With Mitt Romney becoming the presumptive Republican nominee it is time to turn our attention away from the Goat Rodeo that was the GOP nominating process and get down to the work of making sure that “Vulture Capital Ken” is not actually elected president.
Even if you don’t participate in the actual campaign, any Democrat, Liberal or Progressive has a role to play in assuring that the wrecking crew of the Republican Party does not once again gain the highest office in the land. To this end, I thought that I’d provide some talking points that can be used to put the cat amongst the pigeons for anyone who is leaning toward Gov. Romney.
We have heard from Mitt’s open mike moment that he is going to be intentionally vague about his exact policies during the general election. This makes perfect sense, politically. Having a bat-shit insane base to keep on-board but also needing to gain some a large number of independent votes he is between a rock and a hard place.
By using the Nixonian “secret plan” play book the erstwhile governor hopes to confuse the middle and give them the impression that he really is not as conservative as he has been sounding over the winter and into the spring. It might even work, but that assumes we just let him get away with it.
I can’t speak for you all, but personally I think we should make him pay for this, and pay hard. Here’s how.
One of the things that has been defined about Romney is that he is a flag that blows in every wind. When he was running for Governor and Senator in Massachusetts he supported gun control, including a signing a permanent assault weapons ban into law. Now he is parading around the NRA claiming to be the last best hope for gun rights.
This mirrors his position on reproductive rights, and, of course, on universal health care with an individual mandate. He has changed his position on just about every issue, and it is all in the public record.
Now come the talking points; when talking with someone who is espousing voting for Romney, the goal is not to win an argument, you won’t no matter what you do. The real goal is to sow doubt that will grow and fester over time and that is where you can really shine.
Set up the mark (er, opposition voter) by asking what it is they think Romney will do that will be better than the president. Listen to them and wait for a couple of the flip flop areas to fall out (they will, you won’t have to wait long). Then ask how they know that he’ll do what he says and point out that previously he has said exactly the opposite.
You will probably get some push back, but don’t sweat it, just stay really calm and mostly disinterested. The goal here is not to turn this into instant tribal push and pull, but to undermine the other persons belief in their candidate.
Divert them by pointing out that elections don’t just throw someone out, they are guaranteed to put someone in office, and shouldn’t that be the most important thing? After all many of the positions that Romney previously held are ones that are not that far from what President Obama holds and has acted on.
Don’t go for the kill, don’t try to convince them not to vote for Romney, it is too obvious and it can easily backfire. Remember that the goal here is to lead the horse to water, he or she will have to decide to drink all on their own, and when they do, that is where the win in this fight is.
The final point to make Romney pay both with his base and the independents that he will be courting with this intentionally vague strategy is to ask them what issues they are sure he will act or not act on. This is where being vague and a known serial flip-flopper will really hurt the GOP nominee.
Tell them to go to his website, to look on the news and, for their own peace of mind be sure that he will act the way that they think. Then leave it alone to fester.
Done correctly, without a lot of histrionics and invective (at least from your side) this will plant the seed of doubt that will have a nice long time to germinate and be confirmed again and again as Mitt bumbles along in his plastic and unlikeable way. By election day it could mean the difference between someone voting for him, or even staying home all together.
Now, I know this is pretty high concept; it is most definitely a bread-on-the-waters strategy in that we can never measure the effectiveness of it. However, politics is an ‘everything, all the time’ occupation.
It is not enough to just fire up our base and argue who is the best candidate; part of winning is demoralizing the opposition, making a vote for their candidate feel like a bad choice no matter who our candidate is.
This is often done with lies and dirty tricks, but given the weak and weak-willed candidate that the Republicans have chosen this cycle we can do it with the truth, just keep plugging away at the meme that Republicans themselves have voiced, namely that there is no way to be sure that Mitt Romney is a reliable conservative.
So there you have it Kossacks, the first of the occactional series offering do-it-yourself political messaging. I’ll have more from the Playbook as they come up, but remember that the general election has already started and it is in the early days that we set up the victory in November.
The floor is yours.