HAWAII, February 3, 2012 - America needs another Ron in the Oval Office, and that would be "Ron Paul" this time around. But if the Texas Congressman wants to become President, he needs to know, as Reagan told 1976 Republican delegates there is no substitute for victory.
The Nevada caucus is just around the corner. Forget everything you've heard about Ron Paul. America loves a comeback story, and if Paul can force a stunning victory in one of the upcoming caucus states, he can make himself an allegory for the restoration of America and win the Presidency.
Contrary to what critics say, there are millions of Americans who want and need Paul to win. No candidate has the kind of passionate, energetic and true-believing supporters that Paul has.
Ronald Reagan's presidency was always about handing America over to what he called "the future youth" - the very people who now rally to Paul. I don't know if Paul knows this or not, but he is the true heir to the Reagan legacy as the leader of America's young people.
With this in mind, Paul owes it to his fans to not squander these special gifts and deliver a victory. Winning an asymmetric campaign is all about tactics, and if Paul really wants a game changer, it's time to listen up.
1. Remember which party you're running in.
Like it or not, Paul made the personal choice to run as a Republican. All successful leadership begins with understanding organizational culture and communicating ideas within the context of that culture.
No one joins a bowling club and tries to convince the members to become a basketball club. Winning Republican votes means speaking to Republican culture.
The Republican Party is a rapid feedback/reward and high risk organizational culture. The Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy corporate organizational matrix calls that type of organization a "tough-guy macho culture."
Consider this: According to an October 2011 report by the Center for Responsive Politics and OpenSecrets.org, from 2009 up to the completion of that study it was estimated that 67% of donations from players and executives affiliated with NFL teams went to the Republican Party. Why? Because the Republican Party's organizational culture is almost identical to a football team culture.
Just as in football, the Republican base values hard chargers as candidates, not think tank research directors. They will gladly assign the word "conservative" - for better or worse - to anyone who acts like a hard charger. Republican critics say they don't like Paul's foreign policy, but what they really mean is, "Ron Paul kinda feels like a pushover."
Please take this advice in love: Paul doesn’t have to change his policy or sell out his values to win, he just needs to change the way he communicates it. Even in evangelism successful missionaries speak to foreign cultures within the context of their culture to win followers.
From now on, if Paul wants to shift the GOP inertia towards his nomination his new slogan needs to be "Tough and Competent." That doesn't mean Paul will warmonger. "Tough" means Paul will get firm and assertive about fixing America. "Competent" means showing leadership by example that Paul - not just his fans - has the bearing, alertness and drive to get it done.
2. Remember Adlai Stevenson.
A tough and competent Paul can immediately manifest in his next debate. When people think of the Cold War, one of the heroes that immediately comes to mind is Adlai Stevenson for his verbal blitzkrieg against Soviet representative to the UN Valerian Zorin. Stevenson blasted Zorin on live TV, demanding to know whether Soviet missiles were in Cuba. "Don't wait for the translation, answer yes or no!"
When Zorin was evasive, Stevenson delivered a phrase that still echoes to this day: "I'm prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over!" Yet almost no one remembers the fact that prior to that epic UN Security Council hearing, Stevenson had drawn the ire of the Kennedys for appearing soft, overly accommodating and a push-over.
The lesson that Paul can take away from this is that at his next debate he needs to be pro-active, not reactive. By doing this he will immediately overwrite the meme opponents have unfairly assigned to him as "crazy uncle."
Politics is a moral contest of will. Rather than waiting for questions to come to him, Paul needs to disrupt the flow of his opponent's speeches and speak even when not recognized. The moderators will hate him but Republicans will love it. (Remember Reagan's famous "I am paying for this microphone!")
Impressions of a weak Paul will also begin to fade if he goes back to his Air Force days and remembers how to speak with command inflection and leadership bearing. Don't just answer a question, command the answer. It’s not what you say that counts; it's how you say it.
Paul also consistently gets handed platinum opportunities to give fan service to the Republican base in debates but either fails to see it or chooses to drop it. Example: In Paul's last debate, he was asked what I call "The Reagan Question" - whether or not he, as an older man, could handle being president.
