{"id":1755240,"date":"2022-11-29T07:57:33","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T12:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1755240"},"modified":"2022-11-29T12:48:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T17:48:45","slug":"michael-brown-what-the-republican-party-could-learn-from-miracle-on-34th-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-brown-what-the-republican-party-could-learn-from-miracle-on-34th-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Brown: What the Republican Party Could Learn from Miracle on 34th Street"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichael-brown-what-the-republican-party-could-learn-from-miracle-on-34th-street%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1755240&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/5080df44-6836-4ca4-9d35-370174ad4182.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p id=\"isPasted\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If the Republicans want to retake the White House in 2022 and gain control of Congress, they would do well to learn some lessons from the 1947 Christmas classic\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Miracle_on_34th_Street\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miracle on 34th Street<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In the movie, Kris Kringle is hired to play Santa Claus for the children coming to Macy\u2019s, one of the biggest stores in New York City.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His methods, however, are not orthodox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIgnoring instructions from the toy department head, Mr. Shellhammer, to recommend overstocked items to undecided shoppers, Kris directs one woman to another store to fulfill her son\u2019s Christmas request. Impressed by Kris\u2019s honesty and helpfulness, she informs Shellhammer that she will now become a loyal Macy\u2019s customer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In other words, rather than tearing down his store\u2019s competition, Kringle promoted a spirit of brotherly love and comradery, thereby producing more, not less, customers for Macy\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The plot thickens when it turns out that Kringle claims to be Santa Claus in the flesh, which the movie seems to verify by the end. That part, however, is not the point of this article.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Instead, I want to state the obvious: If the Republicans tear each other apart for the next two years in the lead-up to the primaries and the general elections, the Democrats could win decisively. If the Republicans can show a united front, the Democrats could lose by a landslide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Of course, there is a multitude of things that could happen by 2024. But all things being equal, what I\u2019ve stated here is as plain as the nose on my face. (For the record, it is very plain.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Most of us know that Jesus said, \u201cEvery kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand\u201d (Matthew 12:25).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That is a universal truth, whether or not one believes in Jesus. The internal division will always undermine, undercut, and destroy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Similarly, Paul wrote, \u201cIf you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other\u201d (Galatians 5:15).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sniping has consequences. Infighting is deadly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perhaps these two verses can be posted in every political office in the nation. (Now that I think of it, wouldn\u2019t it be great if we learned to live by these principles in our local churches?)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I recently saw a comment on the midterm elections claiming that the Democrats do a better job of voting for their own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stream.org\/learn-about-hero-who-exposed-hunters-laptoplus-1000s-of-sudden-deaths-totally-unrelated-to-the-dead-baby-vax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expressed<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0more fully (and pungently!) by John Zmirak on The Stream, the Left \u201cmaintains internal coherence among its many splinters of crackpots, haters, and weirdoes \u2014 while the Right gnaws off its limbs. . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe Right . . . acts more like Stalin\u2019s Red Army: \u2018Every man for himself, tovarisch, and the devil take the hindmost!\u2019 While the Left\u2019s unashamed to champion actual terrorists like Bill Ayers and Angela Davis, the Right is too squeamish and cowardly to stick up for innocent heroes and scapegoats.\u201d (To be clear, Ayers and Davis are former terrorists.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Getting back to Kris Kringle\u2019s example, I\u2019m not suggesting that Republican presidential candidates spend their time encouraging their constituents to vote for their competitors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">So, in a debate setting, when Candidate A is asked why we should vote for him (or her), I don\u2019t expect him (or her) to say, \u201cActually, you should vote for Candidate B!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But that\u2019s a far cry from the vicious attacks ads that are so common and from the demonizing of one\u2019s opponents that is the rule of the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s true, of course, that these attacks go back to our earliest political contests, especially in the battles between Jefferson and Adams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/jefferson-adams-founding-frenemies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on History.com, \u201cThe 1800 election still stands as one of the nastiest in history. Jefferson\u2019s supporters accused Adams of having a \u2018hideous hermaphroditical character,\u2019 while Adams\u2019 camp called Jefferson a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow.\u2019 Jefferson hired a sleazy journalist, James Callendar, to smear Adams in the press, including the (false) story that he wanted to start a war with France. On the day of Jefferson\u2019s inauguration, Adams took the early stagecoach out of Washington to rejoin Abigail in Quincy and was not present during the ceremony. They would not exchange another word for 12 years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It is also true that candidate George H. W. Bush characterized the economic proposals of Ronald Reagan as \u201c<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/v\/voodooeconomics.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">voodoo economics<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u201d Not long after that, Bush became Reagan\u2019s vice president.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As for Jefferson and Adams, they eventually reconciled with the help of Benjamin Rush, who was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and they remained friends for the rest of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But why divide and attack and tear down only to try to reconcile and rebuild after the damage has been done (or, worse still, not even try to reconcile and rebuild)? Why not fight the political battles, especially the primaries, as respectful competitors rather than mortal enemies?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I have engaged in high-level public debates for the last several decades in venues ranging from synagogues to churches to universities, including Oxford, Ohio State, and Yale, just to name a few.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And the subjects I have debated are often life and death issues for me and my fellow debaters, issues we believe in deeply, to the core of our beings, issues for which we would go to the mat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But you can engage in spirited, pointed debate without demeaning (or, worse still, demonizing) your opponent. You can point to the supremacy of your position and expose the errors of your opponent\u2019s position without engaging in ad hominem attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When it comes to the Republicans, they would do well to remember this during the primaries, determined to form a united front against what they believe is a destructive, radical leftist agenda, focusing on issues, not personalities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It is very tempting, of course, to retaliate when you are attacked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But it does take two people to get into a fight, and if you are determined to de-escalate the conflict, you will score political points in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For the Republicans, the primary goal must be combatting what they believe to be a dangerous political agenda. With that goal firmly in mind, they can then jostle for the right to lead their party.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But let them not wound and bludgeon and alienate or even bury their own on the way to the finish line. That kind of victory only guarantees defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the Republicans want to retake the White House in 2022 and gain control of Congress, they would do well to learn some lessons from the 1947 Christmas classic\u00a0Miracle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1755243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1755240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1755240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1755243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1755240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1755240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1755240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}