Challenging everything you think you know
We may be six months away from Election Day, but I’ve
already racked up nearly 100,000 miles this year crisscrossing the
country and listening to voters in more than 20 states. Both
President Obama and
Mitt Romney
are already in full campaign mode, and opinions and analysis of their
chances to win are flowing fast and thick. I study what Americans think
and how they communicate. And I can tell you firsthand that there are
widespread misconceptions about conservative voters — what they believe
in and what they are looking for from their leaders. Let’s look closer
at this key demographic and debunk some of the biggest whoppers.
1. Conservatives care most about the size of government.
They may have rallied around President Ronald Reagan’s call for
smaller government three decades ago — but it’s not the 1980s anymore.
Today, conservatives don’t want a reduced government so much as one
that works better and wastes less.
In a poll we completed among
self-identified conservatives just before the 2010 elections,“efficient”
and “effective” government clearly beat “less” and “smaller”
government. For conservatives, this debate is less about size than about
results, along with a demand that elected officials demonstrate
accountability and respect for the taxpayer, regardless of whether
they’re spending $1 million or $1 trillion. They are rallying behind
the budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) not simply because it cuts the size of government, but because it cultivates accountability.
It
used to be that conservatives supported smaller government on
theoretical grounds: The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen;
government should only do for people what they truly cannot do for
themselves; government isn’t the solution, it is the problem. You’ve
heard such comments from conservatives, and they’re the mantra of the
tea party movement. They’re still part of conservative orthodoxy — which
is why Republican candidates invoke them — but the underlying
conservative belief system is shifting.
2. Conservatives want to deport all illegal immigrants.
Conservatives don’t want to round up all the illegal immigrants and deport them. They believe in
the American dreamand
understand that immigrants built our country. That’s why conservatives
embrace legal immigration. A solid majority believe that there should be
an eventual path to earned legal status.
According to our polling
in November, seven in 10 conservatives agree with the following
statement: “America’s immigration policy should consist of tall fences
and wide gates. We need to aggressively prevent illegal immigration, but
let those stay that have worked hard and demonstrated a real,
measurable commitment to this country through military or public
service.”
Yes, conservatives want effective border control right
away. And more than 80 percent are dissatisfied with America’s
immigration system. But only a tiny fraction would support a
shortsighted (and fiscally unfeasible) blanket policy of deporting the
illegal immigrants already here.
3. They worship Wall Street.
While the left may perceive and portray the right as a bunch of
greedy Gordon Gekkos, the truth is that conservatives are highly
critical of Wall Street and wholeheartedly celebrate Main Street. The
business leaders that conservatives respect most are entrepreneurs, not
chief executives; conservatives value small-business owners above big
bankers.
In a poll I conducted early this year, I asked
conservatives whom they most trusted to get our country on the right
economic track. By nearly two to one, they chose small-business owners
over corporate America (only “political leaders” did worse). They
believe that our economy will be rebuilt by hard work on Main Street,
not by book-cooking on Wall Street.
Conservatives respect the role
that businesses large and small have played in spurring America’s
long-term economic success. But most agree with moderates and liberals
that things on Wall Street have gotten out of hand. They believe that
those who abuse the system should be held accountable and that those who
work hard and play by the rules should be free to advance.
And
while big names such as Rush Limbaugh and Larry Kudlow may defend
“capitalism,” my polling indicates that conservatives would rather
embrace “economic freedom.” The former represents big business and Wall
Street; the latter evokes small business and Main Street.
4. Conservatives want to slash Social Security and Medicare.
This charge is at the heart of the Democrats’ campaign against
the GOP. Take Florida, a key swing state full of conservative seniors.
According to
an AARP poll there last year,
70 percent of them oppose cuts to Medicare. They want the program
strengthened, not dismantled. They know Medicare needs reform, but they
want changes to be effective and reasonable.
Conservatives believe
in such simple principles as personal choice and greater competition,
and they are more confident than liberals in people’s ability to make
the right decisions. For example, 78 percent agree with the statement:
“Increasing patient choice in Medicare will help save Medicare from
bankruptcy. When patients can shop for better care . . . it will force
insurance companies to compete against each other, which lowers costs
and increases care.”
When it comes to government retirement
programs, conservatives are pragmatic, not ideological. More than
anything, they want programs such as Medicare and Social Security to
work. Plain and simple.
5. Conservatives don’t care about inequality.
Fully 66 percent of conservatives consider the growing gap
between the rich and the poor a “problem,” according to a poll I
conducted in January, while 21 percent call it a “crisis.”
So, if
everyone is concerned about the income gap, what’s the big difference
between left and right? It’s the difference between opportunity and
outcome. Conservatives want to increase opportunity, giving everyone the
freedom and tools to prosper, so that the poor may someday become rich.
Liberals want to redistribute income, making the rich — quite simply —
less rich.
Conservatives also believe that we need better
enforcement of the regulations we already have, not more rules. Like all
Americans, they are outraged that there hasn’t been a single
prosecution by the Obama administration for the corporate abuses that
led to the economic meltdown. As a focus group participant once asked:
“If Martha Stewart was convicted, why no one from Goldman Sachs?” Or, as
I’d put it, “Why are they working in the White House, not doing time in
the big house?”
Millions of Americans have been hit hard by the economic
downturn and are working hard to escape the trap of poverty.
Mischaracterizing social welfare programs makes it hard to adequately
understand and address these problems.
When you take a Greyhound Bus it is difficult to close your eyes to the face of poverty in America.
Can we rethink food stamps? Instead of nickel-and-diming the
program with endless arguments about what should or shouldn't be paid
for, and what is or isn't junk food, let's scrap it altogether and build
it fresh. 
Nobody wants to be on food stamps, but when my family lost everything, we were grateful for it.
Regressive Republicans pretend they're about opportunity. In
reality they're back at what they've been doing for years -- promoting
Social Darwinism.
I'd be more inclined to overlook the comment, ridiculous as it
was, if Romney wasn't in fact campaigning on what could be described as a
fairly anti-safety net platform. History is on my side here.
You'd think Romney would be more careful in his approach
towards serious subject matters, but somehow the self-proclaimed rich
guy still manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Volunteers in Southern Nevada willingly lived for a week on a
budget of $4.06 a day for food -- the average daily benefit for a single
person on food stamps.
Leaders of both parties agree that the dignity of work is
better than living on the dole, but the GOP tactic of pitting employment
against the safety net is a false choice that promotes a cruel agenda. 
