Politics COMMENTARY Conservative Path to Victory


Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot,


says Republicans must change tactics.


A


merica is in a state of decline, if not chaos, follow- ing disappointing results for conservatives in three


straight elections and too many years of organized turmoil in our streets, schools, government institutions, and elsewhere. Reversing this requires fundamen-


tal changes in conservatives’ political and philanthropic strategies. Change at the margins is not enough


— not with infl ation at 50-year highs; rampant crime in our streets; military preparedness and our children’s educa- tion compromised at the altar of woke- ness; social experimentation occur- ring in our schools without parental knowledge; protection of our southern border having collapsed; government and large corporations coordinating censorship of certain viewpoints; and weaponization of the Department of Justice and FBI. Against this backdrop, it is stunning


that Republicans were unable to win a majority in the Senate and only able to win a slim majority in the House in last year’s midterms. This must serve as a wake-up call to conservative donors that we need to do things diff erently going forward. Fortunately, a growing number of conservative donors now realize this and are asking the appropriate ques- tions: “Where did Republicans fall short in the midterms?”; “Are there more eff ective strategies than those we now use?”; and “Are there more eff ec- tive consultants and organizations than those we currently fund?” Republicans fell short in last year’s


34 NEWSMAX | AUGUST 2023


midterms because Democrats had four distinct advantages. The eff ectiveness of Democrats’ absentee-ballot, ballot-harvesting, and early-voting programs. The tone-deaf messages of Repub- lican candidates and information operations about the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Young voters continuing to vote over- whelmingly Democrat. Suburban women not voting Repub- lican in the same numbers as they did in 2016.


Democrats fully fund and work continuously on the mechanics of elections — absentee-ballot, early-voting, vote- by-mail, and ballot- harvesting programs — to tilt elections in their favor.


Democrats gained these advantag-


es through 24-month integrated strat- egies between elections while conser- vatives pursued disparate, often inef- fective tactics and then backloaded our spending to the 90-day run-up to elections.


Democrats fully fund and work con-


tinuously on the mechanics of elec- tions — absentee-ballot, early-voting, vote-by-mail, and ballot-harvesting programs — to tilt elections in their favor.


Conservatives must compete more


eff ectively on election mechanics. Through their control of the levers of power in education, the media, and


entertainment, Democrats also work continuously on the “long game” by developing the narratives they believe will transform America’s culture and shape election outcomes. George Soros and others like him


have spent staggering sums over the past 20 years validating their belief about the impact of narratives and funded a “liberal ecosystem” for this purpose. The results speak for them- selves.


Conservatives must compete more


eff ectively in the long game and also compete more eff ectively for the hearts and minds of the “magic middle” — swing voters who decide elections. Reaching and persuading swing vot-


ers requires diff erent messengers, mes- sages, and message amplifi cation than those conservatives currently employ. In the context of charter schools,


for example, the most infl uential mes- sengers are the parents and children who have lost out in school lotteries because of Democrat policies limiting the number of charter schools. This strategy borrows a page from progressives’ playbook about actual victims of bad government policy tell- ing their stories. Most eff ective are the stories told by these children and their parents that tug at the heartstrings of the target audiences. Broader message amplification


requires reaching the magic middle where they live, and they do not live on conservative talk radio or television. The conservative ecosystem was devel- oped for this purpose. My hope is that this will start a


broader conversation about the fun- damental changes that must be made to preserve our freedoms and ensure prosperity for future generations. We owe this to our children and grand- children.


This article first appeared on RealClearPolitics.


MARCUS/RICK DIAMOND/WIREIMAGE


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