From six years ago this month:
If anyone wants to argue with me and tell me that Republicans and conservatives are already in the information war — they are going to have an uphill climb.
Those who get their news and information from the right places know the country is in trouble in every area due to the advance of nutty liberalism. The party that pushes that failed ideology is the Democratic Party. Despite liberalism’s failures, a recent Rasmussen “Generic Congressional Ballot” poll showed that Americans would choose a Democrat over a Republican 41-37.
This from the Rasmussen report:
Democrats hold a four-point lead over Republicans for the second week in a row on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending Sunday, February 23, finds that 41% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Democrat in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today. Thirty-seven percent (37%) would choose the Republican instead.
Few people in politics are thinking at the level they need to. We have enough high, lofty theories to work with. What is needed is more low level thinking — way down at the street level, in the neighborhoods. Yes, that’s right — at the grassroots.
How often have you ever heard a conversation discussing the following?:
- Effective and far-reaching ways to get information to people in a manner that bypasses the media.
- What the best political campaigns actually do to reach voters in a way that wins converts.
- What it is that the tea partiers actually do, or don’t do — and should do.
It is a safe bet those are rare topics. What results is that on a weekly basis many Republicans and conservatives express despair — or give up altogether. That is understandable on a number of levels.
First, they still are not seeing the kind of leadership we are going to need to turn the country around. Second, they don’t know how they can practically make a difference. Third, when they do participate, the activities lead to incredible frustration — often because the activity is so limited — often because of the low caliber of the people they encounter inside the Republican Party.
Everything is going to be frustrating until our side gets serious about entering the national information war. Our researches and thinkers and commentators produce the kind of ammo that should bring victory — unfortunately that ammo isn’t used in anything but a micro capacity. Too often those with a sizable audience mostly just reach the choir.
Meanwhile, the uninformed and misinformed continue on their merry way, answering poll takers like the low information voters they are. Hey, none of this is fun to read or write, but as I recently read on a sign outside a church, “If the truth hurts, that means it’s working.”
Our side can learn mass communications, but it will require creativity, innovation, and the activity of a lot of people at the state and local level. We cannot wait for National Review, the Heritage Foundation, or even our elected officials to figure out that we are not reaching enough people. Leadership will have to come from lower levels. From the streets. From the neighborhoods. Those efforts will also require leadership. But I repeat myself.
More to follow next time.
First published February 26, 2014.
Image credit: BarbWire.com.
