FIRST THE HEART, THEN THE HEAD

The left has perfected methods of emotional voter manipulation that have secured constituency majorities among young people, single women and minorities. It’s an art form conservatives should scrutinize carefully. They employ these techniques so successfully that tens of millions of people support Democrats based on emotional attachments despite more than fifty years of failed policy. Our inner cities have floundered under left-wing leadership, yet the Democrats continue to garner a disproportionate percentage of support among residents.

College tuition skyrockets in tandem with mounting student debt yet young people lean left.

Red states prosper. Blue states drift in direction of bankruptcy. Poor people overwhelming support proponents of the failed model.

Conservative (GOP) frustrations in this area will continue until enough conservatives learn how to communicate in an emotionally appealing fashion to a broader spectrum of those who view conservatives as mean, greedy and bigoted. First connect with the heart and then appeal to the head. What follows is a small sample of how I believe conservatives can begin to connect on the issues of poverty, education and jobs. Similar carefully drafted speeches can be useful in the areas of immigration, national security and income inequality. The key is speaking in ways that inure an emotional connection.

‘I stand before you appalled at the conditions your children are forced to endure. This should never occur in the wealthiest nation on earth. I weep for each and every child who is not given his or her shot at the American Dream. That is why I stand shoulder to shoulder with you on the issue of school choice. I will do everything within my power to encourage local and state officials to get on board with the only effective method for true school reform, vouchers. We will work together to give the citizen’s a vote on a referendum to implement this reform. I will march on the state house, hand in hand with all of you. We will demand that every child, rich and poor be given a state certificate of equal value that can be used to apply for admission to any school in the state. Overnight we can transform an antiquated failed system saturated with inequities into a competitive pool of reform and progress leading to equality of opportunity. Are you with me?

I look around this neighborhood with great sadness. Thousands of God-fearing families are plagued with inferior schools, drug thugs and massive unemployment. For more than fifty years you have been promised a promise-land that never seems to materialize. Give me the opportunity to employ the methods that have taken more people out of poverty and created more prosperity then any in human history. Not handouts but a hand up. Not welfare but a job. Not food stamps but a pay check.

I will work with business and government to create empowerment zones. I need your help. As the most likely to be victimized by crime, you need to work with law enforcement to protect our children. Without a modicum of safety, jobs will not come here. Every bad cop and every criminal needs to pay the price. But as you know, the morgue is filled with far more victims of young thugs then rogue cops.

It’s not about right or left, black or white, blue or red. It’s about what works. After half a century, it’s time for a change. I will bring real change. Effective compassionate free market change not rhetorical change that in reality is a rehash of graying failed policies. With record numbers of people on food stamps, poverty at hideous levels, the lowest labor participation rate in thirty-five years, more business failures then start-ups and community divisions as deep as any in my lifetime, real change is long overdue.

A robust safety net targeting the needy, based on job training and incentives is the sensible responsibility of our great nation. But it should never be an excuse for able-bodied people to languish on the crumbs handed out by a debt ridden mismanaged government. Government does not create jobs. It plays a role in fostering the conditions necessary for business to thrive and create economic growth, which is the only source of jobs.

Expanding economic opportunity in tandem with real voucher education reform, low taxes and only necessary regulation fosters colorblind prosperity. Join with me on this journey back to the American Dream for all who are willing to participate in the renewal of the greatest experiment in human history.’

My dear conservative friends, communicating in the above manner is much more likely to lead to a conservative victory then rhetoric punctuated with threats to deport 11 million people or endlessly lamenting all the reasons you have for a deep and appropriate distaste for what this President has done to America.

Only after we open hearts to our brand will we have the opportunity to convince people of the efficacy of our solutions.