Marketing to Morons

Former GE CEO Jack Welch appeared on CNBC this morning. He shook his head and said, "We Republicans don’t know how to market anything." He’s right. They don't. But why is that? What happened to the party that produced a truth-telling messenger like Ronald Reagan just one generation ago?

Ironically, it was Reagan who finally addressed most of the same problems America was plagued by thirty-three years ago. In 1980 Americans had been suffering from a succession of fools in the White House. During that time Americans had developed and almost blind zombie like belief that putting more power in Washington DC was the solution to any problem. By the end of the Carter presidency America was suffering from such a totally horrible malaise the voters decided to take “a chance” on Reagan. The reason they felt they were taking a chance was the pro-Democrat media had depicted him as a radical extremist just as they do all GOP candidates.

Reagan had simplified America’s problems. In good layman's terms he explained that bigger government was not the solution, it was the problem. Of course there were fewer morons in America thirty-three years ago. It was an easier sell. 

By the end of Reagan’s second term he had created such unbelievable economic momentum for the country by shrinking government it wasn’t until the tail end of the second term of Bill Clinton that the U.S. finally had a serious economic downturn. It got even worse after 9-11 but the number of people employed returned to record high levels under George W. Bush.

So, why can’t the GOP market anything after living standards have steadily declined under Obama? Why can't the GOP show how the government has ballooned in size dramatically since the end of Reagan’s second term and how this has led to disaster?

The answer is pretty simple. America is now more financially, economically, and even historically illiterate than ever before.

While the GOP voter base is educated and much more literate than the nation as a whole, it is dwarfed by millions of new-age idiots. And unfortunately for the GOP, its communication strategies are based on the idea that the average American is reasonably well-informed. Big government has brought America to the brink of destruction in 2013 thanks to sophisticated get out the dumb voter drives. In 1980 Democrats had more scruples. They did not resort to facillitating voter fraud in the inner cities that now swamps the votes of people with common sense who actually pay taxes.

Where is the proof we are surrounded by uninformed morons?

1) Tens of millions of Americans with no savings or even deferrals of their salaries for retirement can be found waiting in long lines to replace their advanced smart phones with even newer smart phones.

2) People with huge credit card balances and other heavy debt burdens rush off to buy the latest versions of video games like Grand Theft Auto just as soon as they are released. The idea of plowing their discretionary income straight into debt reduction is the farthest thing from their minds.

3) The trend line for academic achievement in America has been in full fledged retreat for decades. The public education system gets more resources than ever to train young Americans to be stupid. This task they perform brilliantly.

4) The news media (except for Fox) conditions the public to love Obama and hate the GOP. Every day or so, you will see a so-called “reporter” pointing to the latest poll. “Look,” you will hear them begin,.....“The public loves Obama and hates the GOP.”

Why would anyone, especially the GOP marketing people, think these tens of millions of people, who are completely clueless about intelligent personal finance decisions, going to be swayed by pleas for the nation to be governed based on common sense? Marketing common sense ideas is the last thing you want to try to sell to morons.

What should Republicans do if they want the voters to help them save the country? First, they should understand there are tens of millions of uninformed idiots who are totally susceptible to manipulation by racial and ethnic overtones and irrelevant concerns that have nothing to do with good policies or common sense. That would be a start.