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Colorado Conservatives: Are You Falling For Ground Game Fever?          By Andy Peth

1/27/2019

6 Comments

 
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Do you have Ground Game Fever?
 
Many Colorado Conservatives have seen the Ground Game presentations—you know, the ones laying out how Democrats used well-funded ground games with multi-targeting and several-step touching of new voters in Colorado.  These all have something great and something bad: 
 
The “great” is how they recommend needed shifts in our ground game strategy, moving monies from less effective measures to more aggressively connecting with voters.  I agree with these.  Strongly.
 
The “bad” is how they completely neglect the context that made such measures succeed for Colorado Democrats.  Basically, these Ground Game preachers say, “If we just do what Democrats did, the market will embrace us as it did them.”  That, my friends, is preposterous—and dangerously naïve.
 
In truth, the Colorado market was wholly primed to accept the Democrat message.  Flooded with massive population shifts, our state exploded over the past couple decades with new voters—young, minority, or transplants from liberal states—ready to embrace leftist dogma.  Never have fields been more ripe for Democrat harvest.
 
So when well-funded Democrat groups approached these hordes with aggressive voter registration and targeted sales pitches at doorways, they were selling to a market primed to embrace them.  Seeing perfect expansion territory in Colorado, Democrats seized it. 
 
Here’s what they saw:  All the expanding voter demographics in Colorado had one thing in common--they were bathed in leftist dogma 24/7.  Think about it.  Young voters, single women voters, suburban women voters, minority voters—all these were preached one-sided messages from the moment they woke up to the moment their heads hit the pillow. 
 
They heard it through the Big 3: Academia, Media (especially sports media, by the way), and all forms of Entertainment.  Just look at each targeted demographic, then go to their schools, watch their preferred media (TV or online), and watch all their preferred forms of entertainment.  Morning, noon, and night, these demographics are bombarded with hard-left messaging, preparing these “fields” for harvesting by Democrats.
 
All the Dems had to do was spend big money and equip their troops.  The fields were ripe.  They just needed to send out harvesters.
 
And here’s another thing Democrat leaders knew:  Their Party recruits and rallies with RAGE.  This is why they used The Big 3 for convincing targeted voting groups to be angry at other groups.  They pushed anger at the wealthy.  They pushed anger at heterosexual men.  Anger at the military.  Anger at lawful gun owners.  White people.  Christians.  Oil companies.  Whoever.
 
It didn’t matter which groups Democrats cast as villains—they just needed villains.  Why?  Because no one votes Democrat unless they’re voting against some chosen villain (rich people, Christians, oil companies, men, etc.).  DEMOCRATS NEED PEOPLE CONVINCED THAT GOVERNMENT MUST PROTECT THEM FROM PERCEIVED THREATS.  This is why Democrats demonize whole groups.  They need voters angry and scared, and that is precisely what the Big 3 produced. 
 
Moreover, Colorado saw a population boom in all the most targeted demographics for this strategy.  And not only were the fields ripe for Democrat harvest, but they were tilled, seeded, watered, weeded, and in every way prepared for that harvest by the Big 3.  So when Democrats registered new voters or passed out invitations at campuses, they were harvesting trees bursting with fruit falling from branches.  When they approached suburban women or minority communities, they were picking from rows of corn ready to be plucked by leftwing harvesters.
 
Despite all this, “Ground Game” preachers now tell rightwing groups all we need to do is harvest the way Democrats do, and we’ll have the same results!  Worse yet, these “Ground Game” preachers are blaming their way to power in the Colorado Republican Party.  How?  Simple:  They detail all the effective ground game operations of Democrat groups, without mentioning the population shifts and Big 3 rage preparations making those ground games effective. 
 
They talk all harvest, and no preparing of the fields for harvest.
 
“We didn’t lose because of demographic shifts or messaging or Trump or anything else!” they insist.  “We lost because we got outworked!  We lost solely because Democrats used the better ground game!  If we just harvest like they do—aggressively connecting with new voters and targeting each voter’s data points—we’ll get the same results!  And our leaders are to blame for not doing this!”
 
