Bryan Fischer
The stump speech that will win Romney the White House
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Word is circulating that Mitt Romney is recalibrating his campaign strategy, recognizing that the campaign has got to be about more than the economy. According to Politico, Paul Ryan has been pressing internally for more of an emphasis in the campaign on a more well-rounded conservative message. If so, he is absolutely right to do so.
There has always been reserve in the conservative community regarding Romney, and he has received a fair amount of criticism recently from social conservatives for what has appeared to be a timid campaign.
The Romney team needs to heed the voice of Jesus, who said that the man who saves his life (by playing it safe) will lose it, but the man who loses his life (by taking big risks) will save it. In other words, timidity is a loser, boldness is a winner. In still other words, go big or you might be going home.
Perhaps the Romney campaign is paying heed to the conservative voices of criticism and making some mid-course corrections as a result. If so, the conservative voices, even though they have expressed what has appeared at times to be uncomfortably sharp criticism, may have done the Romney campaign the biggest favor of all.
There are three things Gov. Romney can do between now and election day that will likely give him the White House.
First, weave comments about social issues into every speech. Paul Ryan was unapologetic on Friday at the Values Voter Summit in defending the life of the unborn and was sharply critical of the Obama administration for failing to defend these helpless little lives. The response was enthusiastic.
And this message will resonate with the voting public as well. According to a recent CNN poll, 62% of Americans want common sense restrictions on abortion. They are uneasy when they think about what happens during abortions, and a clear signal from Romney will be reassuring to them.
The campaign should also stress its commitment to the institution of marriage at every stop. Gov. Romney had an effective section in his video address to the Values Voter Summit on Friday that emphasized his commitment to resist the redefinition of marriage and stressed the importance of the natural family to the upbringing of children. Everybody knows that children do best when raised by a mother and a father. That message will resonate with the vast majority of Americans, simply because they know it is true.
Marriage is 32-0 at the ballot box because when people are alone in the booth with just themselves, their conscience, and their God, they know that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, period.
If the Romney camp will make a point of reminding folks at every stop that when they go to the polls on November 6, they are voting not just for candidates but about marriage, they will win this thing going away.
The Romney team does not need to build its stump speeches around social issues. But social issues — life, marriage, family — need to be in the mix every time they talk.
The second thing the Romney camp needs to do is unleash Ryan. This they now seem prepared to do. It is if Ryan has been muzzled by the Romney camp since his rollout, a waste of perhaps the campaign's most valuable resource. Turn him loose to defend his proposals on entitlement and budget reform. He brought an instant surge of energy to the campaign, and that energy is in danger of leaking away because Ryan appears to have been so neutralized.
But Romney picked Ryan because of the Roadmap, plain and simple. So the third thing Romney should do is forthrightly adopt the Ryan plan as his own, start calling it the Romney-Ryan plan and turn Ryan loose to defend it everywhere.
The way for the Romney camp to make this a winner is simple. On Social Security, stress to seniors that nothing changes for you; this is about your children and grandchildren. We want to protect their opportunity to get back what they have paid in. If we don't do something now, it is your children and grandchildren who pay the ultimate price.
That's exactly the same message to those under 55, especially the 20-somethings: we want to be sure that you will get back what you have paid in. If we don't do something now, there will be nothing there for you when you reach retirement age. It'll be long gone. If you want Social Security to be an asset in your retirement, vote for us.
Plus we'll give you the opportunity, the choice, to personalize your Social Security investment. It's your money, you earned it, the taxes have been paid on your earnings, why shouldn't your money be in account that you manage and that has your name on it? That's a message every twenty-something in the United States wants to hear.
On Medicare, remind seniors incessantly that under the Romney-Ryan plan, they will have access to the same kind of health care plan that their congressmen do. Point out that it's the Democratic politicians who do not want you to have the same choices in health care that they have. But we, the Romney-Ryan team, we want you to have choices. Vote for us, and you will have them. And we'll get government out of the way of your health care, and let you choose the health plan that best suits your needs.
On Medicaid, say at every stop we will block grant federal funds to the states, because we don't think all the answers lie in Washington. We believe the states can do a much better job of allocating these resources than bureaucrats in cubicles on the other side of the country.
Every single voter they talk to lives in a state. Who among them doesn't want to hear that they can do a better job of managing programs than Washington can?
