Over the weekend, I gave a seminar in Dallas that went very well. I have a sense of humor and occasionally use a local politician as the target of a snarky comment, which I did. People laughed and agreed. A woman came up to me in the intermission and said to me, "You just told us that we need grace with each other to ensure that we feel welcome. Wasn't that joke kind of hypocritical?"
It's a fair comment, and I invited her to talk with me after the seminar if she wanted to pursue it.
The politician, relatively new to the Republican label, isn't always that Republican in views or behavior. I don't get the impression that he sees this as something to address. In fact, whatever label he sticks to himself, it's up to the people to determine.
Nobody owns their brand. Others do. Brand management happens in the hands of the customer, regardless of the PR attempted to sway people otherwise. Look at Bud Light.
Which is why people laughed at my little aside. Humor has an element of truth to it to provoke that "A-ha!" moment of surprised giggle. The people, having experienced the politician's policies, had come to their own conclusions and knowing that, I played off their conclusions. But hers is a good question. What's the difference between push and pull in politics?
I say in my book, to attract those to your side, be attractive. But not everyone believes as you do. They won't agree. They might find your opinions repulsive and objectionable. Democrats and Republicans aren't in alignment on issues and the deeper you're in that fight for election, the other is the enemy. That too is difficult for some.
"Can't we just get along? Why so polarizing?"
If you believe, as I do, that policies impact culture which changes lives and incomes, then the fight is aggressive. As my friend, Christin, asks: "Is it EVER acceptable to give a child pornography?" And yet, public and school libraries do. Because of it, innocence is taken from the child, and sexual themes are introduced far before the child matured for such ideas.
That's just one example. Politics are not idle, harmless beliefs. Too much spending leads to taxation that removes the widow from the home she owns. Mandates, regulations, laws, fees, licensing... all of it changes our world.
I like to say that there is no "polite" in politics. There just isn't. It's insults and elbows if you're much involved and those in power didn't come to be nice.
Historically, challenging royalty resulted in diverse and very painful punishment. Today, a YouTuber can, um, decorate Nancy Pelosi's driveway and live to tell the tale. But if you try to remove the powerful from power? Then it gets serious and the gloves come off and the innocent get jailed to protect those in power - and lives are changed forever.
Opinions and beliefs, like magnets, can either greatly attract or shove away. It's why some choose not to engage.
We will all come to a conclusion about those in power, and we will all determine what we want to do about those in power and the policies they force upon us. To get through that drama, a little humor helps - even if it's at the expense of the powerful. Thankfully, we can get away with that without losing our heads.
Fight, fight, fight.
4 Comments
GREAT Opinion Paper!!! The non-stop gaslighting by fake republicans is perfectly summed up in your statement regarding “Nobody owns their brand”. Voters will be “Bud Lighting” the RINOs in the primaries!
You are exactly right. Conservatives walk a fine line. Do we expose when terrorist are funding certain organizations or let people find out for themselves? A fake Republican will say that is hate speech, but most will say, “Thank you for the information.”
We are taking our gloves off as well! RINOs have to go. Fake Texas Republican Representatives and Senators along with weak leadership at the top killed the opportunity for us to have a conservative productive 89th Texas Legislature. The SREC has done it's job. The 89th Texas Legislature did not. The TX Republican Convention attendees done their job. The Texas Republican led House spit in our face. The TX Republican led Senate and Lt Governor assisted them in spitting in our face. We have a Bud-Lite legislature in Texas. What sickens me the most is that Dan Patrick will do anything and everything against his and our own party and will get away with it because he has a Trump card. Many blind voters who think they are voting conservative will give reckless shout-outs for RINOs to the point of a sore throat while putting up RINO signs and voting with "conservative vigor." Then they will return home and discuss a plan of how to pay their property taxes. I can just hear them now-"If we only had 2 Abbotts, 3 Patricks, and 4 Burrows, we could get this done."
"No one owns their brand" is a great insight. I'm new to running for political office, but i'm quickly learning the opposition will use any turns of phrase to tar our message. If someone says he's educated and highly qualified, my opponent calls me an elitest. When I say we want a government that listens to the people, my opponent says, he's not from around here. If people say your opponent is a very friendly, I say, "would a friend vote to raise your taxes and then give himself a pay raise?"
Ultimately, we're learning that a campaign is a competition of visions with two parts: get your message out first, then define your opponent. You don't own your brand, and they don't own theirs. Again, brilliant insight!