'A Tidal Wave of Change'
Luntz, Frank
A Tidal Wave of Change' This time the Republicans were swamped. Here's how to recover. by Frank Luntz In November 2005, I was asked to make a presentation to the House Republican Conference. In...
...Their vision (if there was one) was wrong...
...Far too few hosted Medicare prescription drug forums to help seniors sign up and save money...
...It was a vote of no confidence: • We have always had universal faith and trust in democracy, yet one-third of all voters (34 percent) said they had little or no trust "in their elected officials to do the right thing most of the time...
...Republicans rode into town in 1994 on a wave of discontent...
...Lesson Two: Voters care about the spending of government, not the size...
...Their messages were wrong...
...America and where the country seems to be headed...
...The results were ugly...
...And all across America, Republicans lost...
...Silence...
...If congressional Republicans are listening, they will demand new leadership that embraces the cleansing power of reform...
...The response...
...If congressional Republicans want and expect to recapture House and Senate majorities in 2008, they have much to learn and do in the next 24 months: Lesson One: "I was wrong...
...It was tough on spending, tough on taxes, tough on welfare, tough on crime—tough on all the things Americans wanted less of so that they could have more of what they really wanted: freedom and security...
...The last time so many Americans were so angry, anxious, and afraid was in 1974, during a time of genuine political, economic, and military crisis...
...Lesson Three: Run on reform...
...Congressional Republicans need to take the same course by replacing those who led the GOP into the wilderness with a new generation of leaders with voices more attuned to the people back home...
...We have always believed in inter-generational improvement as a core component of the American Dream, yet 57 percent believe "the children of tomorrow will inherit a worse America than what your parents left you...
...Their leadership was wrong...
...The 1994 Contract With America wasn't a political gimmick...
...But these words simply did not describe a party of bridges to nowhere and congressmen who lined their pockets with cash...
...We have always reserved our anger for our favorite sports teams and bad drivers, yet more than half (52 percent) said politics in America made them "mad as hell and [they] weren't going to take it anymore...
...Among the Americans who swung from the GOP to the Democrats (Republican Rejecters), "unethical and illegal behavior going unpunished" was number two on the list (behind illegal immigration...
...And after flashing a few newspaper headlines and quotes, the screen would go black until, writ large, a phrase appeared: "They were wrong...
...The mood of this country has changed since 2004, and because of it, some have already written off Republican chances for recapturing the House and Senate in 2008...
...It was a slickly produced segment that looked like a Hollywood movie preview...
...But within every rejection are the seeds of redemption...
...Those three simple words never came from the lips of any Republican anywhere, and it is one reason so many Republicans were defeated...
...The next leadership team needs to remember that no vision means no votes...
...The answers will determine the future of the GOP: that of a phoenix or a pariah...
...Fully 40 percent of the Republican Rejecters and 36 percent of the overall electorate want "significant, bold change in the way America is run...
...Several dozen members begged their leadership to offer a new Republican contract in 2006 because they sensed, correctly, that the party had lost its focus on the future and was interested only in defending the present...
...Ignore them at your peril...
...We have always been the most optimistic and hopeful nation, yet almost half (48 percent) said they were somewhat or very afraid "for the future of Frank Luntz is the author of the upcoming book Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear...
...Far too many congressional candidates refused to engage their constituents in a two-way discussion of the challenges in Iraq...
...To call this election a "political correction" is to ignore just how widespread was the feeling of betrayal...
...For congressional Republicans to return to majority status, they must once again become the guardians of the national interest, the protectors of the purse strings, and the purveyors of honesty...
...The Responsible Republicans of 1994 who engaged their constituents in a mature, meaningful dialogue became the Inept Republicans of 2006 who asserted and demanded but did not listen to the people they served...
...Earlier this week, they were thrown out because of another...
...On Election Night, my firm did a nationwide poll of voters to measure and determine the extent of GOP failure...
...This year, Republicans were wrong...
...If they don't regain the trust of the people over the next two years, they won't regain Congress...
...In our Election Night poll, we asked voters which issue most annoyed them about the Republican-controlled Congress...
...a tidal wave of change...
...Voters want a clean sweep...
...This election was more than a message to the Republican personalities that have led America since 1994...
...Sacking Donald Rumsfeld was the White House's way of acknowledging they blew it...
...What Americans wanted from their elected officials was fiscal discipline, accountability, and ethics...
...In the hallway where I was waiting, a large flat-screen TV played encouraging messages to members from their leadership...
...As difficult as it may be for Republicans to utter the words "Speaker Pelosi," they still have the White House (sort of) to serve as a check on congressional Democrats— at least for the next two years...
...Even 18 percent of Republican congressional voters want a dramatic change in the direction of our country...
...It was a clearly articulated agenda that addressed the day-to-day problems and concerns of average Americans...
...Voters saw hubris instead of humility, and voting against the GOP was the only way they could send a message of rebuke...
...All across America, Republican candidates closed their campaigns with the warning that Democrats would increase government and increase taxes...
...Lesson Four: The future must be better than the past...
...It reviewed the last 12 years—how, in every election cycle since 1994, the media and Democrats had predicted "a sea change in the House...
...Just as the Democratic promise to take America in "a new direction" led them to majority status, congressional Republicans need to set their party off onto a different path—a path toward real, meaningful reform...
...In this motivational loop of video, there was one particular piece that stuck in my mind...
...The question Americans will be asking is whether Republicans learned anything from this election...
...Almost no one stood up to demand an end to the one issue that brought these members to power in the first place: wasteful Washington spending...
Vol. 12 • November 2006 • No. 10
