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The following should help you communicate in language that is soothing to the American ear:
1. Principles are more important than policy or politics. The hallowed halls of Washington echo with the sounds of Republican actors and activists clamoring for a new agenda. Yet in my weekly forays into real America, I have found that average Americans could not care less about agenda politics. Americans aren't searching for an agenda. They're looking for principles and the politicians who exhibit them. The way to convince a cynical populace that you deserve their support is to demonstrate that you are standing up for principle, not that you are loyal to a cause.
2. Try going five minutes selling Republican ideas and principles without criticizing Bill Clinton or the Democrats. Sure it's more fun to attack the opposition, particularly when they are so wrong, but the American people have had enough of all the bickering. . . . Remember, mud splatters, and every time you attack, you soil yourself as well.
3. Stop overselling your achievements. You may not want to hear this, but almost no one outside of the Beltway (or on Capitol Hill for that matter) thinks the recent budget and tax agreements are home runs. Why are you selling them that way?
4. Stop being defensive. Instead of talking about recent strategic failures, talk about the principles you have attempted to defend. For example, if the topic is your attempt to avoid a Government shutdown, ONLY talk about ''getting your message across,'' ''end games'' and ''doing a better job explaining things'' IN PRIVATE. In public, you should instead talk about the PRINCIPLES of ''working together,'' ''listening to the people,'' ''making the government run more effectively and less expensively'' and so on. Americans want to know your motives. Only journalists want to know your tactics.
5. Appeal directly to the voter. You know just how overtaxed Americans feel they are. . . . You know how much money Americans feel is wasted by Washington. Appeal to that emotion. Republican leaders have to attack the President from time to time, but if you want to be effective, get the American people on your side rhetorically BEFORE you launch.
6. Embrace the moral agenda. Four out of five Americans believe that our country is facing a moral crisis, yet too many Republicans judge the health of America by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. They are missing the sickness in the soul of our nation. You cannot shy away from discussing values. In fact you should embrace them. . . . America is in danger of winning the whole world -- economically, militarily, ideologically -- and losing her soul.
7. Abolish the National Endowment for the Arts. This makes sense for strategic reasons as well as on principle. Napoleon spoke of the importance of feeding your army if you expect your soldiers to go off to battle. You must deliver some nourishment to the true believers. The budget and tax agreements aren't going to drive social conservatives to the polls on Election Day. You need a symbol that both differentiates the two parties and stirs up the troops. If you truly believe in shrinking Washington and returning power (and money) to local authorities, start with the arts.
8. Start a national-local education partnership. Newt Gingrich's greatest accomplishment in the 104th Congress was shepherding welfare reform through Congress. Without the support, participation and political capital of the 32 Republican governors, welfare reform would still be on the shelf. The Speaker and the Senate majority leader need to adopt the same strategy in the education reform effort and that requires turning over the education debate to the governors.
9. End Washington-mandated affirmative action now. If welfare reform was the Speaker's crowning achievement, his unwillingness to abolish Federal affirmative action laws has been his biggest mistake.
10. If you want to focus on policy rather than politics, stop talking about politics. The only people who follow the internal struggles of the Congressional leadership are the players themselves. If you don't want the media to focus on internecine warfare, stop answering questions on the subject. Better yet, change the subject.
11. Stop calling the Speaker ''Newt.'' The elected office generally holds a greater deal of respect than the man or woman who is temporary custodian of that title. That's why you never hear Bill Clinton's advisers or Cabinet officers referring to him by name (much less his first name). It's always ''the President.'' If you really want to help restore Newt Gingrich's credibility, start referring to him by his title.
12. Stop stacking votes. For three straight years, Republicans have missed countless opportunities to receive deserved credit for passing popular legislation because they have held multiple high-profile votes in the same week. Take a lesson from Presidents Reagan and Clinton. Any more than one theme -- or one major vote -- at a time will be lost on the American people.
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