Posted 7:47 PM by steve

If the Republicans want to score points against Obama's budget and the rest of his planned programs, they need to tailor their arguments to the people whose votes they need this fall and in 2012... and in order to do that, they must realize that the issues that appeal to doctrinaire conservatives are NOT the issues that will appeal to people who are not doctrinaire conservatives.

The people I call the mushy middle are supporting Obama, not because they have sat down and analyzed his programs and rationally concluded that they stand to gain, but rather because they haven't heard anything that makes them think that they will suffer as a result.

And the reason they haven't heard anything like that is because the GOP is wasting what little air time they have complaining about things these people don't care about.

They do not care about the budget deficit, nor do they care about the federal debt. They do not care whether Obama is expanding federal power to unprecedented levels. They do not care whether Obama runs roughshod over the sanctity of contracts when he seeks to punish financial executives who received bonuses. They do not care whether Obama has dropped the moniker 'Global War on Terror' in favor of something else. They do not care about cap and trade. They do not care about tax hikes on the 'wealthy'. They do not care if Obama appoints bleeding heart liberals as judges. And they do not care if Obama is 'keeping score' of who in Congress opposes him.

These people care about only one thing: whether their lives will be better or worse in the future compared to how they feel today... and they measure this by whether they feel more secure at work and at home, whether they have more money in their 401(k), whether they have more toys at home, whether they feel they're only being asked to pay their fair share and not being expected to carry someone else, and for some reason I can't quite understand, whether people in other countries like us or not.

The GOP needs to paint Obama's policies as being harmful to the mushy middle and in terms the mushy middle can understand. The GOP needs to hit these people with a constant drumbeat that Obama's policies are going to make them less safe at home, less safe at work and leave them with less money in their pocket.

Complaining that Obama's budget saddles us with trillions of dollars of debt isn't going to resonate with people who figure they're not going to be the ones paying the debt (and, given how long the debt card has been played, there's a fair degree of public numbness on this). Complaining about Obama going after Wall Street executives isn't going to score points with people who don't work on Wall Street and don't make enough money that they ever figure Obama would be coming after them. Complaining about pork in the budget doesn't score with people who rightfully figure that eliminating every dollar of pork isn't going to improve their lives one bit.

If the GOP wants to ever regain power, they need to make people think that Obama is going to hurt them. They have to be willing to ignore the media which will jump to criticize GOP partisanship and fear-mongering. They have to be willing to not listen to the hard right when they complain that 'their' issues aren't being given priority. They need to stop trying to score debating points with Washington insiders and instead start scoring points with the people who have the votes the GOP so desperately need.