GOP CHANGE?
By Robert K. Wilcox:
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                      Politics count. They run our lives. Since the disastrous last election, I've been trying - certainly as have others - to decipher how Conservatives can win. It’s hard to pinpoint. But here are my thoughts so far. There has to be a way.

1. WE NEED A CHARISMATIC LEADER - We need to get our message out. It is not being communicated to most Americans. The mainstream press is on the other side. Our leaders – bland, inarticulate, and undistinctive – don’t know or believe Conservatism or cannot communicate effectively. Those few who can have enormous opposition.

Therefore our first objective is to find an articulate, charismatic leader who can take the reigns and lead the various groups and individuals in and out the Republican Party, including the Tea Party, that, despite the obstacles, are bringing the fight.

Articulate, believing - This charismatic leader has to be able to voice conservatism with conviction, clarity, and authority. To do this he or she must be a Conservative at heart; actually believe the Conservative philosophy. Conservative ideas will prevail if delivered by a believing Conservative who is articulate and charismatic enough to command attention. Ronald Reagan was that. We must find a new Ronald Reagon or be lost in a sea of lies, obfuscation, and self-serving pretenders.

2. WE HAVE TO CHALLENGE THE LEFT - We have to stand up to Leftist-Democrat lies and criticism. Whoever this new leader is, he or she must continually respond to the falsehoods which permeate political discussion today. Our current political leaders are not doing so. They are reacting and letting the opposition set the terms and field. As a result, great myths are believed, such as: Money is the answer to poverty and crime. Guns cause violence. Big government solves society’s ills. Conservatives know these are falsehoods. They must be met with philosophical answers and historical facts, not the back and forth of day to day political squabble. For instance, instead of debating how much Americans should be taxed, Conservatives should be arguing that taxes stymie the economy and give the historical proof. When liberals want to increase money to cure poverty, Conservatives should argue that it hasn’t worked and cite the Great Society and other programs as proof. Money is not the answer. Personal decision is.

3. HOW TO GET OUR MESSAGE OUT - The mainstream press will not deliver our message. They hate it. They will distort it or not report it. Therefore we need to develop new ways to disseminate it to the public our selves.

a. New media is certainly one way. Many are using it. But the Left is more adapt at this than the Right when utilizing new media on a mass scale; ie, to benefit in elections. We need to put a major effort into communicating through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. We need to do this, starting right now, and leading up to elections; increasing it multi-fold especially as the election nears and on the day of election. The Young need to be enlisted in this. It is their media and they are better versed at it. they can tell us how. Give them more reign.

b. Hollywood - There is a neglected area that the Left owns but which the Right can use too – Hollywood. That’s right, Hollywood, bastion of the Left – and perhaps the greatest shaper of culture, including politics, we know. Vast numbers watch movies and television and make their life decisions based on what they’ve learned at the movies and on television.

I’m a former Hollywood writer. There are untold opportunities for Conservatives if they are enabled. Movies don’t have to literally tell you what to think. The story directs you there without ever saying so. Who was John Stryker in “Sands of Iwo Jima?” He was just a self-reliant marine who believed in hard work, loyalty, tough choices, and the American way. No metro-sexual there. But we all cheered for him and got moist-eyed when he died. That’s how you get your message across. Good story. It bolsters the truth.

Among other Leftest distortions, the Vietnam War has been falsely chronicled. We didn’t lose that war. Politicans running it, and uninformed journalists writing about it did. FDR wasn’t the great president historians, almost entirely from the Left, have made him. He liked Stalin, thought Russian communism admirable, and punished those who didn’t agree. He gave away Eastern Europe thus creating the Cold War and enslaving millions. His administration was riddled with communist agents. The Venona code-breaking operation is now revealing this. Television, if not the movies, can tell this story. But Conservative donors and organizations have to fund such ventures. This is a winning enterprise waiting to be exploited.

There are many Conservatives in Hollywood who could be enlisted to do this. Now they are just loosely organized and kept from doing what they could do wonderfully – make, write and act in movies and TV that reinforce the Conservative truth. Right now these talents are largely in the shadows, on the periphery, in small groups, or have declared their politics and consequently have had to go to other venues to make do. The Conservative Movement should utilize this asset. There are so many stories that reinforce Conservative values that could be made if this were done. Youth today are hungry for what works and what is being purged from our society – our history founded on freedom and self-reliance and belief in God and country. We need to develop a strong, thriving Hollywood arm that will do this. We might even get another Reagan out of it.

c. Ads – So many in our society are not tuned in. They don’t know the issues and seldom see why they should. Commerical ads are an effective way to reach these people. Commercials are short and to the point. They should speak to the fundamental issues – spending out of control, taxes as a hamper on productivity, the loss of God and family in our society, two aspects closely related. They should not preach, just give a strong impression. Remember the Democrat commercial against Goldwater: the little girl picking flowers with an atomic mushroom cloud igniting behind her. Powerful. We should do that too. Lines of the unemployed juxtaposed with the Keystone Pipeline and the 100,000 jobs it could provide; a picture of a ghetto with its grime and crime, side by side to a loving family helping a child with homework. The lack of family is at the root of so much of what is wrong. Leftist ideas like the Great Society and diminution of God broke that family down. But those not tuned in don’t know it or aren’t aware of it. Their education has been corrupted.

4. EDUCATION MUST BE CHANGED: Since the 1960s, public education has been taken over by the Left. It has got to change if Conservatism is to be given a chance. Right now the emphasis is on America the Bad, diversity as cure-all, anti-religion, especially Christianity - but, of course, to the exclusion of Islam, ridiculously absolved of its terror wing. So much being taught is simply political correctness. It is crazy. From federal to local programs, the emphasis is negative, not positive, indoctrination of Leftist principals, not fundamentals like reading, writing, critical thought, history and math. A great movement to change this must be instituted by Conservatives. It starts at the local level. Conservatives must make this part of their message. Change the local school. Get it on the right track. Get rid of special privileges for some. Make achievement the yardstick and basis for reward – not race, gender, sexual orientation or perceived past injustice. Combat the idea that money is the answer to better education. Family is the answer. It’s easy to prove. A caring family equals a good student in almost all cases. It’s as simple as that. And family comes from values and love – not the government and the Great Society or a village, as Hillary Clinton wrote. Those ideas have failed.

That’s it. Not much, but a start. Perhaps you can improve?