Ridiculous.  Embarrassing.  While I heartily agree with their ground game strategies, their utter neglect of context will bring terrible results.
 
Folks, if we want to win back Colorado,  we must prepare the field before harvesting it.  We must completely change our message and approach to one resonating with today’s voters.  We must break through the Big 3’s dominance, using clear, impactful messaging that shows voters we’re the good guys and Democrats are the bad guys—and we must do it while lowering the very rage Democrats use to recruit.
 
Can this be done?  You bet!  But it won’t happen with enraged “Ground Game” preachers blaming their way to power with promises of harvesting fields we’ve never prepared.  We need to change the way Coloradoans see Conservatives and Republicans, and we can’t do this with rage and division in our own ranks.  Those things only feed the other side.
 
One more time:  WE MUST PREPARE THE FIELD BEFORE HARVESTING IT.  And while I think the “Ground Game” preachers have some great ideas on how to harvest, they offer nothing to prepare that harvest.  Nothing but blame.  Nothing but rage.  Nothing opening the mind of that young person or minority voter or single woman or suburban female executive.  Nothing at all.
 
Just numbers and stats, with no context and lots of anger.
 
Truth is, these Ground Game preachers aren’t changing the face of our Party.  They’re just shoving it in more faces of voters we haven’t prepared.  Folks, the greatest irony of Ground Game Fever…
 
…is that it never prepares the ground.

6 Comments

Choice And Abortion                            By Andy Peth

1/15/2019

0 Comments

 
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(The following is written from a Pro-Life position.  But even Republicans supporting a right to abortion should read this, for it helps to see political allies be effective in their messaging)
​
​Let’s play make believe.
 
Imagine if abortion supporters had never co-opted the term, Choice.  Instead, they just called for Reproductive Freedom, Women’s Medical Liberty—anything but Pro-Choice.  Had Democrats never co-opted Choice with abortion, what would we think of Republicans calling our Party “The Party of Choice,” while labeling Democrats “The Party of Control?”
 
I think we’d love it.  After all, people love choices, and Republicans offer far more choices than Democrats—far, far more.  So Choice should be our word, anyway.  And unlike Liberty, which conjures images of men in white wigs issuing demands, Choice is personal and contemporary.  It moves us from “Don’t take my liberties…and stay off my lawn!”  to “I want you to have more choices.”  
 
The fact is, Choice sells.
 
Better yet, Choice-Versus-Control puts Democrats in a defensive position.  Why?  Because nearly all Democrat initiatives are grounded in Control, and people hate being controlled.  Just listen to friends discuss micromanaging bosses, suffocating parents, HOA’s—see what I mean?  If we push a Choice-Versus-Control narrative, all Democrat legislation would come under that spotlight.
  
Abortion: Our Biggest Roadblock
But back to reality.  Knowing the advantage Choice brings Republicans, Democrats co-opted our word with a single issue: Abortion.  It's incredible.  In a society that loves what we offer (Choice) and hates what our opponents offer (Control), we simply refuse to use the words.  With one brilliant maneuver, Democrats bullied us out of our best sales pitch.

I hear Republicans fret: "If we say we're for Choice, people will think we support Abortion!  Democrats will mock us for claiming to represent Choice--because of Abortion!  It's confusing, because...because...Abortion!  All is lost!  Run for your lives!  The meteor is coming!

Okay, I'm exaggerating...slightly.  But should we have conceded Choice so easily?  I don't think so.  In fact, conceding Choice has reframed all political debate in the Democrats' favor.  Not good, people.

Here's the truth: There is nothing Anti-Choice about the Pro-Life position.  NOTHING.  
 ​
Choice:  The Pro-Lifer’s Great Ally
Ironically, reclaiming Choice also opens minds in the Abortion debate.  Choice—the word we’ve come to fear—might well be our greatest ally.  Observe:
 
1.      We Can Disarm Anger by Embracing Choice
 
Steeped in resentment, Abortion supporters won’t often listen to Pro-Lifers.  They think we want to control them, so our first words must disarm that anger—not win a debate.  That’s why I lead by praising Choice and opposing Control.
 
