As I said in part I, “When policies are at the forefront of an election, we win big.” I mentioned the huge win nationwide in 2010 but did not specifically mention our big wins here in NH. I suspect we all remember winning the House 298-102 and the Senate 19-5.
We may never again see such a huge landslide.
As one of the winning Reps, I can say that it was only because I had an R after my name, not because I had great name recognition or a long history of service to the town. That is what can happen when policy drives an election – not just an election but all elections statewide and even nationwide.
We want to thank Spec Bowers for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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This year, let’s try to make the elections at all levels more about policy and less about personality.
Conventional wisdom says that it is difficult to persuade voters to make their decisions on the basis of policy, but the rewards are worth the effort:
- We get bigger wins, which can give us a mandate to pass our agenda.
- There is great synergy among our candidates when they all contrast Republican policies vs Democrat policies rather than person Fred vs. person Sue, etc.
- Because we don’t need to know the names of the Democrat opponents, only their policies (which we know will be practically the same), we can campaign against them from the beginning instead of waiting for the September primary.
- We may finally defeat the Congress critters who have great name ID, but vote for terrible policies.
- The message accumulates from year to year. If each year we get just a few more voters to choose on the basis of policy, that will add up to large numbers.
- Everyone, not just candidates or activists, can help spread the message to vote for policies, not personalities. They don’t have to know the policies or the candidates to spread that idea.
This year it will be easier than usual to persuade voters that policy matters much more than personality. That is because millions of people have learned on their own that, no matter what they thought of Trump or Biden as persons, Trump’s policies made their lives better, Biden’s policies have made their lives worse.
Polls have shown that many blocs that voted strongly for Biden in 2020, have moved toward Trump. They include blacks, Latinos, young people, etc. The economy, inflation, immigration, and crime are policies that have moved voters.
One story I particularly like is about a “Long-time Dem billionaire does an about-face on Trump, admits the left has been blinded by TDS.”
“Silicon Valley venture capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, admits that he now “appreciates” what former President Donald Trump was able to accomplish during his time in the White House.
“The work on the border wall, we didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. Turned out it was right,” Palihapitiya noted. “Issuing long-term debt to refinance when rates were at zero. We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. A structural peace deal in the Middle East. We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. When are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot? When are we going to actually take the time to look past who was saying things and actually listen to them word for word?”
Let’s spread the word. Let’s encourage everyone to vote for policy, not personality. Elections should not be popularity contests, nor should they be rewards for past service to a community. The job of a representative is to vote. The most important question ought to be how well they will do that job – not their personalities. The best way to determine how they will vote is to compare and contrast the candidates’ policies and vote for the one with the better policies.