So bottom line: Mitt Romney, if you want to win the White House, here's how to do it: Talk boldly and unapologetically about life and marriage at every stop; adopt the Ryan plan as your own and make it the Romney-Ryan plan; and turn Ryan loose to speak on values and to defend the Romney-Ryan plan everywhere. If you do that, it's White House here we come.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
September 18, 2012
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Word is circulating that Mitt Romney is recalibrating his campaign strategy, recognizing that the campaign has got to be about more than the economy. According to Politico, Paul Ryan has been pressing internally for more of an emphasis in the campaign on a more well-rounded conservative message. If so, he is absolutely right to do so.
There has always been reserve in the conservative community regarding Romney, and he has received a fair amount of criticism recently from social conservatives for what has appeared to be a timid campaign.
The Romney team needs to heed the voice of Jesus, who said that the man who saves his life (by playing it safe) will lose it, but the man who loses his life (by taking big risks) will save it. In other words, timidity is a loser, boldness is a winner. In still other words, go big or you might be going home.
Perhaps the Romney campaign is paying heed to the conservative voices of criticism and making some mid-course corrections as a result. If so, the conservative voices, even though they have expressed what has appeared at times to be uncomfortably sharp criticism, may have done the Romney campaign the biggest favor of all.
There are three things Gov. Romney can do between now and election day that will likely give him the White House.
First, weave comments about social issues into every speech. Paul Ryan was unapologetic on Friday at the Values Voter Summit in defending the life of the unborn and was sharply critical of the Obama administration for failing to defend these helpless little lives. The response was enthusiastic.
And this message will resonate with the voting public as well. According to a recent CNN poll, 62% of Americans want common sense restrictions on abortion. They are uneasy when they think about what happens during abortions, and a clear signal from Romney will be reassuring to them.
The campaign should also stress its commitment to the institution of marriage at every stop. Gov. Romney had an effective section in his video address to the Values Voter Summit on Friday that emphasized his commitment to resist the redefinition of marriage and stressed the importance of the natural family to the upbringing of children. Everybody knows that children do best when raised by a mother and a father. That message will resonate with the vast majority of Americans, simply because they know it is true.
Marriage is 32-0 at the ballot box because when people are alone in the booth with just themselves, their conscience, and their God, they know that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, period.
If the Romney camp will make a point of reminding folks at every stop that when they go to the polls on November 6, they are voting not just for candidates but about marriage, they will win this thing going away.
The Romney team does not need to build its stump speeches around social issues. But social issues — life, marriage, family — need to be in the mix every time they talk.
The second thing the Romney camp needs to do is unleash Ryan. This they now seem prepared to do. It is if Ryan has been muzzled by the Romney camp since his rollout, a waste of perhaps the campaign's most valuable resource. Turn him loose to defend his proposals on entitlement and budget reform. He brought an instant surge of energy to the campaign, and that energy is in danger of leaking away because Ryan appears to have been so neutralized.
But Romney picked Ryan because of the Roadmap, plain and simple. So the third thing Romney should do is forthrightly adopt the Ryan plan as his own, start calling it the Romney-Ryan plan and turn Ryan loose to defend it everywhere.
The way for the Romney camp to make this a winner is simple. On Social Security, stress to seniors that nothing changes for you; this is about your children and grandchildren. We want to protect their opportunity to get back what they have paid in. If we don't do something now, it is your children and grandchildren who pay the ultimate price.
That's exactly the same message to those under 55, especially the 20-somethings: we want to be sure that you will get back what you have paid in. If we don't do something now, there will be nothing there for you when you reach retirement age. It'll be long gone. If you want Social Security to be an asset in your retirement, vote for us.
Plus we'll give you the opportunity, the choice, to personalize your Social Security investment. It's your money, you earned it, the taxes have been paid on your earnings, why shouldn't your money be in account that you manage and that has your name on it? That's a message every twenty-something in the United States wants to hear.
On Medicare, remind seniors incessantly that under the Romney-Ryan plan, they will have access to the same kind of health care plan that their congressmen do. Point out that it's the Democratic politicians who do not want you to have the same choices in health care that they have. But we, the Romney-Ryan team, we want you to have choices. Vote for us, and you will have them. And we'll get government out of the way of your health care, and let you choose the health plan that best suits your needs.
On Medicaid, say at every stop we will block grant federal funds to the states, because we don't think all the answers lie in Washington. We believe the states can do a much better job of allocating these resources than bureaucrats in cubicles on the other side of the country.
Every single voter they talk to lives in a state. Who among them doesn't want to hear that they can do a better job of managing programs than Washington can?
So bottom line: Mitt Romney, if you want to win the White House, here's how to do it: Talk boldly and unapologetically about life and marriage at every stop; adopt the Ryan plan as your own and make it the Romney-Ryan plan; and turn Ryan loose to speak on values and to defend the Romney-Ryan plan everywhere. If you do that, it's White House here we come.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