“I’m Pro-Life, but I love the reason you’re Pro-Choice.  You don’t want the government telling a woman what to do with her body.  I agree.”
              
        Next, I share my Republican Choice Standard:
 
“I just don’t want one person’s choice taking away another person’s choice, so our only disagreement is on when another person is in play.”
 
        And finally, I use Choice to forge agreement: 
 
“And that’s just a question of science.  We can debate when life begins, but until then, why don’t we just agree we both care about people—women, babies, everyone—and we both support Choice.  Fair enough?”
 
Voila.  In seconds, Pro-Life is no longer Anti-Choice, and I’m the nice, reasonable person in a heated topic.  I’ve gone from bad guy to good guy—all because of Choice.
 
2.      If they’re open to more discussion, I can select from many points:
 
  • "Except for rape, the whole point of abortion is to erase consequences for choices freely made, right?  Two people chose to engage in behavior that might produce a pregnancy, and now they want the consequence erased.  That’s not Pro-Choice.  It’s Anti-Consequence.”
 
  • “In fact, if the unborn are allowed to grow, they’ll make thousands of choices—all of which are erased by the one choice of abortion.  Erasing thousands of choices with one choice is hardly Pro-Choice, right?”
 
  • “Pro-Life also isn’t Anti-Woman.  After all:
 
     1.  The most pro-abortion person isn’t the young woman who is pregnant; it’s the guy who got her pregnant.  She at least she feels some sense of nurture, while all he wants is escape. 
      2.  Besides, half the unborn aborted are female, right? 
      3.  And have you ever watched a Pro-Life demonstration?  It’s mostly women.  Why is that?”
 
  • “Which side is controlling?  Pro-Lifers only remove one choice they believe takes away someone else’s choice.  Meanwhile, Abortion supporters force Pro-Lifers to pay taxes toward tax-funded abortions and pro-abortion teaching in schools.  Regardless of personal beliefs, everyone’s forced to pay.  Who’s controlling whom?”
 
Naturally, I don’t just unload point after point.  But it’s good to be ready.
What About the Backlash?
​Still, many Republicans fear backlash if we say we’re for Choice—and this centers around Abortion.  They fear the mocking.  They fear having to explain how Choice and Pro-Life views work together. 
 
My response?  I think they’re missing the opportunity this backlash presents.
 
Right now, we’re losing millions of votes from people who simply equate Pro-Life with Anti-Choice and Anti-Women.  Millions and millions of votes.  And by not claiming Choice, we prevent the above discussion from ever happening—meaning we can’t shed the “Bad Guy” label.  We’re stuck.
 
Faced with a wall of single female voters assuming the worst, we’re paying a huge price for running from our own word.  We’re distrusted.  Unheard.  Worse yet, entirely disregarded.  At this point, we desperately need a discussion—even one beginning with backlash.  We need people talking about Choice and Republicans, because our silence on it leaves us as villains. 
 
Truth is, we Pro-Lifers make lots of great points, such as when the unborn have heartbeats or feel pain.  We rightly warn against women assuming abortion won’t affect them, and we back this up with statistics.  We’re good people caring about good people!  But if society thinks we’re against the thing society loves—Choice--then they won’t listen to our great points.  And that is what’s happening.  We’re a bunch of smart, loving people in a deaf, angry room.
 
Let me repeat that:  Avoiding Choice because of Abortion…leaves Republicans preaching to a deaf, angry room.
 
You know, I wish Democrats had never hijacked our word through twisting an issue like Abortion.  It was brilliant strategy—a game-changer.  Raised in Democrat circles, I know full well why they did it, and how they use it.  They actually claimed
a gender.  Remarkable.
 
But now we can surprise people with simple rebranding.  Let’s just say we’re for Choice, and our opponents are for Control.  Then back it up.  And when they launch their Abortion-based backlash, we’ll not only open a discussion that has been closed for millions of voters, but we will win that discussion, person by person.
 
Why?  Because we are for Choice.  Democrats are for Control.  And truth, my friends, is on our side.
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