Paul went into a cute answer about age discrimination and biking in the heat. That's fine, except it wasn't spin memorable. The correct answer would have been, "As a Reagan conservative, I'm sure you will appreciate it when I say I will not exploit for the purposes of this campaign my opponent’s age and inexperience."
Had Paul said that, he would have scored a gold star among Reaganites - the very people he needs to flip to get delegates - and had an excellent media soundbyte. It was a big opportunity lost.
I understand that part of Paul's anti-establishment strategy is to look as anti-candidate as possible, but that is the fastest way to lose the Republican nomination.
Paul needs to snap to and show lineage to his military career by being a fighter in debates. Be pro-active, pay attention to detail, don’t waste opportunities, be firm yet above reproach.
3. Remember social referencing.
Paul's organization dominates in social networking. But presidential campaigns are not won on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Where they need immediate improvement is social referencing.
Psychology tells us that in instances of ambiguity, people look to others to explain how they should feel. (See Schacter and Singer's 1962 "Two-factor theory of emotion" study if you want the nerd drill down.) How this applies to campaigns is that Paul needs to recruit people who can campaign on his behalf to speak to the various ideological factions within the Republican Party.
It's obvious that Paul wins fiscal conservatives and libertarians. There's no point in preaching to the choir. They'll vote for Paul anytime. What Paul needs are people who can reinforce his position by speaking to and winning over social conservatives and yes, like it or not, the neoconservatives.
Paul has on his website a statement of faith which says he believes that Jesus is his personal savior. That's huge. But how many Christians know that? His campaign needs to leverage that and reach out to churches and pastors for endorsement. That would have won him Iowa.
Paul boasts about having in his top contributions bracket the most military donations of any GOP candidate. That’s good, but has anyone in his campaign considered reaching out to retired senior military officers - colonels and generals/admirals especially - and asking them to stump speech for him?
Imagine how powerful it would be if a retired general were to be featured in a television ad for Paul, talking about how as a line officer and someone who has served in combat he believes a Paul presidency would save lives and strengthen America.
Young voters will listen to young voters and radical ideas. Older, mature voters need the benefit of social referencing. Don't fight it, don't judge it, don't condemn it, flow with it. Don't send twenty-somethings to rebuke forty and fifty-somethings. It doesn't work.
4. Remember there are no points for second place.
It's true that Paul winning a close second or third place shows that he is a force to be reckoned with. But every battle, whether on the field of war or the paper ballot has one winner and one loser and there are no points for second place.
The attitude that a tough and competent Paul should pursue is that he will run to win every time and take the fight to where his opponents are strongest. That's called being a hard charger, and that wins respect and praise.
Paul needs to visualize himself accepting the nomination of the Republican Party - not just running so that a lot of people will be agitated over the status quo but not actually have someone to effect change for the next four years. This means the non-aggression candidate needs to get aggressive about not letting down his followers.
People naturally gravitate to leaders who they perceive as being stronger than themselves. Real leaders define a vision, create a plan to accomplish it, build and sustain the momentum to finish it and duplicate themselves by mentoring others to be what they are. If Paul does these things starting now, he will win.
During the time that Paul served as an Air Force officer, the official Department of Defense pamphlet given to new recruits - The U.S. Fighting Man's Code - had the following challenge written in it:
"Every American citizen - whether in or out of uniform - must share the responsibility for preserving our freedom and our way of life ... The mental and moral weapons are supplied by the strength, will and minds of the American people. So long as the weapons, whatever they be, are wielded by men of honor and integrity, who believe in - and practice - the principles upon which this Nation was founded, so long will our Nation be free and invincible."
I would encourage Paul to see if that pamphlet is still in his possession somewhere and post those words on a big poster in his campaign headquarters.
America needs another Ron in the Oval Office and Ron Paul can change the game.
_____________
You might also like:
Would Israel benefit from a Ron Paul presidency? (Original Video)
Ron Paul and the Israel question
Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are in it for the long haul
Will the Republican party support Ron Paul?
Danny de Gracia is a political scientist, an ordained minister and a former senior adviser to two committee chairs of the Hawaii State House of Representatives. He currently lives in Hawaii.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
