The United States is facing a decline, if not chaos, following disappointing election results and years of turmoil in various areas. Conservatives must make fundamental changes to their political and philanthropic strategies to reverse this trend.
Superficial changes will not be enough, given the current state of affairs. Inflation is at a 50-year high, crime is rampant on the streets, military preparedness and education are compromised by wokeness, social experimentation is happening in schools without parental knowledge, and the southern border is unprotected. Furthermore, the government and large corporations are censoring certain viewpoints, and the Department of Justice and the FBI are being weaponized.
It is shocking that Republicans were unable to win a majority in the Senate and only a slim majority in the House in last year’s midterms, given these circumstances. This should serve as a wake-up call to conservative donors to change their approach. Fortunately, more conservative donors are realizing this and are asking the right questions.
Democrats had four distinct advantages that allowed them to win the midterms. First, their absentee-ballot, ballot-harvesting, and early-voting programs were effective. Second, Republican candidates’ messages and information operations about the reversal of Roe v. Wade were tone-deaf. Third, young voters continued to vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Fourth, suburban women did not vote Republican in the same numbers as they did in 2016.
Democrats achieved these advantages through 24-month integrated strategies between elections, while conservatives pursued disparate, often ineffective, tactics and backloaded their spending to the 90-day run-up to elections. Conservatives must compete more effectively on election mechanics going forward.
Democrats also work continuously on the “long game” by developing the narratives they believe will transform America’s culture and shape election outcomes. Conservatives must compete more effectively in the long game. To this end, a small group of conservative donors funded the development of a “conservative ecosystem” to push back against the liberal ecosystem.
Conservatives must also compete more effectively for the hearts and minds of swing voters, who decide elections. Reaching and persuading swing voters requires different messengers, messages, and message amplification than those currently employed by conservatives. For example, in the context of charter schools, the most influential messengers are the parents and children who have lost out in school lotteries due to Democratic policies limiting the number of charter schools.
Conservatives must broaden their message amplification to reach the “magic middle” where swing voters live, and they do not live on conservative talk radio or television. The conservative ecosystem was developed for this purpose.
There is much work to be done to preserve our freedoms and ensure prosperity for future generations. This must be a broader conversation about the fundamental changes that must be made. We owe this to our children and grandchildren.
