Most Americans understand the mortal threat posed by Modern Liberals-Progressives-Democrats: their unbridled insanity, shameless mendacity, ruthlessness; their visceral ideological loathing of the Constitution, free enterprise and individual liberty; and their relentless effort to "fundamentally transform the United States of America".Conservatives continually point out the folly and perfidy of Liberals: their hypocrisy, terribly failed policies, insidious racial and gender politics, deceit, and their subversive goal to destroy what precious little remains of this constitutional republic.
To blunt the Liberal machine, in a characteristically gentle, civilized, logical and, yes, self-defeating, manner we Conservatives-Republicans have tried to reason with them, to compromise with them, and to carefully explain to the American voters the demonstrative destructiveness of Progressive-Liberal policies--so far, however, with spectacular ineffectiveness.
So what's the answer? How do Conservatives-Republicans put the Democrats on their heels and politically prevail? How do we defeat the Progressive-Alinskyite machine?
Well, it seems it's a careful mix of Machiavelli, George Patton, Madison Avenue, Sun Tzu, commonsense and a heavy dose of some good 'ole American grit and determination!
Today, I read what is, for all practical purposes, a powerful political expose and primer regarding what the Democratic Party and its horribly destructive policies over the years have really been all about and what exactly Conservatives must understand and do in order to prevail at the ballot box. Entitled "Take No Prisoners" by David Horowitz, who has an incomparable insight into how the radical left operates, the following are some especially salient excerpts from his masterfully instructive and timely book. Republican campaigners, take note:
The most important battle in the world today is not being waged in the Middle East but here at home, in the United States.
If you don't come to the arena ready to fight a political war, the Democrats will. And they will win. The passions that motivate them are self-righteousness and hate. They hate conservatives and Republicans, and think they are evil; they are missionaries, and their politics is a religion that provides them with a meaning for their existence.
If forced to fight, then fight to win! In political warfare you do not fight just to prevail in an argument, but to destroy the enemy's fighting ability.
Democrats see history as something to transcend, not as providing a reservoir of experience from which they must learn; dishonesty is fundamental to the progressive cause since the cause is always about an imagined future whose panaceas cannot pass the test of experience.
The Democrats' primary agenda is not to promote practical solutions to complex problems; their only consistent agenda is power, which they hope to use to fundamentally transform America into a guardian state; the goal of each progressive program is the subordination of the private sector to the power of the state.
Hope works, but fear is a stronger and more compelling emotion.
Campaigns are supposed to make the other candidate unlikeable. (Your opponent is never described as a "good man", a "nice guy".)
Republicans target the problems; Democrats target the politics.
[Republicans] need to accept that Democrats are going to practice the politics of personal destruction and attribute to Republicans the sins they themselves have committed. They do it because that's the way they win.
Why are Republicans so reluctant to name the victims of Democrat policies, particularly the victims among America's minorities and working classes?
You must convince people you care about them before they'll care about what you have to say. When you speak, don't forget that sound bite is all you have. Whatever you have to say, make sure to say it loud and clear. Keep it simple and keep it short--a slogan is always better. Repeat it often. Put it on television. In politics, television is reality; images--symbols and sound bites--will always prevail. Focus your message and repeat it over and over again; what you project through images is what you are.
Suggested sound bite for Republicans: "Taxes for bureaucrats out of the pockets of the people."
You must define yourself in ways that people understand. You must give people hope in your victory and make them fear the victory of your opponent.
If Republicans want to persuade minorities they care, they have to stand up for them. They have to defend them. They have to show that Democrats are playing them for suckers, that Democrats are exploiting them, oppressing them, and profiting from their suffering--an easy case to make if there were Republicans willing to make it.
For Republicans to win, it is necessary to compete with Democrats on the caring issues, to reach beyond the partisan core and expand the conservative base.
Politics isn't just about reality. If it were, good principles and good policies would win every time. It's about images and symbols and the emotions they evoke. Using the romance of the underdog against the Democrats is the best way to neutralize their attack.
In political warfare, if only one side is shooting, the other side will soon be dead.
For Democrats, politics is not just about who will run the government. It's about the nature of government itself; Democrats regard politics as a religious war.
To win, it helps if you have good principles and good policies. But having a good image for yourself and attaching a bad image to your opponent is even better. In politics, as in other battles, what is decisive is how you fight. If you are losing, you need to look to yourself for the reason why you are not doing better. (In the long run, the American people will do the right thing.)
Because Conservative expectations are low, they easily become self-fulfilling visions of defeat.
Democrats will not become "reasonable" until the American people understand what they are doing. The only way this will happen is if Republicans make the Democrats' oppression of the poor and minority children the focus of their political attack; the attack must expose the Democrats' hypocrisy, tarring their character in the same way and to the same degree that current Democratic attacks taint conservatives. It must pack the emotional wallop that will neutralize the assault.
Elections are driven by emotions, not reason, and when it comes to mobilizing political emotions, Democrats beat Republicans, hands down. While the Democratic attack appeals to the base emotions of envy, resentment, and fear, Republicans' response to Democrats' attacks is ineffective because it speaks to voters in a language which is abstract, unemotional, and indirect.
Republicans win national elections only when they put national security issues at the center of their campaigns.
When Democrats attack, they speak from the same text, when they march to the polls, they march in lockstep; because Republicans speak with many voices, their message is diluted, hard to hear, and difficult to understand; Republicans do not frame their campaigns as moral crusades and do not mobilize their troops under the banner of a morally uplifting, unifying idea.
It is time [for the Republicans] to connect the struggles for individual freedom at home and the defense of our free society abroad, and to make them one.
To make a strong case for limited government and individual freedom, conservatives need to address the concern that Americans have for the well-being of others. They must speak to Americans' hearts and not just their pocketbooks.
Re Tea Party and the Republican Party: Understanding that conservatives disagree on tactics, not fundamentals, is crucial to keeping the marriage alive. A tactical difference is not grounds for divorce.
Fighting fire with fire means throwing the Democrats' atrocities against black and brown Americans in their faces every time they open their mouths. It means condemning them for destroying the lives of millions of poor black and Hispanic children. It means taking up the cause of the victims and indicting the progressive perpetrators.
I could easily and enthusiastically go on, but I think you can all see how critically important and timely this wonderfully readable and instructive book really is. Obviously, I highly recommend this book to every Republican-Conservative campaigner, consultant and leader who is genuinely determined to achieve electoral success and a restoration of constitutional order in America. I can only hope that Rince Priebus has taken the time to read it and to share its wisdom with fellow Republicans running for office.
To the Conservative-Republican-Tea Party alliance: this is a MUST-READ-NOW book!
