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A Teachable Moment for the GOP
Uber-consultant Mike Murphy believes that the way forward for the Republican Party is to ditch conservatism, particularly its social variety; stop doing campaigns the way they were done 25 years ago; and push back against the Jim DeMints of the world, who recruit “unelectable” candidates.
This is a teachable moment for the GOP, and I’m glad Murphy is publicly making this argument, given that it is a good encapsulation of the message he’s been advancing for a quarter century or so. It provides an opportunity for Republicans to decide who really represents the anachronism in the room and to engage in some creative destruction likely necessary to adapt to the future.
And for this case, Murphy is an ideal spokesman. He is a millionaire thanks in large part to the ad sale commissions from countless campaigns. He represents a way of campaigning based on massive air wars, top down direction driven by ad men consultants, the time when you dominated the three television channels and controlled the narrative from on high … all methods which have proven particularly irrelevant to electoral results in the internet era. You can practically taste the longing of John Weaver for all the ads he could’ve done for a Huntsman general – let a million desert motocross heli shots bloom.
What’s really out of date here – conservative ideas and ground-up grassroots activism, or the rich guy paired with genius consultant, advertising carpet-bomb, write off the electorate as idiots approach? I am increasingly of the view that these two approaches cannot both survive as a house divided – pick one, and send it out hunting with Dick Cheney.
As for Murphy’s social issues argument: as I’ve pointed out before, Mitt Romney won white voters under 30, even winning white women under 30. The youth voter barrier to the Republican Party is really the same barrier as it is for all age demographics: an ethnic barrier which concedes black, Hispanic, and Asian voters to Democrats. If abortion and gay marriage really are the decisive issues preventing Republicans from winning those voters, why aren’t they rated higher in the polling data among those voters? Is Murphy basing his argument on data, or on the same cultural biases he’s been peddling for a decade or more? And if it’s the latter, what approach is more adaptable to the future: DeMint and his unelectable social conservative recruits like Marco Rubio, or Murphy and his social liberal recruits, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Though of course, I’d have to concede Schwarzenegger understands outreach to Hispanics.
This essay was adapted from The Transom, a daily email newsletter for political and media insiders, collecting news, notes, and thoughts from around the web.
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Published in General
Thank you! If GOP follows Murphy’s advice, they will lose my support, utterly. This election did not have to be lost. It was lost because the methodology and ground game sucked. Period. Granted, it would have been nice if Herman Cain hadn’t imploded, or if Newt didn’t have so much baggage, or if Perry hadn’t flamed out to see what else might have been. But Romney could have won this election, had the GOP not messed up the swing state ground game.
[Edited for Code of Conduct]
Mike Murphy is to Republican political campaigns what Psychics and Spiritual Advisers are to rich and lonely old widows: Charlatans there to Relieve them of their Money.
He’s a snake oil salesman posing as a political guru.
He’s won less than he’s lost, and yet we are supposed to blindly follow and shower him with money, because . . . why again?
Anyone who tells you they know how to win in this electoral environment is lying to you and wants nothing but your money.
Even JugEars’™ people didn’t know they were going to win. They were scared right down to the wire, as well they should have been. This last one was a very close deal.
Toss Murphy onto the bonfire pile of consultants who have bled GOP candidates, and lets move on to something more productive, like cleaning the lint out of our navels.
I’d rather have the infamous and recalcitrant Kenneth back on Ricochet than Mike Murphy. Anyone who has anything to do with a gubernatorial campaign that lost to a guy who had already proven himself to be the worst governor in the history of California should quit politics forever. Seriously. If having pompous jerks like Murphy on the flagship podcast is the best Ricochet can do in terms of content then I really question if renewing with Ricochet is worth it.
I wonder how much of this past election is based on the American voters’ preference for Big Government, how much of it is driven by their rough perception of the two candidates, or a combination thereof.
The American family is crumbling with single-parent households galore that are willing to exchange higher taxes for increased social programs to stave off insecurity-whether psychological or economic. The public schools largely reflect the values of the community with little to no power to push-back against an institution that is in itself public.
