It’s obvious to anyone paying a bit of attention to the current American political landscape, that the Republican Party is having problems staying afloat in the deep end of the pool.
If you thought that saying stupid and out-of-touch things would end with GW Bush… well then you were clearly pretty wrong. The Lettermans and Stewarts of the world can feel safe, because the GOP is partying like it’s 2005 (insert your own favorite Bush year here _____).

But i’m getting ahead of myself.

We (the dirty, socialist Europeans), all thought that McCain actually had a decent shot, at least for a while. Even though – had Europe been able to vote, the outcome would have been the same.
But he did say some smart things. Problem being, he also started the perfect storm, his party is caught in now.

And it goes a little something like this:

Not the best thing to say then, and it’s a statement that looks even worse now. This kickstarted a string of wrong choices, that are threathening to put the Republicans in the corner, for a very long time.

These are just a few of the obvious problems.

1. Opinions

You would think a huge political party, that has been around for 159 years, would know a little bit about politics. But it seems they’re so eager to have an opinion right now, that they talk before they think.

Opinions are a good thing to have, but the Republicans have all the wrong ones, or at the very least they’re not communicating them in the right way. Because even though it looks kinda tempting right now, trying to be the Democrats is not the right move.

2. Cooks

Ever since McCain got run over by Obama, the Republicans have been scrambling to find someone new they can gather behind… with no luck. That has left them wide open for anyone with a media contacts and an opinion.

Remember this guy….

His rollerdex is official, and he has stories for days…

But Cheney’s not the only one. Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich and Colin Powell are all among the people, that have joined the chorus. All singing their own version, and all at the same time. That leaves the potential voters with a big mess, and the party in need of a boss.

3. The Youth

I could almost just leave this map and that would be enough, but there is actually more to say. Because the truth of the matter is that even though the Republicans are in trouble now, the future looks even bleaker. A recent report and survey showed this in detail. You can download it here.

 

One of the things it said was: “Republicans struggle among young people for a very specific reason. At a time when young people are paying close attention to politics and when so many are struggling economically, even more so than older generations, the Republicans simply do not speak to the reality of their lives or to the issues important to them. This perception stands in marked contrast to their reaction to Barack Obama. Nationally, voters’ opinion of the President may have cooled slightly—and inevitably—in recent weeks, but among younger voters, he has never been more popular. They strongly support his economic policy and are confident that he will make a difference in their lives.”

Which in fact means that the GOP are worse of in the future, if they don’t start looking at, what the real world out there, is like!

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Ok so it’s not hard to point out the current state of events for the Republicans – but what should they do about it?

What turnarounds political or otherwise can they use as inspiration?

How do you go from being all powerful (and not that cool) to about as much power as Dr. Evil (and still about as appealing as genital warts to anyone under the age of 40)?

Nintendo:

Faced with Sega type extermination in 1996, in the face of the Playstation vs the Xbox dominating the marketplace for the forseeable future – what did they do?

Now in 2009, the Wii has shipped 51million since it’s creation in 2006 – stealing marketshare from the competition..

What was their secret? How did they beat the odds and extinction?
Staying true to their brand – developing fun, easy and….fun gaming experiences.

Best of all – discovering something about the audience that was previously unknown…women, old people and everyone inbetween like to play games!
Maybe the Elephants fly to Nintendo HQ??

Under Armour:

Maybe the Republicans can steal some Obama’s future thunder by emulating this brand’s rise to prominence.

A former university American Football player started with a “simple plan to make a superior T-shirt” and has created a sporting apparel empire that has made 200m USD in Q1 of 2009.

More important, Under Armour is the brand most closely associated with young athletes (men and women). Younger, hotter and fresher than the established players in the market.

How? Communication – plain and simple!

Under Armour’s brilliant marketing campaigns ‘spoke’ in a voice that was so in tune with the audience, the popularity and success of the brand was going to be undeniable.

Then came the ‘boom boom tap’ campaign, which spoke to the previously under marketed female athlete audience.

 

If Under Armour can make the established leaders like Nike and Reebok step their game up…?

‘Publicans…take note.

And there you have it, that doesn’t sound that hard does it??
Well in theory, no, but then this was done by a company that knew they had a problem (Nintendo) and were not afraid to admit it. Or an underdog (Under Armour), trying hard to bother the “establishment”.

At the moment The GOP seem to be caught like a deer in the headlights of a Prius, and limping back into the forest, no telling anyone they got hit. They may think they’re the underdog, because they’re not in government, but please…. that is only in their minds.

So if you want to find a way out the mess, you’d better go Jerry McGuire on us!

 

BANDIT