brown speaks to these people.” When Republicans last fall gave off the ignorant, out-of-touch, bigoted image, they lost the support of this movable middle, thus causing victory for the Democrats.

It is people like Brown whom Republicans need as political candidates, as the faces of the party. Brown is no liberal. He does not suggest making the party’s views more moderate. But the fact that his image is that of somebody rational, reasonable, and sane, causes him to appeal greatly to the center, which is the most important voting group to attract. They respect people who are like him. I, for one, do not necessarily even agree with Brown’s opinions on same-sex marriage. But I absolutely respect them, because it is clear that he has thought out his opinions carefully and is not prejudiced.

Why is it that Brown and others like him give the image of rationality and sensibility, when plenty of others who are perfectly rational and sensible do not project that image? I don’t know. Perhaps it is just something about his personality, or the way he carries himself. It is hard to say. But that question is unimportant, because it does not matter why they appear so smart. It only matters that they do. We need more people like Brown. Once those people dominate the party, it will surely return to power.