Call Me GOP

Well, the process took a little longer than expected, but we’ve come to the end of our Call Me, G.O.P. experiment. What have we learned?

It seems the core of the Republican Party is no longer in charge, and it’s driven by the far-right fringe, who are often pushing a personal agenda (Rush Limbaugh is reportedly looking into buying an NFL franchise…can’t make this stuff up, folks) at the expense of more inclusive party principles.

The G.O.P. needs to regain control to be a whole party again. And soon—before history passes the Republicans up. The squabbling about social issues must stop, and the party needs to focus on what they agree on, mainly limited government and fiscal responsibility. As the economy continues to fall apart, the G.O.P. can be a credible voice of experience, leveraging its conservative heritage to bring good sense to complex financial issues. But it can only happen if party members are encouraged to put the party ahead of themselves to make it stronger as a whole, before their differences destroy the platform.

And the process? Well, it’s been interesting, to say the least, but we learned a lot. One insight: some brands are just not easy to create a platform for. But every brand has a story to tell, as we’re fond of saying, and inviting you guys to join the fun of helping the G.O.P. find its soul really delivered some powerful insights. We hope it was as fun for you as it was for us.

Overall, we enjoyed the entire process. In fact, we decided to turn the “Call Me…” rebranding exercise into a series, where we take different brands through our process and help them find their voice…whether they’re ready for us or not. And we’d love for you to continue to play along. Next up? Financial services. Who’s more troubled—and in need of finding their soul—than the banking industry? They’d better look out…we’re on their case.  Watch this space for details!

After three weeks and more than 4,000 votes, our tournament is finally over.  No surprise here: you’ve decided that Mitt Romney should speak for the G.O.P.  He held a commanding lead over all his opponents, knocking out Eric Cantor in the final round by slightly more than 900.

So why Romney?

Many of you have singled him out as the candidate with the best chance of unifying the party in a way the McCain/Palin ticket failed to in 2008. Mike noted that, unlike Palin or Rush, Romney doesn’t “stir up” passion among Republicans, yet he’s often sought after as a voice of reason and intelligence.

In fact, many of you pointed to his patient positions regarding issues such as health care that paint him as a rational, reliable choice. The ideal candidate, you said, is competent, not extremist. For now, while most states identify with the Democratic Party, the G.O.P. must attract independent and crossover voters to grow stronger. The party’s looking for a more moderate leader to take them forward, and it seems Mitt is the man.

Is this an accurate summary of what I’ve learned these past few weeks? What would you add that I might be missing?

You know, I often admire Meghan McCain for being a brazen, different sort of voice in the G.O.P. She confidently calls herself anti-Coulter, anti-Limbaugh, and anti…well, many of the loudmouths of the Republican Party. Here’s Out magazine’s profile of her (and the Huffington Post’s coverage of it). Meghan may be a more controversial character, but why can’t she (and others like her) be the voice of the G.O.P.? Is this, at least, how the party should be speaking to younger generations?

I’m Jim. I also work at Story Worldwide. What Andrea didn’t say is we’re quite famous for telling the stories for many of the world’s leading brands. To be completely transparent, I didn’t vote for Obama — and I’m not a “card carrying Republican” never have felt the need to join a party. My conservative view of what I’m looking for from government, leads me to cheering for the G.O.P. team most every time. I do work with a number of “smart people” who often disagree with my view (they did vote for Obama) and that’s okay. However, we do share this — it’s never a good thing for America when one political voice drowns out the other. Unfortunately, that’s now the case in our country. The Democrats have found their story over the past eighteen months and the G.O.P. has not. Thus, the purpose of Call Me, G.O.P. is to assist the Republicans do just that — HELP THEM FIND THEIR STORY. It’s what we do and we do it well. I ask all who agree with my conservative view of politics – and even those who don’t, to get involved in the discussion that will take place over the next few weeks. We’ll try to make it fun and worth your time.

We’re going to kick things off tomorrow with a “tournament” called — THE VOICE OF THE GOP — where we’re asking your assistance in picking what Republican best represents the GOP going forward.  We’ve seeded 16 Republicans and have placed them in a tournament bracket similar to the NCAA’s March Madness.  In Round 1 we have match-ups pitting Rush Limbaugh vs. Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity vs. Michael Steele, and…well, you have to come back tomorrow to see the whole lineup. It’ll be fun, and lively, we promise. So get out and Vote for the Republican who has the best ideas for the G.O.P.!