How presumptuous of me to tell Sarah Palin what she should do if she wants to be president of the United States. Her rise from hockey mom to mayor to governor and vice presidential candidate clearly demonstrates an extremely astute political mind.
My own record of supporting winning presidential candidates isn’t so great. Of 13 elections, I’ve been on the losing side six times. Of my seven “wins”, Nixon’s second term is not one of which to be proud.
Sometimes, however, an outside observer not involved in the daily maelstrom can see something or codify some thinking and be of use.
So, here are my 10 steps Sarah Palin should take if she wants an opportunity to reach the White House. I’m certain most of them are on her personal list, still…
10. Ignore the personal attacks which will certainly continue.
Unfortunately, personal attacks come with the territory. People resort to them when they really can’t find a way to argue with your position. In logic it’s called argumentum ad hominum, attacking the person when you can’t attack the facts.
The attacks on your children, however, have been unprecedented. One can only hope, for the good of the entire society, that they will cease in the future. Your rabid opponents may rejoice in them but the vast majority of mothers and fathers rally, at least silently, to your side in defense of your children.
If something is so egregious that he must be responded to, let Dad do it. Todd is as real and authentic as you are without the political baggage.
9. Stay in and work within the Republican Party.
There has been some speculation that you’d consider a third party run. Don’t! The current setup just won’t allow a winner outside the two main political parties. Besides, unless you can also get a large number of House and Senate seats elected along with you, how will you get anything done?
Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t find like-minded people to run for office at every level. Having a majority of a county council or state legislature who aren’t pressuring the Federal government to give them more would certainly make reform at the national level easier.
8. Recognize you are a polarizing figure — live with it and use it.
There’s an old baseball adage that the best manager will lose a third of his games and the worst manager will win a third (don’t tell that to the Washington Nationals). It is what you do with the middle third that determines whether you are a winner or loser.
A large number of people don’t, won’t, will never support you. Forget them! A large number of people already support you. Embrace them! But, it’s the middle third you need to win over.
Your strength is that you come across as real. You talk to them, not at them. Keep doing that, espousing sensible positions to solve the country’s problems. You don’t have to win them all over, just half of them.
They are the key to every successful presidential campaign — from Reagan to Obama.
7. Build up political chits by campaigning for Republicans who want your help in 2010.
Obvious! Of course.
I thought about making it “conservative Republican” but realized that Olympia Snow’s supporters are, quite likely, in that middle third you need to woo. Why offend them by refusing, if she asks, to help her.
Make yourself available but don’t make initial overtures to any candidate. Let them come to you. Opponents will make much about those who didn’t seek your support. They’ll make a lot more over anyone who rebuffed your offer of help.
6. Build a cadre of issue advisers and consultants.
How refreshing, how sensible, it would be if doctors developed health care reforms; if people from Wall Street came up with changes needed to protect the average investor; if a panel of business people developed policies which made the country more competitive in the world market; if oil and gas men, coal men, wind and solar and, yes, nuclear folks sat down and came up with a policy that worked toward energy independence without destroying our environment.
Charge them with finding solutions to the broad issues you want to advance. Challenge them to think through their ideas and run “what if” scenarios so we avoid government’s penchant for unintended consequences.
5. Make speeches and issue white papers on the broad themes that affect all Americans.
Your strength in the vice presidential campaign was overwhelmingly personal. Now it needs to become overwhelmingly issue oriented.
The people who marked you as stupid are stupid. You were in some cases unprepared and the fact that you had such a short time before being thrown into the national spotlight won’t be a mitigating force this time around.
Every statement on every issue must be carefully thought out and enunciated and you’ve got to be ready to speak about them with authority “on the fly.” Believe me, the media won’t treat reliance on teleprompter recorded remarks with the same giggle they have given the current president.
4. Keep your “real person” speech style BUT…
It’s part of your persona, the down-home woman. One of us. Not overdone –after all we’re looking for a president who can sit down with other national leaders, not the PTA – it’s downright endearing.
But…and this is admittedly a very, very personal but. Get rid of the word “also” and the phrase “and also”. Check out videotapes and see you use them to connect two sentences. It creates what seems like a run-on sentence (when it’s really two), decreases the power and clarity of both and makes for some awful syntax.
3. Utilize media opportunities — but start with your friends.
You can’t reach every hamlet, town and city personally so obviously you need the media. Unlike with the McCain campaign, however, you need to use the friendlier, at least neutral, media as much as you do the more hostile ones.
Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama sat down with Bill O’Reilly. That the McCain people didn’t book you there was insane.
When you agree to an interview with NBC (or CBS or ABC) set down the ground rules. “I’ll come on to talk about health care, or energy, whatever. That’s it.” Should they venture somewhere else, tell them you’ll come back another time. Today is about X.
Yes, Charlie Gibson was looking to sandbag you. I — and quite probably millions of other Americans — would have loved to hear you respond, “My Charlie, how smug you look finding a question I can’t answer with some glib sound bite. How about if I do a little research and get back to you. Heck, I’ll send you a ‘tweet’.”
2. Build your organization at the lowest possible grass roots level.
More obvious advise. Learn from the master, take a lesson from President Obama. Remember all politics is local and the more support you have at the precinct, county and state level the better.
You’ve got an enormous number of supporters. Heck, you’ve got more supporters than Joe Biden ever got votes when he ran for the presidential nomination. If each one got two more and those two more…
1. Always be positive…about the country…the people…the future.
If you decide to run in 2012 in all likelihood you’ll be challenging an incumbent. Always tough. He’ll probably still be blaming his problems, and the country’s on George W.
You, on the other hand, take a leaf from Ronald Reagan. America is the greatest country on the face of the earth. The American people can achieve anything they unite around and set their minds to do. The future is bright if we remember our principles — freedom, personal liberty, unbridled opportunity.
Oh, did I mention, I love the theme: RESTORE AMERICA!
