Reboot. Rebuild. Rebrand.

There have been a lot of great posts on this site about the future of the Republican Party and the Freedom Movement. I want to add mine to the pile, but do so in a way that offers a clear framework and three-step process going forward: 1. Reboot, 2. Rebuild, 3. Rebrand. 

1. Reboot – Coalesce around a Vision

Like many large, powerful organizations, the Republican Party began to suffer from inefficiency, mission creep and stagnation. Why does this happen? These organizations become victims of their own success. They lose their way because they lose site of the Vision. Losing site of the vision means paths diverge, the organization splinters—all of which can lead to dissolution. But isn’t it possible for an organization to get its footing back? Remember when Steve Jobs returned to Apple? He brought the Vision back. Now we have iPhones. Luckily, we already have what Jon Henke calls an “organizing principle” around which to coalesce. It’s called liberty. Or, if you like, the Vision of the Founders. Rebooting requires getting the vision back in the manner of a Thomas Jefferson circa 1774, or a Ronald Reagan circa 1979. In case anyone here needs a refresher, here are the Top 5 ingredients of that successful Vision, already given to us by the Founders:

• Freedom is good for its own sake. (We don’t like tyrants or nannies.)
• Freedom gives rise to prosperity. (It helps us to be prosperous.)
• Freedom can only be guaranteed through limiting government. That may mean “going local” (federalism), checks and balances (constitutional reform), or financial constraints (tax & spending reform). As Madison warned: There are no angels in Washington.
• Freedom must never be auctioned off. (That means must never be sold to special interests, politicians, corporations—even for short term political gain).
• Freedom’s protection and preservation is the sole purpose of government. (Freedom sacrificed to equality (or “crisis management” or “pragmatism” or X) gives us neither.)

Once everyone has bought back into that Vision, things get a lot clearer. People remember why they were doing any of this in the first place. They have a both a beacon in the darkness and a reason to fight. Right now, we’re still in reboot phase. But with a President-elect and Congress that is both Keynesian and Machiavellian, we have a perfect opportunity to re-embrace the principles of the Founding and define ourselves by way of contrast. (They, after all, are but sloganeers, demagogues and opportunists.)

2. Rebuild – Bottom-Up and Top-Down

Only once the Vision is established and the Reboot has taken place can the execution phase begin. This is the hard part. It is the “mission” part of the Vision/Mission, which is to say the means—i.e. putting together the infrastructure to get people to think like you and vote for your team. Period. This is where you have to pay attention to the bottom up and the top down.

Bottom Up. Decentralization is a good thing to an extent. It drives experimentation and innovation. It allows for new leaders to emerge, new connections to fused, new networks constructed and new communication channels to be opened – all in spontaneous order. Effective memes and new ideas come out of our Movement in unplanned ways through a process of trial and error. While I join Dale Franks in his admonitions about technology being an instrument to some end, we must leave room for good things simply to happen by surprise. So yes, tech must be a tool to carry out our mission—that is, whatever it takes to work in service of the Vision. But we must leave room for the emergent properties of unplanned order—serendipity, innovation and meme. That’s why, in large measure, the Freedom Movement need not reinvent the wheel. We simply need to use the second mover advantage and equip ourselves with whatever tools we need to be effective communicators, marketers, messagers, evangelizers, vote getters and implementers. “Embrace and extend” the best practices of the left and innovate at the periphery. Then we need to share those tools, rules and best practices with those in our networks. This process, while it seems like it has no “plan” is part of the Rebuild. Tools, rules and best practices give rise to all the good stuff that comes from the bottom up.

Top Down. But there is a centralized aspect, too. Sometimes it takes skillful people to market ideas, craft messages and keep people singing from the same page. It takes a central decision-making authority to choose battles and protect the brand. That’s why the centralized aspect must ultimately be to ensure fidelity to the content of the Reboot, which we called the Vision. Remember when Newt Gingrich gave us the “Contract with America”? That was more or less a call for people to reboot in 1994. The Republican Party did well when they stuck to that reboot functionally. They got their people to work based on that buy in. (I think even GOPAC used to send around talking points with variations on the same themes.) The role of the central organization can also be to keep its agents in line. Those, like the Ted Stevens of the world who’ve lost site of the Vision, must be marginalized, or even excised. Those, like the Coburns and the Shaddegs must be empowered. Incentives must be aligned towards one end—building the infrastructure that can get people to think like you and vote for your team. This is where authority and decision-making power by party principals is useful. In any case, finding the sweet spot between bottom up and top down is tough. But when you do, you can move mountains. 

3. Rebrand – Look Good Wearing Principles

Once the Freedom Movement has executed it’s Reboot and begun a Rebuild from both the bottom up and the top down, it must then begin a comprehensive Rebrand. That rebrand may simply come from taking our Vision to Madison Avenue and paying talented creatives to help us project a compelling and contemporary image of said Vision. So be it. This is our Movement’s new face. It’s about, Heaven help, making the Republican Party relevant again. And that means whatever devices you use to execute an effective rebrand (and the timing has to be just right), it must be carried out with the Vision and the Mission (getting folks to think like us and vote like us) burned into our brains. Reboot, Rebuild, Rebrand is like shampoo: wash, rinse, repeat. Steps 1 and 2 must always and forever inform the brand. And to some extent the brand must be as much a set of parameters as it is look and feel or message. After all, perceptions are everything. If perceptions are a reflection of something true and good, like principles, you might as well look good while wearing them. 

Whatever we do, we must remember that each of these elements work holistically. Branding without a Vision is empty. Vision without branding is useless. Either without infrastructure is a recipe for failure. Reboot. Rebuild. Rebrand.