NEWT INTERVIEWS GOV. McDONNELL OF VIRGINIA…
AN INTERVIEW WITH REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR BOB McDONNELL OF VIRGINIA BY NEWT GINGRICH
You did very well with younger voters, much better than Republicans have done in recent years. Beyond new technology, were there other things you thought were helpful?
BM: And again, not writing a group off was key. We spent time on college campuses. We assumed the reason that they voted overwhelmingly for President Obama was because of things he did that were unique to him, not that they bought into the Democratic philosophy. So if we could use the various new media, be present on the campuses and say, “Here’s how our ideas are going to land you a better job when you graduate with less debt” – we thought that was more important to them than whatever they thought about the president a year earlier.
NG: One of the things that is interesting to me is that there is a general pattern in believing that young people are disinclined to support anything religious or involving God in the public square. There was enormous effort to make you unacceptable in that sense. How did you talk about issues like faith in a way that enabled you to reach out to young people without having to back off one inch on what you believe?
BM: I assume that all the public polls about Americans’ spiritual beliefs are accurate. They show that about 93 percent of us say we believe in God and most of us believe to some degree that this is a relevant consideration in our daily lives. So for me to state that I was a person of faith and that guided my decision making and helped me to be more friendly and positive – I wasn’t at all embarrassed or ashamed to say that.
I think the problem we thought would occur is that people would demonize me like they have with other Republicans to create this image that if you are a person of faith and a conservative you must be part of this stereotypical hard-core religious right that is somehow intolerant, doesn’t care about people and isn’t open-minded about emerging trends in society. We found the best way to deal with that was to just be nice. You have to be nice, you have to build bridges, you have to invite people in and listen to people. Over time, even if the other side decides they’re going to try to put you in the that box, the more people see you the more they relate to you and say, “What I’m reading about that guy is not the person that I heard speak at the event. He seems different than that. He’s likable.”
At the end of the day, everyone that you’re trying to attract, Democrat or Republican, regardless of race or religion, they have a common trait that God has imprinted on everybody and that is the desire to be loved, to be appreciated and to be cared for. That’s what we want to see in our political figures. We want to know that they have some genuine concern about us and our issues. Just being nice, being positive and being upbeat is something that we need to do more.
Part of the Democratic strategy is always to try to make us look mean-spirited or to say that we are the party of no, that we are just interested in obstructing this intellectually stimulating progressive agenda. It’s not fair, it’s not right and it’s not accurate but it is effective. The best way to combat it is to not shrink one iota from your religious beliefs but to show why those beliefs turn you into someone who is caring, who is positive and who wants to reach out.
NG: Every campaign has down days. What sustained you when you were exhausted, angry, frustrated or just plain worn out?
BM: First, before you decide to run for office you have to know why you’re doing it. What is the good you hope to do? You’ve got to run to do things and get results, not to be somebody or have a fancy business card or see your name in the headlines. Every candidate needs to have a soul searching and heart-to-heart conversation with their family and their best friends and their advisors to make sure they’re in it for the right reasons. Because if you’re not, in those tough days when the media is beating up on you or you didn’t raise as much money as you’d hoped or you didn’t do as well in the debate as you’d like, you’ve got to resort to the fact that you are in this because you have a mission for public service to enact conservative, limited government. That’s what sustains you. If you’re not grounded from the beginning, it can be a very rocky and tough campaign.
NG: What kind of advice do you have to get your message across in hostile media interviews and talk shows?
BM: Never let them see you sweat. Keep smiling. During the most rocky days of my campaign when we were dealing with attacks on the thesis and on social issues, they were expecting that a withering assault would get us to be defensive and mean spirited or elusive and we didn’t do that at all. I had great advisors who encouraged me that this is what I believe in. I’m a pro-gun, pro-life, pro-family, pro-property rights, pro-free enterprise person. Stick with it and then talk about jobs and the economy. And do it with a smile. So no matter how tough the question were, I would try the best I could to smile my way through it so the people who were watching on TV would see you smile through even a withering question. That helped create a tone for us that no matter how hard the other side tried to put us in that stereotype box, we were going to be positive and friendly and results-oriented.
NG: You’re now faced with the objective reality of trying to deal with the fiscal problems that the economy and the growth of government have brought. What principles do you rely on to explain to people the fiscal reality Virginia faces?
BM: There is an innate sense among most Americans that you can’t spend what you don’t have. Every small business person understands that when times get tough, your first strategy can’t be to go to your customers and ask for a pay raise or a price increase. You have to find ways to cut your costs of operations. That’s what families do, that’s what businesses do.
I’m trying to relate to people on the same level they’re at in their personal lives or their business lives. And that means that government must live within its means. Massive new deficit spending that creates $100,000 per household national debt is not a good thing, that’s not going to help us be a prosperous and strong nation down the road. There is a sense for most Americans that that’s just common sense.
Secondly, given the fiscal realities most Americans face, they don’t want to pay more in new taxes. They expect government to work better. Most people believe that there’s always something government can do to be more efficient. There is also a sense that government is trying to do too much or they’re not spending money wisely. All these innate senses that people have weigh toward the conservative message of limited government and less spending.
I’m faced with a four billion dollar budget deficit. There are those on the left that want to increase taxes. I’ve already said that I will veto tax increases. So in the legislature they know there’s no point in putting together a budget with tax increases because they know it’s going to be vetoed. So now our discussion is what is the best way in the short run to cut expenses and what’s the best way in the long run to restructure government so that it’s more effective and we have less bureaucracy.
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Governor McDonnell. In the future, we will bring you more interviews in the Solutions Academy with the leaders who are bringing real change to America.
Your friend,
Newt Gingrich
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