A live-stream segment (Nov 6, 2014) by TJ Walker analyzing the Republican Party's electoral gains in the 2014 midterms and the ensuing communications challenge for 2016. Walker describes unexpected wins (governorships, state legislatures, Senate gains), characterizes 2014 GOP messaging as primarily negative toward President Obama, and poses the core question: what will the Republican Party stand for in 2016? He frames this as a rare strategic opportunity to define the party while in control of many state governments and Congress.
Chapters
It's the communication challenge of a generation. What will the Republican Party stand for in 2016, Folks? It was an epic victory for the.
Republican Party two nights ago.
The Republicans won not just the Senate, which was widely expected, but they won a whole slew of governor's mansions that were not expected, especially hardcore Democratic bastions like the state of Maryland. They also took over numerous state legislatures. And that's sort of the unglamorous part of American politics that's incredibly powerful and influential state legislatures. The Democrats now control fewer chambers or both chambers of states than at any point since the Civil War. So this was a massive, massive loss for Democratic Party. Now here's the big communications challenge as I see it. Republicans, and this is not in any way meant to be a criticism. I'm just focusing on the communication strategy of it. Republicans ran primarily on the message of Obama is awful. Whatever Obama does is awful. Whatever he says is wrong.
And that worked.
It resonated certainly at congressional districts around the country, Senate seats all over the country. It worked. And it seems to have worked at the state level, too. So, hey, it's the job of political strategists and candidates to do what works in elections. But Obama's not on the ballot in 2016, and the Republicans do have a lot of time between now and then to redefine their party. Because the last time the American public really looked at the Republican Party in 2012, what really defined the party was Mitt Romney and the sense that he.
Was really out to cater to the.
Wealthy, that he stood for tax cuts, pandering to the religious right, and trying to make white, conservative Christian heterosexuals feel comfortable. That was the message that really defined the Republican Party in 2012, which is why Barack Obama won not just big, but he won an electoral landslide. What will the Republican Party stand for in 2016? Now they have a huge opportunity because they are actually running states and they're actually running the United States Congress. So good stuff that happens, they're going.
To get credit for.
But if nothing happens, they're going to get the blame for that, too. So it's a huge, huge communications opportunity and messaging opportunity for a party that certainly I haven't seen this opportunity for anyone in a generation to have this much power in one party and it be different from what it was before.
So that's the opportunity.
What do you think the Republican Party will try to do? What messages will they stand for? It's going to be interesting. I can't wait. Post your comments here. I'd like to hear your opinions on this, too.
