Winning Back the Country

There is a chance for the Republican Party to win back the country in the upcoming mid-term elections and the 2016 Presidential election.  A Gallup poll released in January 2014, showed that 42% of Americans identify themselves as Independents, 31% as Democrats and 25% as Republicans.  (http://www.gallup.com/video/166814/americans-likely-identify-independents-democrats-republicans.aspx)

According to those numbers, 42% of the voting public can be swayed to go either way; this is the break the GOP and the Libertarian parties need. However, they must tread lightly and ruin this opportunity. 

In order to get the Republican Party back in control, or even get the Libertarian Party off the ground, a few things need to happen.  These same items need to be applied to both parties:

• Figure out the core principles the party stands for and then stand behind those principles as a united front.

• Stop making grand statements and trying to make too great of a change.  People do not like change. While wanting to make big changes is a noble goal, it is not going to happen.  Instead of wasting time, energy, and money on these “big” things, why not slow down and start with smaller changes.  Many strong tea party supporters want to impeach Obama; that will not happen so why is it still being brought up?  Change must start small, and generally there needs to be someone already in office who can help lobby for change.  Here’s a message for the extreme/radical libertarians out there:  Just because one might get elected does not mean the IRS or the FED will go away right away.  That will take years, if not decades, to complete. 

• There is no way possible for this country’s tax system to be overhauled in a year, or even 4.  No one is going to have the ability to immediately to drop the tax rate to 10% for everyone as soon as they get into office. Since this is the case why then, are people still campaigning on this idea trying instill false hope in the American people? 

Guidelines for winning:

 Receiving the minority vote is a requirement

The GOP will never win over the extremist minorities who believe that the GOP is evil. You cannot change their minds, so focus on the moderate minorities, the ones who can be swayed in a certain direction, especially the higher income minorities.  Minority conservatives need to make their voice heard.  People in general want to feel like they have something in common with other people.  If conservative minorities come out, more people will feel like they can relate with them, which increases the chance of winning more of the vote.

Drop the extreme and radical ideology

The parties need middle of the road conservatives.  Being liberal socially on the ideas of gay marriage, and immigration, yet remaining conservative when it comes to welfare reform, spending on extraneous government programs that haven’t proven to help, and tax reform, will engender a strong middle ground.

Must be able to talk to the millennial’s and receive the young vote

The question is, how does a party that’s known for being “old” obtain votes from the “young”?  The GOP and Libertarian parties could focus on being “cool and hip” like the 2008 Obama campaign was, but that is almost placating to them. 

I would suggest the following in addition to the previous things mentioned; these are almost required in order to attract the attention of youth:

•  You must talk on their level but not down to them.  Many in the GOP, when they talk, have a condescending tone.  Now, while it is true most Americans are not acutely aware of the inner workings of politics, you must find a way to discuss your points without making your audience feel like they are 12.

• Make politics interesting.  Sadly, most high school kids are not exposed to politics as often as they should be.  Start using younger people within the GOP to hold press conferences.  By doing this, you will be putting a younger face to the party and showing college age kids that they actually do have something in common with politics and that it is not just a bunch of old people. 

Republicans already have the older vote, and for the most part the older people in country are not going to change their voting styles because they are set in their ways.  Stop wasting so much energy with the AARP and other senior organizations, and start focusing on the other demographics, such as 18-29 year olds and the minorities. 

Want a Libertarian in Office?

Before the general public will take the Libertarian Party seriously, it will require a politician that is running as a Republican or Democrat, but has many libertarian views to win.  It appears that many local Libertarians are against that, and do not want to back away from what could almost be considered extreme ideology of the Libertarian party.  It’s a “Fresh New Party” trying to elicit change throughout the political process.  Remember what happened the last time the country wanted “Change”?  We got Obama. The tactics the Libertarians running for office use, that I have seen, are truly no different than the tactics that Obama used when he ran for office.  While the libertarian party has been around since 1978, the majority of Americans have not even hear of it.  While Rand Paul has done a good job of bringing up the word in many of his speeches, America doesn’t believe that the party can truly win, and therefore will continue to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. 

In my opinion, the number one item on the libertarian agenda should be to focus heavily on the swing states.  Building the libertarian party in California is great, but California is not an immediate need, and lets face, it will never go to any other color than blue.  Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia, these are the states that will do the greatest good in building the movement.