They Think You're Stupid Read Online Free PDF

registered non-voters sitting on the sidelines--supported my campaign because they sought a new, positive voice that championed common sense solutions to the big issues.
    These new voters are part of the new voices being heard across this nation. They will also be heard in Washington, D.C., and not just on election day.

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SUMMARY FOR CHAPTER 1 ______________________________________
     
They Just Don't Get It
    The Political Parties Alienate Voters
    • Both the Democrats and the Republicans have talked a long time about being inclusive and having a "big tent." Their tents are not getting bigger. They are simply getting wider, with more constituents at opposite ends of many issues. As a result, both parties are alienating more and more voters.
    • The Republicans and the Democrats suffer from a deficiency of effective leadership. Leadership requires removing barriers to self-motivation, working on the right problems, and inspiring people to feel connected to the right results. The most successful businesses understand this. The political parties do not.
    The Politics of Politics
    • The "politics of politics" differ greatly from the "politics of business." In business, your performance is evaluated every day, every fiscal quarter, and every year. Businessmen place results ahead of politics. Politicians place politics ahead of results.
    • Voters can end the "politics of politics" that diminish our chances to tackle the big issues, but only if they become more responsible owners of their government and the political process.
    Lessons of 1994
    • The "Republican Revolution" of 1994 made the Democrats the House minority party for the first time in forty years. Democrats could not accept the reality of defeat at that time, and they still struggle with being the minority party. Republicans are struggling with being the majority party.
    We Won in 2004!
    • On July 20, 2004, I achieved an impressive second-place finish in the three-way U.S. Senate Republican primary in Georgia versus two sitting U.S. Representatives. We did not win the nomination, but we did not lose. We won thousands and thousands of new voters who heard common sense solutions to the big issues.
    New Voters
    • The new voter phenomenon is occurring across the nation. Newly registered voters, young African-Americans, unhappy Democrats, and unhappy Republicans are refusing to strongly identify with either party.
    • The result of this phenomenon is a growing number of people who feel politically homeless. More and more people are discouraged, disappointed, and disgusted with politics and politicians as usual.

Chapter Two
    Politically Homeless
    The politically homeless are voters frustrated with their favorite political party or discouraged by what they see as politics-as-usual from their party leaders and elected officials. Some of the politically homeless choose to stay with their party out of a sense of principle or tradition, but they do not actively support the party's candidates. Others leave their party and support Independent or third party candidates. Unfortunately, some choose not to participate in the political process at all. Their disappointment and disgust with what they see and hear in the political arena causes them to give up on government, our elected officials, and the possibility of aggressive policy change. A key contributor to the problem of political homelessness is the confusion caused, often intentionally, by the seemingly never-ending barrage of labels, phrases, and made-for-television sound bites we hear every day from our elected officials.
Labels and Empty Rhetoric
    My father walked off of his family's small Tennessee dirt farm in 1943 at the age of eighteen with literally just the clothes on his back. He had no money and no car, but he did have three invaluable possessions: his belief in God, his belief in himself and his abilities, and his belief in the promise of the United States of America.