Opinion

How The GOP Can Win With Compassion

Kristin Tate Author, "How Do I Tax Thee?"
Font Size:

If Republicans want to win over the hearts of moderate voters in 2016, they might be wise to take a few PR notes from Aristotle. 2,300 years ago, the great philosopher identified three fundamental aspects of persuasion: he called the appeal to reason “Logos,” the appeal to credibility “Ethos,” and the appeal to emotion “Pathos.”

Sensible fiscal policies and a slew of impressive candidates already give Republicans a head start in Logos and Ethos. They’ve been having problems with Pathos — the emotional appeal. Think about it. Are the Republicans currently beating the Democrats at speaking to the emotions of voters?

Hillary Clinton routinely portrays Republicans as insensitive and mean-spirited, and she gets away with it. She recently suggested that GOP rhetoric may have “triggered” the church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina, alluding to comments made by Donald Trump. A few weeks earlier, at her campaign launch speech, she told an adoring crowd that Republicans “reject what it takes to build an inclusive economy.”

Obama’s presidential campaigns mastered this song and dance. Who could forget the 2012 ad showing a Paul Ryan-like figure push granny off a cliff in her wheelchair?

To take back the White House, the GOP needs to convince voters that Republican candidates genuinely care about the well being of every American, not just the rich. Proving this will involve more than conservatives merely calling themselves “compassionate” in the style of George W. Bush.

Republicans must keep their message positive, using elevating, vivid language to paint a picture of what a GOP-led future could look like: a flourishing economy, where anyone who works hard can land a good-paying job, and a bright future for our children.

Showing this to voters shouldn’t be so hard. The middle and lower classes benefit from policies that promote free enterprise and self-sufficiency — both defining Republican principles. Texas, for example, is governed by Republicans and has a comparatively business-friendly climate and no income tax. The result is an astounding unemployment rate of just four percent and one of the lowest welfare rates in the country.

Now that the hard work is done in Texas, the trick is for GOP candidates to effectively share results like these with voters in a way that is inspiring. Americans from all walks of life need to get excited about how their lives can improve from conservative policies.

This kind of positive messaging should be coupled with discussions that highlight the results of Republican policies — not just the means of Republican policies. Focusing on ends as opposed to means is the jewel in the crown of Democratic rhetorical strategies: their candidates focus on all the wonderful benefits that voters are entitled to. They don’t focus, by contrast, on who’s actually going to be paying for those benefits or the consequences for some of the same people those policies are supposed to help. While Republicans campaign on the theme of “cuts,” Obama campaigns on “free” college, healthcare, food, housing, and childcare. The GOP knows Logos, but Obama and Hillary know Pathos.

Republicans also need to take better note of Democrats’ strategies for showing their inclusiveness, if for no other reason than to counterbalance Democrats’ relentless efforts to portray the GOP as exclusivist. Remember when Vice President Joe Biden told black constituents that Republicans wanted to “put y’all back in chains”?

Combating this damaging narrative will require conservatives to go beyond rhetoric. They have an obligation to travel to cities like Detroit, St. Louis, and Baltimore — where a high percentage of citizens are stuck on welfare and in poverty — and show voters how conservative initiatives can provide pathways to prosperity. The GOP can spread their message by building up trust among voters in these groups; the only way to do that is by connecting with these communities in a sincere way.

Some GOPers are learning these lessons. Rand Paul has proposed policy initiatives to lift up the underprivileged, such as “economic freedom zones” in predominantly black areas like Detroit. He has also reached out to these areas by explaining how school choice can help children of all economic backgrounds. The senator has been critical of his own party for not being more outwardly inclusive of minorities.

Jeb Bush appears to understand the GOP’s Pathos problem as well. He vocalized concern for the “most vulnerable in society” in a recent campaign video. “My core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line, not the back,” he said. It’s a good start, but Bush will need to expand on these ideas in an uplifting way if he wants to appear genuine.

Here’s the bottom line: The GOP doesn’t need to change its platform to become the party of compassion; it needs to hone that message and hammer it home.

Aristotle said that man’s highest pursuit should be “arete,” which translates to both excellence and moral virtue. Sounds like a winning campaign philosophy for the GOP.

Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel