According to the Washington Times new GOP chairman Michael Steele wants the Republican party to reach out to black and Hispanic voters with a new “off the hook” PR campaign. Oh let me count the ways this will fail and make the Republican Party look like a roundtable of out-of-touch and insensitive morons.
First of all, “off the hook” hasn’t been taken seriously for at least fifteen years, probably longer. Same with “off the chain.” I am pretty sure if I walked over to Compton and said “off the hook” I wouldn’t be walking back out. Same with “fresh” and “mint” or any use of the once popular but now laughable Snoop Dogg/Jay-Z talk of adding “shizzle, nizzle, cheesy, neezy” etc. to sentances as catch all’s. The rule of thumb is this, if your grandmother knows what you mean if you use it, the expression is no longer popular. If I see a bunch of commercials with some actor in baggy pants telling a Puerto Rican girl about Ayn Rand through rap I just might throw something at my TV. OK I won’t hurt my TV, I love my TV, but I will be enraged.
Second of all, most young people and “urban community” types aren’t interested in buying what the GOP is selling. This is where reality has to set in. The reason Obama did so well with this group wasn’t because Will.I.Am made a video or Obama had a social networking site. Obama did well with these communities because he promised them a world where they could have everything without having to do anything. This is a continuation of their existence thus far; a life where everyone is a winner, all of their dreams can come true, the government is responsible for taking care of them, their actions have no consequences, their parents don’t need to be respected but are just ATM machines or non-existent, hard work is the same thing as showing up late/calling in sick and playing on a Web site or cell phone and they uniquelyare owed everything people on TV have and shouldn’t have to wait for it to come to them.
It takes a level of maturity to understand that delaying gratification and limiting dependence on a central authority is a more fulfilling existence than just accepting instant gratification and pleasure at the expense of individual liberty. A good percentage of the young college aged twenty-somethings will naturally become Republicans when they start having children and paying taxes. Defense suddenly trumps all when you coddle a newborn and begin thinking about the dangers of the world. Fiscal discipline becomes a necessity the moment bills need to be paid and creditors show up at your door. For those who will go on to pay their taxes, show up to work each day and build a nest egg, they will naturally begin lamenting all of those who take from the system and give nothing back and then want more.
As for the “hip-hop” urban realm, so much of this space is influenced by social programs, drugs and community mentality. A television commercial, radio ad or billboard is not going to influence them as much as a “community organizer” telling them their problems are societies fault and responsibility. We are fighting against decades of entitlement programs and mass academic and media dishonesty. Some TV commercials on BET aren’t going to cut it.
In the end there is almost no way this can actually go well. I cannot imagine the GOP producing any kind of advertising that won’t be viewed at best as lame and worst outrageously offensive. It will be chatter for MSNBC, the New York Times and a long list of liberal media outlets who will mock the effort and indict the Party faithful as racists. I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT proceed, DO NOT pass GO, jump ship immediately on this idea.
Before the GOP can make any headway with non-traditional Republican voters it must service two groups; conservatives who stayed home on election day because they were disillusioned with Republican leaders and moderates who were Bush supporters in 2000 and 2004 but found themselves dismayed over titanic spending and government scandal. Republicans must take power and then responsibly govern. We must find and build up LEADERS not politicians but actual LEADERS who will influence the lives of their constituents and hold government accountable. LEADERS make tuff choices and create responsible plans; they don’t make hip-hop PR campaigns. Once we have a Party of such leaders their example will stand as a model of character and influence and their re-election campaigns will be more than a race against their own record but a true campaign that highlights their success.
The form of pandering in any “hip-hop” PR campaign is disgusting and unproductive. It is a sign that GOP leaders still have no conception of why John McCain lost or why their candidates were turned against in 2006. This is a waste of time and if this is one of the first things Michael Steele is spending his time and the GOP’s money on I have little to no faith that he will steer the ship any better than Mike Duncan.
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