Condemnation is not going to be helpful, but designing conservative solutions encouraging marriage through the tax code as well as increasing alternatives to the public school. In sum, there has to be conservative policies that put people in the position to be economically and psychologically secure, and to take the incentives out of public education that make it so malleable to permissive pressure from families.
Oh, and candidates need to do this with a smile, and not a wagging finger.
Condemnation is not going to be helpful, but designing conservative solutions encouraging marriage through the tax code as well as increasing alternatives to the public school. In sum, there has to be conservative policies that put people in the position to be economically and psychologically secure, and to take the incentives out of public education that make it so malleable to permissive pressure from families.
Oh, and candidates need to do this with a smile, and not a wagging finger. ·4 minutes ago
But… but… but… those are SoCon proposals!
Personally, I like them, but you know as well as I that there are those here that will recoil from them.
Pretty cool echo effect going on here. ·20 hours ago
The reason it seems like an echo chamber is because those Ricochetti who agree with Murphy that the GOP should jettison the SoCon wing are being very quiet on this thread.
Gee, I wonder why… ·1 hour ago
I will always remember the day I read Peter Robinson’s rationale for why Senator Scott Brown (R) had to sound and vote ‘moderate’; because he hailed from Massachusetts where the voters expect you to; I was dumb-founded!
This type of reasoning is what you get when personal campaign ‘experience’ trumps ‘Founding Principles’.
I believe it could be called ‘pragmatic conservatism’, and belongs with other terms like, ‘compassionate conservatism’.
The American family is crumbling with single-parent households galore that are willing to exchange higher taxes for increased social programs to stave off insecurity-whether psychological or economic. The public schools largely reflect the values of the community with little to no power to push-back against an institution that is in itself public.
Condemnation is not going to be helpful, but designing conservative solutions encouraging marriage through the tax code as well as increasing alternatives to the public school. In sum, there has to be conservative policies that put people in the position to be economically and psychologically secure, and to take the incentives out of public education that make it so malleable to permissive pressure from families.
Oh, and candidates need to do this with a smile, and not a wagging finger. ·23 minutes ago
For an excellent article on this subject, read a recent column (11-19-2012) by Star Parker, “We have a national crisis in character”.
It is a repellant thought that Mike Murphy and David Frum want the Republican Party to become Democrat Lite just like Britain’s Conservative Party is vis-a-vis Labour. Becoming a more conservative liberal party is not only electoral suicide, but it is terrible for limited government, freedom, and personal responsibility.
This loss is an opportunity to learn what the electorate’s concerns are, and to develop effective conservative solutions to them. Without strong families and quality schools, I fear America will continue have large numbers of people whose insecurities will fuel greater support for Big Government policies that will continue the cycle of unhappiness and lack of opportunity.
This loss is an opportunity to learn what the electorate’s concerns are, and to develop effective conservative solutions to them. Without strong families and quality schools, I fear America will continue have large numbers of people whose insecurities will fuel greater support for Big Government policies that will continue the cycle of unhappiness and lack of opportunity. ·34 minutes ago
Finding out what the electorate’s concerns are (and offering real solutions to these) will be as elusive and frustrating as the challenge facing a physician who treats a grossly overweight, sedentary person who is sick.
The patient wants to be well and believes that, with the right medication, they can be cured, but they do not want to give up their unhealthy eating habits, and they continue to smoke and refuse to exercise.
The cure for what ails our school children in the public schools is so much more than the poor quality of the teaching. It requires that parents parent and teach their children, by example, the virtues of honesty and hard work, and turn off the television.
John Fitzgerald: Condemnation is not going to be helpful, but designing conservative solutions encouraging marriage through the tax code as well as increasing alternatives to the public school.
I thought that was Newt’s forte (sorry, I don’t know how to put the accent mark over the e in forte) and, my own vote for Newt notwithstanding, we did not select Newt for our candidate. We did select someone else who did not win, a moderate I believe, who noted that the Massachusetts public schools were doing just fine, thank you.
Unless and until the money for the student is under the control of the parent, we won’t get the radical changes necessary to educate the young and involve parents in a way that puts them in charge. Currently the public school system has more control over a student than do the parents of that student.
