Thoughts On Effectively Shaping The Debate

So if you are in charge of one of these conservative Super-PACS, what might be the best way to leverage that money to make sure we get the best results in the medium and long-term?  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Focus on what is important.  Earmarks are not that important. Making Congress part-time is not that important.  Reforming entitlements to avoid bankruptcy and punishing tax increases and making the health care sector more productive while maintaining security for families are that important.  Focus the debate on the stuff that matters.

2.  Focus on causes not candidates.  Policies will have to be implemented by policymakers of course, but candidates and office holders respond to incentives.  The more people know about premium support Medicare, and market-oriented health care reform, and the stakes involved, the easier it will be for candidates to talk about these issues.  The more people who think that these policies are high priorities, the more candidates and office holders will feel compelled to talk about them.  When there is a critical mass of people talking about them, right-leaning news outlets with a commercial bent will find it more in their interest to talk about these policies without fearing that talking about Medicare reform and right-leaning health care reform will leave their audiences uncomprehending. The more candidates and media outlets then talk about these policies, the more public awareness will grow.  It could become a virtuous cycle. 

3.  Talk to everybody.  Put ads on Rush Limbaugh and the O’Reilly Factor and The Daily Show and the Colbert Report.  I can’t stress enough that the more people who don’t immediately mentally check out when they hear “premium support Medicare”, the more likely it is that politicians will talk about these policies and the more likely it is that politicians who know and care about these sorts of issues will prosper (no guarantees of course.)