by Jeff Deist
Mises.org
I wrote this back in 2015, prior to Trump’s ascendancy, describing the GOP’s absolute failure to develop a coherent narrative that might actually appeal to voters (with Trump, the GOP rolls the dice — the candidate becomes the entire message). But it still applies today, because Republicans still can’t answer the basic questions: who are you, and what do you stand for?
I’m hardly a Republican, to put it mildly. But it’s impossible not to notice the GOP’s absolutely uncanny inability to craft even a basic message. From the purely cynical perspective of a party that seeks nothing more than electoral success and power, Republicans seem utterly frozen and incapable even of lying effectively. They are mired in quicksand, and they’re losing.
All Republicans need to say, over and over, is something like this: We are for an opportunity society, not a dependency society. Government can’t do anything right. We will lower taxes and reduce regulations. We want more people to own property, businesses, and investments. We are the party of markets and capitalism, not welfare and socialism.