The Occasional Observer

Trying to pick up the pieces, there is a thread at Race 4 2012 discussing what's next, likely '16 candidates for the GOP, and how the GOP needs to position itself.   This was one of the better observations I read:

People are taking the wrong lessons away from this. It is not about issues. It is not about being more vicious in campaigns (though that may be an effective tool is used correctly). It is about empathy, stupid.

Look back at every Presidential race. 9/10 (or more) the candidate that is perceived as more empathetic wins the race. You can’t get a better predictor than that. That is the goal … be more empathetic than the other guy. Make your policies so that they appear better for the middle class than the other guy’s. If that takes character assassination (as it did in this race), you might need to do it. If it takes lofty rhetoric of “hope and change,” do it.

The problem is not the tactics, it is the positioning. You can be more qualified than the other candidate, and you can still lose. The other candidate can be incompetent and inexperienced, and you will still lose. The key is empathy.

Romney (yes he deserves blame) and his campaign made a terrible mistake by not responding to Obama’s character assassination, and the 47% video (while taken out of context and a complete freak accident) was a death knell for Romney.

We must get our heads in the game and focus everything we say and do on convincing people that we care about them as people (because we do). That doesn’t mean we give them handouts or engage in liberal policies. But we must change our tone and rhetoric.