Ask people what’s bugging them, what their concerns are, and LISTEN.
Another factor is other Republicans. Mike Pompeo, looking trim, showed up. Governor Ron DeSantis made a spectacular speech – he got a standing O – that owed a lot to the Trump style. It was all about promises made, promised kept. The secret of Trump is not funny nicknames for political enemies. It’s about identifying issues that the voters care about but that the establishment wants to ignore, then promising to fix them and keeping those promises. DeSantis did that – he laid out the concerns that get our blood pumping but that our betters decree we cannot speak of, like CRT, crime and illegal aliens, and then told us how he fixed them in Florida. He is a star and will be president someday.
-Kurt Schlicter on CPAC 2022
Full-fledged listening – no flinching, no looking around, no blank stares – ACTIVE listening because consistency breeds Trust yields Votes:
Write that down. Stare at it. Absorb it. Think about it.
What’s important, what’s duplicative, and yes, what’s chaff. Prioritize them. Then sit back and think about them some more.
- WHY is there a problem?
- HOW did those involved (or worse, deciding to NOT be involved) create the problem?
- WHAT is the essence of the problem?
- WHO needs the “knuckle knocking” to get it fixed?
- FORMULATE a solution to the problem. Plan A, Plan B, Plan C?
- PLAN your speeches for them (30-second “elevator” snippet, 2-minute quickie, 5-minute “meet & greet”, 15-minute “event” slot)
- PRACTICE, practice, and more practice!
- TELL people. Get feedback and incorporate it back in.
- MAKE those Problems/Solutions into PROMISES. Review them often.
Then that old “Pastor” lesson: Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you just told them.
Then KEEP THOSE PROMISES.
And then, and most importantly, check them off and let the people you’ve talked to that they can check them off as well.
Consistency breeds Trust yields Votes.
Holding yourself accountable to your Promises will keep you Consistent. And, if you let up, so will your constituents.
I had a Congressional candidate, years ago, promise that they would never vote for a budget increase nor the national debt. That person got to DC and went swampy thinking that we’d never find or figure it out. We did – that promise to us was broken. The Swamp co-opted that CongressCritter.
For over a year and a half, I constantly reminded GraniteGrok Readers of that promise – and that it had been deliberately ignored and broken. That CongressCritter wasn’t a CongressCritter after the next election. This was a case where Trust had been broken; I wasn’t going to stand for it.
Sure, a Democrat took over. However, contra that “Republican’s Republican for the sake of the Republican Party” mantra that all Republicans are better than any Democrat” is merely a talking point to service their Agenda. I’m only a nominal Republican – but a STRONG Conservatarian that believes you keep your Promises. If Trust is busted and Promises are broken, WHY should I vote for that candidate again?
I didn’t – nor did a lot of others. I don’t think he figured it out until quite sometime later but by then it was too late. He changed sides and got nailed for doing so.
I was at a house party for another candidate yesterday afternoon. I recounted this story after the Candidate promised that they’d never vote to raise the national debt.
Eyes widened a bit. I think the message was received. Least I hope so.
