OPINION:
Three important keys to winning in 2012 are as follows: getting the message out, not responding to attacks but always going on the offense, and remembering that a political campaign is in many ways a war of information.
It is self-evident that in these wars, whoever is able to control the public dialogue and perception of the U.S. populace gains significant advantages over the opponents.
One fights ideas effectively with propaganda, which is neither good nor bad in itself but is a necessary tool. Major rules of propaganda include creating a vision of the future by limiting the message to three main ideas and repeating them over and over.
The second rule of winning is that you must never defend yourself, because in doing so you become too busy warding off attacks, which weakens you in the eyes of the public. You must dodge and counterpunch instead, but it is important to know whom to strike.
Third, use symbols and music that display your vision for the country to the voters in such a way that the dimmest bulb understands it (such as “Hope and Change” and President Obama’s circle emblem, affixed to all his campaign items).
One of the president’s main propaganda themes this summer likely will be the improving economy, which some forecasts indicate will continue to improve. The GOP might combat that false idea with statistics, such as the total number of employed and unemployed (including those like myself entirely out of the job market) and compare them to when now-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats won the House and the economy started to falter.
There are plenty of other statistics that point to the fact that America’s economy is hurting, and that data should be the GOP’s focus. Republicans also can take attention away from the supposedly rousing economy by attacking the administration as out of control and refusing to conform to the rule of law, a true characterization.
What’s more, Mr. Obama’s “recess” appointments should be fought tooth and nail (“President ’confident’ about recess appointments,” Web, Thursday). Republican members of Congress should ignore any requests from the appointees’ offices because of the illegality of the appointments, and they should dry up those offices’ appropriations in any manner possible while a legal case is pursued. Though the mainstream media may howl, we cannot be deterred. The Republican candidates need to take the fight to Mr. Obama now.
PAUL RIEGERT
Poolesville
Please read our comment policy before commenting.