What Republicans have been doing most recently is TELLING but not SELLING. They built a decades-long platform on small government and forcing government to live within its means. That platform disintegrated, in many people’s view, with the financial rescue bill spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Additionally, over the years, President Bush and the Republican Congress continued to allow billions to be poured down the black hole of the Department of Education, Medicare Part D, the arts, and on and on. John McCain had a funny stump line which would have been funnier had he not repeated it at every blessed campaign stop: he recalled how the federal government has sponsored $3 million worth of research on the DNA of bears in Montana. No wonder Americans voters were disgusted with the Republican party.

Ironically, Democrats ALSO tell, but they SELL in increments to keep the customers coming back again and again, as well as ADDING customers as they did in this election. They have mastered the art of serving numerous opposing constituencies. Democrats feel the ends justify the means – say what you need to say to whoever needs to hear it for the purpose of hoarding more power. As a puzzling example, they seem to effortlessly balance the demands of whacko environmentalists (who don’t want any of us to drive anything) with the unions who control the auto industry (which manufactures said fossil fuel burners by the millions). Ironically, Barack Obama openly opposes gay marriage but has Hollywood gay-rights activists in his hip pocket. Obama also got a large share of the supposedly pro-life Catholic vote by speaking of a (contrived) desire to reduce the number of abortions while proclaiming that his first act as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) (http://www.FightFOCA.com). Essentially, they dangle the carrot by giving each constituency a little bit of what they want now to keep those groups coming back for more in future elections.

A local radio talk show host recalled the other day the silly charts and graphs H. Ross Perot used to educate the electorate. But Perot really had hit on something – Americans really are in the dark about how percentages, statistics, and huge numbers trickle down and affect them. Barack Obama struck a chord with his simple “tax cuts for 95% of Americans” mantra.  I would have cheered to see John McCain whip out a white board and SHOW how Barack Obama’s tax increases break out to monthly paychecks.  Even if Obama does not raise taxes on the top 5% during this downturn, he is still going to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, which will affect EVERY tax-paying family. If McCain would have broken out a marker and an easel to show that $2500 tax increase will mean that $200 will evaporate from each paycheck, people might have GOTTEN the conservative argument (but alas, we still would have lost, I’m afraid…). What does that $200 buy every month? A few dinners out? The electric bill? Car repairs? That’s how you bring the lofty, abstract policies and asinine sound bites down to ground level. That’s how you sell it.

As we regroup over the next two to four years, Republicans should take a page from our opponents and learn NOT how to be disingenuous or double-talking, but to explicitly spell out HOW our policies empower our “customers” in their every day lives. Then we need to DO IT.