It's the Numbers

A candidate was running for office. He had all of the issues down pat. A good conservative, with a proper world view on Natural Law.

A consultant told him. You can't win did you see the numbers? The numbers? Said the candidate. What do you mean? You are way too conservative for this race. The numbers all say the you are all ready in the hole 12% percent before you even begin. The Democrats out number the Republicans in your race by 12%. The polls also show that the voters in your race are moderates. You have no chance.

The candidate was stunned. How can this be? Reagan always won in this District. The candidate then thought, I know Regan must have won because Tax Relief, Gun Rights, and Pro Life supporters backed him in this district.

The consultant didn't know what to say. How could he tell the candidate that those advocacy groups have supported the Democrat in this race ever since Reagan retired as President? It didn't make sense. How do I explain this?

The Consultant decided to tell the truth. The truth is, that when Reagan was President, many of those groups were hungry, and idealistic. They were in politics for the issues. Then the money started coming in from people who believed in their cause.

It worked, Reagan got their issues to the fore front of the American Conscience, and more money came, in bigger amounts per donor than before, because they were effective advocacy groups. There is nothing wrong with this, they were doing a good job, and deserved to be rewarded accordingly.

But something happened along the way. Many of the founders of these advocacy groups retired, and turned the organizations over to others, who were not there during the early years. Most businesses are not run as well, by the people who take them over from the founder. They usually don't have the same motivations, that got them into the business, that their predecessor did. These newbies had gotten used to a certain level of income. Also if the groups funding dropped and they lost influence in the system, they would be the ones who destroyed the firm. They would be losers.

So they took the lazy approach. What are the registration numbers? The numbers show Democrat? Well lets find a Democrat who will vote on my issue, and get him in there. What about the other issues? To heck with that. I am responsible for keeping a prominent firm in my industry alive, and I am not going to take the chances that my founder took, on guys with bad registration numbers like Reagan. My founder had nothing to lose, I do.

So that is how you end up with Conservative organizations you could trust, when Reagan was President, supporting Liberals. It is about MY issue advocacy firm and nothing else. They can vote for tax relief, and vote against gun rights, and right to life. They can vote for a right to life, and vote against tax relief, and gun rights. They can vote for gun rights and vote against tax relief, and a right to life. These groups believe there will never be another Ronald Reagan, who was right on all of those issues. Besides many of the largest donors for these firms didn't like Reagan. He was a bit too small town for them.

One thing we can thank a system like this for, is there will probably be a new major party in Iowa come November 3rd. The odds are pretty good, that to be in that party you will have to be for tax relief, a right to life, and gun rights. One or two out of three will not count. Otherwise you wouldn't have any need for the new party. The other two will give you the single issue you are looking for.