Apparently the GOP is tutoring its officeholders and candidates in how to better communicate with women and how to address female opponents. Link.
That's all well and good. Political parties do this kind of thing all the time. Back in the mid '90s, Democrats were in trouble because they were perceived as God-haters and too enthusiastic about abortion, so they hired consultants and reworked their message not to sound like they thoroughly detested Jesus Christ and weren't about to throw a big party every time somebody had an abortion. (That's how the "safe, legal, and rare" slogan came about.) Furthermore, political parties have hired consultants and marketing people to teach them how to pitch their message to certain constituencies for years. That's normal.
However, why make this public and discuss it? That just doesn't seem very smart. First, the media and political pundits will make fun of it and make it sound like they're trying to deceive people. Second, regardless of what's being sold, if you tell your potential buyers that you're adopting gimmickry to get them to buy from you, they're going to get skeptical. Third, the marketing steps used to appeal to women (and every group but white men) are politically incorrect. You're basically admitting that you're going to stereotype whatever group you're going after.
For example, McDonald's food blows, but they make tons of money, because they appeal to children who nag their parents into going there. However, you'd never hear the CEO of McDonald's say, "our food sucks, so we're going to run commercials and pitch gimmicks to stupid children so they'll ignore how crappy the food is and nag their candy-*** parents who don't discipline them until they're sick of listening to their BS and take them to our restaurant." Why not? It's the truth, but he's not going to say it, because people would catch on, and relatively smart kids (and parents) would be offended. So instead of saying they're going to market to children, they just do it, and it works.
But the GOP isn't that smart. They tell people that they're adopting a new marketing strategy and divulge the tactics. For example, Mark Jacobs who's running for Senate in Iowa commented that candidates need to "connect with women on an emotional level." Is it true? Of course it is, but people don't want to be told that they make decisions based on emotion. It's insulting. It suggests that they're incapable of logic. So if he's the nominee, that's another Senate seat the GOP is going to piss away, because that statement will be used against him indefinitely. Sad.
That's all well and good. Political parties do this kind of thing all the time. Back in the mid '90s, Democrats were in trouble because they were perceived as God-haters and too enthusiastic about abortion, so they hired consultants and reworked their message not to sound like they thoroughly detested Jesus Christ and weren't about to throw a big party every time somebody had an abortion. (That's how the "safe, legal, and rare" slogan came about.) Furthermore, political parties have hired consultants and marketing people to teach them how to pitch their message to certain constituencies for years. That's normal.
However, why make this public and discuss it? That just doesn't seem very smart. First, the media and political pundits will make fun of it and make it sound like they're trying to deceive people. Second, regardless of what's being sold, if you tell your potential buyers that you're adopting gimmickry to get them to buy from you, they're going to get skeptical. Third, the marketing steps used to appeal to women (and every group but white men) are politically incorrect. You're basically admitting that you're going to stereotype whatever group you're going after.
For example, McDonald's food blows, but they make tons of money, because they appeal to children who nag their parents into going there. However, you'd never hear the CEO of McDonald's say, "our food sucks, so we're going to run commercials and pitch gimmicks to stupid children so they'll ignore how crappy the food is and nag their candy-*** parents who don't discipline them until they're sick of listening to their BS and take them to our restaurant." Why not? It's the truth, but he's not going to say it, because people would catch on, and relatively smart kids (and parents) would be offended. So instead of saying they're going to market to children, they just do it, and it works.
But the GOP isn't that smart. They tell people that they're adopting a new marketing strategy and divulge the tactics. For example, Mark Jacobs who's running for Senate in Iowa commented that candidates need to "connect with women on an emotional level." Is it true? Of course it is, but people don't want to be told that they make decisions based on emotion. It's insulting. It suggests that they're incapable of logic. So if he's the nominee, that's another Senate seat the GOP is going to piss away, because that statement will be used against him indefinitely. Sad.
