Are You Serious About Helping Mitt Romney Win In 2012?

I rarely post other people's blog posts on my own blog. However, every now and then, there is an article that is not only worth linking to, but reposting it in its entirety. Mike Sage, an excellent blogger and enthusiastic supporter of Mitt Romney wrote an excellent blog article that is worth reading. Here is the entire article:

I’m going to be brutally honest here, and I hope I don’t sound preachy, or offend anyone with my comments, but this is something that I think needs to be said.  I said it on the Mitt Romney Radio program a few days ago, and now I’m putting in writing, and am making it a part of my personal “mission statement.”  Here it is:

You don’t win any races by handicapping or betting on the horses. At some point, if you want to win a race, you need to actually get on a horse and ride it.

I’m here to help Mitt Romney win an election, and hopefully, you are too.  I realize that you all had lives before this election season got started, and that our lives will go on after November 2012.  But there are only so many weeks, days and hours before the election will be upon us, and there are lots of things competing for our time.  I don’t know about you, but every minute I devote to helping Mitt win in 2012 is a minute I have to take away from something else that is also important in my life.  Therefore, it’s imperative that I try and spend my time as productively as possible.  Hopefully, you feel the same way too, because that’s what the rest of this note is about.

One of the several things I do for a living is, I’m a consultant.  I tell business people how to get the biggest bang for their buck when it comes to their advertising, public relations, and marketing.  After all, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to spend $100 in marketing just so you can earn $50 – yet people do it all the time, and they go broke doing it.  That same concept applies to almost anything that we do, not just business marketing.  If we want to get Mitt elected, we need to stop “spending” more than we “earn.”  We need to work smarter, not harder – and we don’t want to be “broke” before the election gets here.

Generally speaking, I have three rules of thumb that I follow:

1.  I’m a big believer in metrics… meaning, I believe that if you can’t (or are unwilling to) measure something, you can pretty much assume it never happened. I have a client who has spent $36,000 a year on radio advertising for the last 10 years… not because it has brought him a single customer (it hasn’t) but because people in church tell him, “I heard your ad on the radio!” and that makes him feel good.  When we do something because it makes us feel good, instead of because it actually produces results, we are on the road to a bad place.

2.  I’m also a big believer in what we, in the business, call “guerrilla marketing.”  In other words, using unconventional or nontraditional methods to get the greatest possible pay-off at the lowest possible cost.  Social media like Facebook and Twitter are good examples of something than costs next to nothing, but have the potential to exponentially increase our pay-off.

3.  You can’t be everywhere, and you can’t do everything.  You have to choose.  You have to prioritize, and then you have to arrange things so you get the best possible return on your investment of time, and energy.  For example, I could tell you all of this in a comment on my wall… but a week from now, it will be gone, and I will have to explain it all over again to the next person who comes along.  Not very efficient.  But by putting my thoughts here, in a semi-permanent place, this note will continue working for me long after I’ve moved on to other, more productive things.

So, what does any of this have to do with our mission to get Mitt Romney elected President?  A lot.  If you listen to the talking-heads on TV and radio, they’re all saying the same thing… They say they aren’t seeing any “passion” for Mitt out there in the electorate.  Well, here’s the real reason why: It’s because the people who really know how these things work know that it isn’t “passion” that gets candidates elected.  What gets a guy elected is public relations, grass-roots organizing, fundraising and mobilization of voters.  Period.  It may not always be exciting, but it works.

Ron Paul’s people are passionate.  They expend so much energy arguing their points, being obnoxious, and making sure he wins every poll, that by the time election time rolls around, they’ve got nuthin’.  In his 1988 presidential campaign, he pulled in less than one percent of the popular vote, and in 2008, averaged less than 10% in the GOP primaries. Now, his misguided followers spam the polls – but to what purpose?  It only hurts them, since it convinces them that they’re doing better than they really are.  That’s a sure ticket to disaster, if you ask me.

Now, I realize that I’ve taken the “scenic route,” getting to my point, but here it is:

Don’t waste my time.  Don’t waste your time.  Time is precious.  In the final analysis, it’s all we have.  Some people say “time is money.”  I say they’re short-sighted.  Time is how we take measure of our lives.  We only get one shot at this, and if we’re spending our precious and limited time in nonproductive pursuits, we are cheating ourselves, and we’re cheating our candidate.  Here are some things that I think are nonproductive.  These are just my opinions; take them for what they’re worth.

• Arguing or debating about the candidates, in any media, with someone who has already made up his mind.  Let’s face it, no one is going to do a face-palm and exclaim, “Wow, I see now that I’m wrong, you’re right, and I’m going to be Mitt’s biggest fan from here on out!”  Sure, it’s a fun fantasy, but it just isn’t going to happen.  Why waste hours on someone who has zero chance of ever supporting Mitt, when 40% of the population hasn’t made up their minds yet?  Focus on someone who really wants to learn about Mitt, and might actually end up supporting him.

• Stating your valuable opinions in impermanent media, like wall comments, or somewhere where someone who disagrees with them will simply delete them. You might as well be writing them in the steam on your bathroom mirrors. If you’re going to go to the trouble of articulating an opinion, why not put it somewhere where it will still be there 6 months or even a year from now, and may be read by thousands, perhaps even millions of people?  It doesn’t take any more effort to put it somewhere with more permanence and reach.  It just takes some forethought, is all. That’s one of the reasons why I created the Mitt Romney Radio Blog, and opened it up to allow anyone who supports Mitt to blog there. Please, register and start putting your pro-Romney thoughts into blog articles.

• Entertaining ourselves with political flights of fancy that have zero chance of ever becoming reality. Sure, we can yak all night long about who would make a better VP running mate for Mitt – Captain Kirk, or Captain Picard.  But what does that accomplish?  A comment along those lines is funny… but a marathon discussion along those lines is a tragic waste, in my opinion.

• Failing to “be the multiplier.”  Mitt’s secret weapon in the coming election cycle is us.  We the people.  We are his force multiplier.  But it only works if we actually multiply the positive efforts of others.  When you see something that is effective in promoting Mitt Romney, amplify it – multiply it.  Don’t just “like” it.  That’s passive.  Be active and send it out to everyone you know. Send it along through different media. If you got it through Facebook, retransmit it through Twitter, or vice-versa.  Make it bigger, make it better, make it more effective.  Put it in a blog, or on a website. Turn it into a bumper-sticker, window decal, yard sign, or billboard.  As long as you do something.

• Worrying.  I hear it every day from someone.  “I am worried about Rick Perry.” or “I am worried about Michele Bachmann.”  Whoever the flavor of the week is, he or she creates lots of worry, and none of it accomplishes anything.  If anything, it takes your eye off the ball.  If you really want to worry about something, worry about what you should be doing today to move the ball forward for Mitt Romney.  Then do it.

Trust me, it’s not just you.  It’s all of us.  I’ve made each of these mistakes more times than I care to think about.  Every time I waste an entire evening arguing with some moron, I end up wanting to kick myself, because I realize I could have accomplished so much in that time, if only I’d stayed focused on my mission.

We can all learn something from this, and become more effective force multipliers for Romney…

If we’re serious about wanting to win.

By sharing this article with you, I'm working to be a force multiplier to help Mitt Romney win the race. I hope this article makes you seriously think about the most productive, efficient and effective ways you can help Mitt Romney. Maybe that means making financial contributions to Mitt Romney's campaign. Perhaps that means writing blog articles supporting Mitt Romney. You might be very effective in making phone calls on behalf of his campaign.

Please think about what's the best way to use your talents, skills and resources to help Romney. Then go out and do it.