One simple but yet complex question has echoed within the minds of conservatives over the past ten months – what could possibly lead a nation that was founded on the principles of freedom to view the abandonment of such principles as “change” and embrace it with such emotion and disregard for the substantive agenda behind it?  Exactly what forces were at play when highly-educated moderate Republicans from states like North Carolina, Indiana, and Iowa crossed party lines for the very first time to vote for a liberal Democrat for President?  When suburban soccer moms displayed “Hope” bumper stickers on mini vans like tattoos on Hells Angels, and did so with complete disregard for the diametrically opposite views of the candidate?   Or when a nation at war in two countries, with debt mounting to the tipping point, and an economy in near collapse chooses with wide eyes open a neophyte legislator with a background in community organizing over a proven national leader. 

While these reactions among American voters may seem irrational, they are the consequences of comparative politics and not novel to history.  Be not confused, the making of our President was not born from his genius or storied visionary leadership.  Rather, he is a comparative byproduct of eight years of a publicly-perceived inept chief executive.  He shies from decisive leadership and a depth of substantive expertise; after all, positions on issues create dissention and threaten to erode support.  But he does however offer the abstract – hope, kindness, and anything else that can soothe and attract new followers.  The President is talented, bright, articulate, and handsome.  But most powerfully, he is cool, contemporary, and hip.  He plays hoops, blackberries, dates his wife, drinks beer, and watches sports.  And it is this coolness by contrast that allows him to sustain his trance on the American public and look measured and thoughtful in the face of Republican attempts to rebut him.   

For the Republican Party to defeat this President, it must get cool, and it must do so in a hurry.  No small task for a Party that featured a convention last year in Minneapolis where all were invited, that is, except for Americans who were young, not wealthy and diverse.  The gathering was about as creatively designed as a junior high theatrical production, and it left the Party looking out of touch and dated.  By contrast, the Democrats staged a beautifully choreographed show that featured a parade of speakers who served as the mere undercard for the main stadium event.  The stadium speech was theater, made for TV.  Notwithstanding political philosophy, it was hard not to be drawn to the spectacle of the evening. 

While Republicans would argue that these productions have little to do with philosophy and issues, they have everything to do with connecting with a new generation of voters.   They have everything to do with appearing to be in touch.  And in the coolness department, the Democrats hammered the Republicans long before November rolled around, and this contrast deficiency continues to haunt the Party. 

To become more hip, the Party must become more diverse, and look more like a cross section of America than the membership rolls of a local country club.  It must understand that young voters don’t care about partisan politics, but rather they want solutions to real problems and they want to be spoken with, not to.         

Make no mistake, the false feeling of support and joy gleaned recently by Republican leaders from the town hall uprisings across the country in opposition to the President’s healthcare proposal is just as misplaced and misguided as Nancy Pelosi believing that the millions of people who showed up for the Inaugural address represented some sort of national mandate for her to drive her liberal agenda.  It is not the Republicans that tea partiers and town hall crashers support, as evidenced by their continued low standing in the approval polls.  Rather it is the President they oppose.  Support must be earned.  And for Republicans to succeed in the coming election cycles they must start talking like the majority of Americans, connecting with the majority of Americans, and simply put, they must become a whole lot more cool.

Ken has more than 13 years of legislative policy, legal, and communications experience. As General Counsel and head of Nahigian Strategies, LLC’s Legislative and Government Affairs practice, Ken provides an expertise on a wide range of issues pertaining to federal trade, consumer privacy and protection, transportation security, automotive safety, healthcare, and product safety.