Posted by
Playful Walrus on Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:42:17 PM
It is very appealing to a lot of people that "someone else" is going to pay for things, and they are going to get "refunds" or services from the government, which really means other people. When you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can almost surely count on Paul’s vote, and there are more Pauls than Peters.
I wrote earlier about some of the reasons why some people vote Democrat. In this entry, I wanted to quickly go over ways we can address some of those reasons and get these people to vote for limited government Republicans. If you haven’t done so yet, you can also read my entry on how to turn the newer voters who went with Obama our way.
We can turn some of the people by appealing to them as voters, taxpayers, parents, investors, potential employers, homeowners and potential property owners, churchgoers, military families, law enforcement families, crime victims, and lawsuit victims – showing them that have a stronger overall interest in limited government than they do in getting hand-outs.
We can appeal to voters by publicizing our efforts to fight vote fraud, but more importantly, emphasizing that the legislators they voted for should be making law, not activist courts. In states where there is direct democracy, this can be even more effective. Voters do not like it when courts overturn their votes without solid justification. Witness Prop 8 passing in California, even in blue Los Angeles County. Voters, obviously, think voting is important.
We can appeal to taxpayers by keeping taxes low and by using their money wisely. It is nice to be able to “bring home the bacon”, but all we’re really doing is paying people in federal government to handle our money for us, and do so inefficiently. Everybody thinks they pay federal income taxes.
We can appeal to parents by fighting to maintain their authority over their own children with things like school choice and parental consent laws. Most of the population experiences parenthood at some point, and most of those people don't like it when someone interferes in the parent-child relationship.
We can appeal to investors by letting them decide how to run what they own, not taxing them more, and going after fraud aggressively. We should point out that anyone with an IRA, 401(k), or some other like account is an investor. That’s a lot of people.
We can appeal to potential employers by fighting for their rights to reach compensation and benefit agreements with their employees, and to keep the government from interfering more in the workplace. A lot of people hope to be employers if they aren’t already.
We can appeal to homeowners and potential property owners by interfering less in their choices. Most people will either own property or seek to buy property sometime in their lives.
We can appeal to religious communities by respecting them and not forcing them to keep their religion in a closet. Most voters are either part of some “faith community” or are sympathetic to such groups.
We can appeal to military families by respecting and thanking our military personnel and giving them clear, effective missions and caring for their wounds – physical and mental. Most people in our country have either served in the military or have some family member who has or does.
We can appeal to law enforcement families by keeping law enforcement personnel from being scapegoated and having their hands tied. Most upstanding citizens appreciate law enforcement and are sympathetic to their struggles.
We can appeal to crime victims by aggressively pursuing criminals and restorative justice, and blocking Democrat attempts to extend voting to more felons. Most voters have been victims of burglary or some serious crimes, or know someone who has been - robbery, identity theft, grand theft, arson, assault, rape, kidnapping, murder.
We can appeal to lawsuit victims by reforming legislation so that Litigational Harassment is discouraged instead of handsomely rewarded.
Overall, we can appeal to a lot of the Pauls out there because many of them hope to someday be Peter, and more people can if government is limited.
We can’t outpromise the Democrats when it comes to hand-outs. We must appeal to the self-worth of the voters.
Previously: Is the Battle Lost?