One might merely look at the fact that parents cannot forbid the public school system from doing things which offend both the student and the parents, and the public school systems do so regularly.
Unless and until the money for the student is under the control of the parent, we won’t get the radical changes necessary to educate the young and involve parents in a way that puts them in charge. Currently the public school system has more control over a student than do the parents of that student.
One might merely look at the fact that parents cannot forbid the public school system from doing things which offend both the student and the parents, and the public school systems do so regularly. ·7 minutes ago
Edited 5 minutes ago
This is not to be, because the teachers’ unions and the Democratic Party have a stranglehold over public education.
The best way around this, it would seem, would be for more and more industries to offer apprenticeship ‘schooling’ to their workforce, in much the same way that West Point or the Naval Academy train their officers.
The student/employee enters into a contract with the company; exchanging a high quality education for a several year commitment to remain with the company.
This arrangement cuts the state out of the equation, which is the only way forward!
There is no formula, it is all about the person.
In today’s market, to gain credibility you must offer substantive content. This is because there are so many choices available to businesses and consumers.
People are desperate for substance in politics. Why are we all here at Ricochet? Because we want to discuss the meat of the problems that face us.
President Obama’s campaign advocated nothing. Well, what did Governor Romney advocate? The five points were “fuzzy math,” to use a term from 2000. Worse, these five points didn’t find their way into the campaign until late.
If a candidate wants to blow things open, he or she must show substance and conviction. This is why Paul Ryan gets close to 60% of the vote in a Democrat-leaning district.
Was there any effort in Romney’s convention speech to lay out actual solutions? No.
Others will disagree passionately saying specifics give the other side ammunition. If a candidate’s goal is to fool people, then, yes, avoid specifics. If someone wants to lead, it cannot be done without policy solutions. Of course, you have to believe in people to follow this path. Many clearly do not.
I think there are some excellent points being made here. First, Barbara, the analogy of preventive care and public education is an effective one because ultimately the individual needs to put forth effort, and a doctor or a teacher cannot do this for the patient/student.
One of the problems with public schools is that they are viewed as an entitlement where many parents do not feel invested. The obstacle to changing public schools, so parents value their children’s education and/or try to reaffirm study habits and learning at home is what I call the 3 C’s. Many Americans like the Cheapness, Convenience, and the Childcare that public schools provide. I do not know what childcare costs for 7 hours per day for 186+ days, but it is likely more expensive than the local public school. Second, there is public transportation that picks peoples’ children up, and drops them off in their neighborhood. Third, it provides 7 hours of childcare while families can work. Since families do not actively pay any portion of tuition, there is the incorrect perception that it is free, which makes changing the system more difficult, and replacing it by requiring greater involvement.
I love Barbara’s idea of increased opportunities for on the job training, and I would like to see students develop real-world skills on the job whether they are going into business, health care, and jobs like welding, plumbing, etc.
This provides the balance of theory and practicality, and actually provides students with real-world skills that could be utilized by employers.
So, the Murphy Chorus wants social conservatives to vote Republican, but social conservatives must be quiet, won’t have any candidates, and have no representation of any kind.
Hmmm. They want your vote, but offer nothing in return. And they accuse social conservatives of not being “realistic.”
Yes, it’s a mystery why their outreach program to other voters hasn’t worked.
Ok, sorry but I must say it…why should anyone at Ricochet be interested in Mike Murphy’s opinion…this is why I am not on board for a year. I really did not believe we were to swooze with repeated vapidity.
Barbara Kidder: This is not to be, because the teachers’ unions and the Democratic Party have a stranglehold over public education.
Since this is a state by state function rather than a federal function, and there are conservative states (think Texas among others), there is the very real possibility of building a coalition of parents whose interests lie in educating their children, and not supporting the local public school monopoly.
Allow the money to be used to purchase an education at a public, private, parochial, or home school. Parochial should include churches other than the Catholic Church, and should not not be limited to Christians. However with Moslem schools, wahabism is sedition and sedition should not be permitted.
If the money follows the student, public school performance will be upgraded because they’ll have to compete for the dollars, and home, parochial and private schools are getting hugely better results from those kids. No compete, no dollars.