Re-selling the American Dream

After the dust has settled on the 2012 election, Republicans, establishment types, Tea Partiers and the like, need to take a long hard look at our electoral failures. There are those that will blame the Romney campaign, those who will blame superPACs, and those who will blame Hurricane Sandy. But the real lesson of the 2012 election is simple: our movement needs to re-sell the American dream to an important part of our citizenry.

The left has profited from balkanizing America, their movement has always targeted one group over another: Hispanics, gays, African Americans, or women. The left has sold itself as having exclusive province over “special” interests while demonizing the right as their source of oppression and misfortune.  In many ways, we have ceded this authority to them, and nowhere was that more apparent the pathetic showing in this election.

Obama won more Hispanic votes than he did in 2008, and Asians voted even more Democrat than Hispanics. Obama won a higher percentage of African Americans in 2012 than he did in 2008. And yet, unemployment is higher among many of these communities than when Obama took office. They have suffered under a Democrat administration at a higher rate than average. These Americans have also had their hard earned money taken away and given to government sponsored, politically correct businesses like Solyndra or General Motors.

We cannot hope that the American Dream of hard work, ingenuity and success will reach these communities through the thick and twisted filter of the media. This message will not be effective in the form of a $500K advertising buy. Our mission requires direct outreach and coalition building. This does not mean we go out into the world and preach “compromise” or pander with free phones, tanks of gas, open borders or affirmative action. These promises are all based on Democrat race-based stereotypes.

Instead, we teach about free-markets, exceptionalism, hard work and the rewards of innovation because these principles reward all Americans, these principles reward these communities too. But we need people on the ground to reach out and counter the bill of goods the left has been selling and we need it now. 

Let’s go in to communities, introduce our candidates, have talks about our ideas, our policies and plans. The Republican Jewish Coalition is very organized, they have active, engaged chapters across the country. Jewish support for Obama was down 10% from 2008. We need the same in Asian, Hispanic, gay and other communities to set the record straight.

The right will not win the next election by watering down our beliefs, we will win by standing strong and shouting them directly far and wide.  If the Democrats can re-image themselves from the party of Jim Crow and the KKK into the champion of minorities and the oppressed, then Republicans can fight back against the narrative preached by the left. The time is now. Midterm elections are only two years away.

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