The American Spectator

Educate Via Ads

I strongly believe that the RNC and/or conservative groups should advertise. The ads must be run well in advance of the political season. I strongly believe that this advertising should be simple, attractive, and upbeat. These ads should quote from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the writings of great Americans. They should celebrate important people and events in American history, the ads should present the real facts about big picture issues, (the economy, the family and immigration) and reveal the truth behind common liberal rhetoric (e.g. government spending = tax payer dollars). The government creates no wealth, just redistributes it. Our citizenry needs to understand that “Free health care” is not FREE.

The left plays the envy/race card with: “tax cuts for the ‘rich.’” The ‘rich,’ the top 50% of the population, pay 96.54% of the taxes, and the top 1% pay 34.17%. Americans value fair play, and the fact that we over-tax the producers and reward the non-producers goes against our country’s most basic beliefs.

These ads should NOT focus on narrow policy debates or highly controversial issues (e.g., capital gains tax cuts, abortion), but should be aimed at promoting core conservative values of limited government, private property, free enterprise, personal responsibility, strong national defense, and patriotism. The ads must be rigorously nonpartisan. Any open party affiliation will undermine the integrity of the message. Cultural and political transformation, not partisan point scoring, must be the touchstone. The ads must have a website attached for further information.

Both parties spend 10’s of millions on ads at election time. Don’t wait until election time. Educate the citizenry about true conservatism before election time and you won’t have worry at the polls. Conservatives are working at saving our nation. Ronald Reagan will NOT be riding in to save our country. Why not use what he did best? Go straight to the people over the head of the MSM. How can you hear the line: America, the shining city on the hill and not feel proud to be American. Or, how can you not have a tear in your eye when you hear the line: These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. Americans want to feel good about their country. You will be making converts for life. We are not selling people/candidates, we are selling ideas!

It can be done with advertising.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and Happy New Year, 2009 (the year we bring conservatism back from the wilderness). God bless you and all at the Spectator.
—Larry Jordan
New Bern, North Carolina

In the area of “communicating the message,” I want to throw in my analysis of Obama’s victory. Hans Christian Andersen wrote, in “The Emperor’s New Suit,” updated that for the recent election:

The moral is: people will fall for any kind of stupid crap, and believe anything, if you first convince them that believing it is a sign of great inner moral worth and goodness. That’s the whole key to understanding liberals.
— Larry Eubank

RELIGIOUS WORDS
Re: Christopher Orlet’s Myth of the Secular West:

Ms. Scalia’s essay is accurate, but inarticulate in a post-modern world. Her use of the word “faith” presumes a theistic world-view. So Mr. Orlet is attacking the wrong thing when he says that she is wrong because America is religious. We are religious, but most people do not have a coherent or consistent theistic world-view. The enlightenment was largely humanistic with a deistic flair, and our current secularism is the fruit of that foundation. And the secularists have made sure we do not actually have separation of church and state. Our current public school system is actually a state-church according to the Establishment Clause and the Supreme Court ruling in Welsh vs. US. We are educating agnostics — people who may believe in God, but are being taught that he is irrelevant.
— Rev. Jim Whittle
Douglasville, Georgia