Hawkins: Gillespie’s 2016 Roadmap for the GOP

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Although the experts in Washington were shocked when Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie came within 17,000 votes of unseating incumbent Senator Mark Warner in Virginia in the 2014-midterm elections, it didn’t come as a surprise to the grassroots army that supported Ed or his campaign team. Through Ed’s skill and leadership, we executed a campaign that I believe serves as a roadmap for the Republican presidential nominee in 2016. While certainly not exhaustive, I believe the roadmap consists of four overarching ideas.

First, the 2016 Republican nominee must unite the warring factions of the party. This starts in the primary. In Virginia, Gillespie was viewed as an establishment candidate. After all, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, a senior advisor to President George W. Bush and an advisor to the Romney campaign in 2012. But, rather than just assuming he would never get the support of the Tea Party faction of the party, he aggressively courted their support, listened to their views and treated them with respect. And, even if these individuals chose to support someone else in the primary, Gillespie expressed his desire to unify the party around whoever became the nominee.The aggressive outreach paid off: Gillespie won the nomination in a convention – which typically favors party activists – on the first ballot. Gillespie went into the general election with the party unified around him.

Second, the Republican nominee must neutralize divisive social issues. Certain social issues, particularly the so-called “War on Women,” have allowed Democrats to demonize Republicans on a single set of issues for the last several election cycles. But, that didn’t happen with Gillespie. During the first debate in late July when Mark Warner attempted to paint Gillespie as an extremist on contraception, Gillespie revealed his support for over-the-counter birth control, which would increase access and expand choice, and effectively neutralized this line of attack. When Mark Warner attempted to attack Gillespie on marriage, Gillespie stated his belief that marriage was between one man and one woman but that it was a state issue, not in the proper purview of the federal government. These positions allowed Gillespie to effectively neutralize the Democrat’s attempt to make the election a referendum on divisive social issues.

Third, the Republican nominee must reach out to minority communities, which the GOP has essentially written off for years. The country is becoming more diverse and the GOP can’t disregard or alienate entire sections of the electorate and expect to win national elections (or statewide offices). Gillespie didn’t simply rely on the GOP base to get him over the top; he engaged minority communities and explained how his economic growth agenda would benefit them. This meant meeting these voters where they were. Gillespie’s economic growth plan was translated into seven languages, including Spanish, Korean and Chinese. He visited Mosques for Eid celebrations, attended Filipino-American events in Virginia Beach, held meetings with black pastors in Richmond and much more.

Again, these efforts paid off. In 2012, Romney received 6 percent of the black vote, 26 percent of the Hispanic vote and 26 percent of the Asian vote in Virginia. Gillespie, on the other hand, received 10 percent of the black vote, 39 percent of the Hispanic vote and 50 percent of the Asian vote. In a time when elections are increasingly won on the margins, no candidate should write off an entire segment of the electorate – every vote counts.

Finally, the Republican nominee should run on a positive, solution-based economic message that speaks to all Americans. While this point is straightforward, somehow many Republicans have settled for only pointing out deficiencies in the other party. Voters want solutions, not just rhetoric. They want to know what their candidates are for, not just what they’re against.

In Virginia, Gillespie’s message revolved around his five-point plan for economic growth, called The Ed Gillespie Agenda for Economic Growth. It contained specific solutions and ideas that would benefit all Americans. These solutions even included a comprehensive plan to replace Obamacare – notice, “replace,” not just “repeal” – which was based on a plan put forward by the 2017 Project. The exact solutions will obviously depend on the candidate but the important part is that the eventual nominee runs on real ideas and solutions, rather than simply pointing out what went wrong over the last eight years.

In sum, Mark Warner, a former governor who won his initial term in the Senate in 2008 with 65 percent of the vote, was thought to be an unassailable force in Virginia politics. But he limped to reelection by half a percent, almost taken out by a first-time candidate. By following the roadmap Ed Gillespie put forward in Virginia, I believe the Republican nominee can find success in the race to the White House.


Garrett Hawkins served as Deputy Communications & Digital Director on Ed Gillespie’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

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