Month: November 2012

I know this is a bit of a departure from our usual posts about movies to see, events to attend and great things for your kids. Nope — this is a post about the election. While I never shared who I was voting for in this election, it’s now safe to say that while my entire family was gunning for Mitt Romney, I stuck to my principles and voted for President Obama. And despite the grumbling from my kids and husband, I was doing a jig last night after I heard that my daughter’s future is once again safe and secure now that the people who truly live in the 21st century are still in positions of power.
The Republicans seem to be suffering from foot in mouth disease. Every time one of their members opens their mouths, they say the most nonsensical things without even realizing how many people they’ve offended along the way. As a publicist, I want to offer some heartfelt advice to the Republican party. If you think that one of your own is about to utter a cringeworthy statement on national or local television, do everything in your power to keep them away from the media. Or better yet, rather than put duct tape on their mouths, ensure they receive media training.
Moving forward, the Republican party should issue talking points for all of their members. And they shouldn’t be talking abouts about which agenda their party supports. They should be the talking points that cover questions that reporters want answers to that will definitely put them in hot water. Here are a just a few:
* What’s your stance on abortion?
* What about abortion during cases of rape?
* Do you believe in gender equality?
* Do you approve of Gay Marriage?
There are plenty more questions where that came from but the bottom line is the reason the Republicans lost is because their representatives are trapped in the 1950’s spewing nonsensical statements like becoming pregnant after you’re raped is a “gift from god” or there’s a chemical in women’s bodies that knows when it’s raped so it instantly has a miscarriage. Or, you set out on an expedition to find qualified women for your cabinet and your staff came back with binders full of women who would fit the bill.
The quotes that did in the Republican party will pretty much go down in history as sexist, idiotic and degrading. Which is why moving forward, there should be a media training expert on hand 24/7, coaching politicians on what they should and shouldn’t say during an interview or an intimate townhall meeting that’s being surreptitiously recorded on an iPhone 5.
Get with the program Republicans. If you want to get elected, you need to be real. You need to take no crap like Governor Chris Christie and reach across party lines because that is the right thing to do. You need to hug people, truly care about the well being of others and don’t spew fire and brimstone about how the President and the Democratic party are destroying our nation. We are all in this together. So find a few business savvy Republicans who are good guys who started out with nothing, built an empire, gave back to charity, can hug women and children and maybe hire a few who are qualified to work on your team. Don’t say stupid things you’re going to regret and most importantly, THINK BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING that’s going to pretty much jeopardize your party’s chances from ever moving into the Oval Office in this century.
I know our economy is still broken and our deficit has never been higher. I also know there are people who recently lost their homes and businesses to a horrific storm that could be caused by climate change or global warming. I want to know that we have a government that is fiscally responsible but is also looking out for the safety and well being of my children and future generations who will live in our country long after we’re all gone. I also want to know that the people who are truly successful – the infamous 1% are doing their part to give back to those in need. That’s just good karma and maybe, just maybe, that’s what will happen over the next four years. We all do the right thing and good things will happen in our nation.
So here’s to the Republican party finding a few more good candidates who are charismatic, real, and inspiring. And let’s not forget the media trainers and speech writers who make their words come alive and inspire the public to believe in them. While Ronald Reagan is long gone, his speech writer Peggy Noonan is alive and well and sorely needed to breathe some life back into this windbag of a party. Perhaps if you re-enlist Noonan to write better speeches and message points for your party, you’d all be in a lot better shape. Until then, you’ve got four years to figure out how to get your act together again and move toward the future with the rest of us.