Why Conservative Candidates Must Be Nice

Michael Medved's recent column makes it clear that conservative candidates must go out of their way to demonstrate that they are "nice." Here's why:

Political Scientist Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute argues that the most effective candidates will always be "Nice Republicans" or "Tough Democrats." Voters automatically assume that Democrats are kind and generous (look at all the federal money they want to hand out in ambitious new programs) but these liberals have to somehow prove that they're also tough. Look at Bill Clinton's tireless efforts in this regard in 1992 (emphasizing his tough-on-crime credentials, presiding over an execution in the midst of the campaign, standing up to Afro-Centric rapper Sister Soulja, calling for a more hawkish foreign policy on the Balkans and China), and take note of Hillary's similar poses today.

When it comes to Republicans, on the other hand, the public assumes that their candidates are tough -- pro-defense, anti-crime, supportive of traditional values -- but the successful conservatives need to demonstrate that they're simultaneously "nice." In this context, the branding of George W. Bush as a "compassionate conservative" represented a political masterstroke.

Reagan managed to project as a "Nice Republican" through the sheer force of his personality, but he also went to great lengths to demonstrate his empathy for hard-working ordinary Americans crushed by Jimmy Carter's "stag-flation," or the billions of suffering victims under Communism. He also conveyed his warmth and kindness through optimism -- with his "Morning in America"/"Shining City on a Hill" ebullience that ultimately altered the mood of the country.

Unfortunately, too many current Republican leaders and right wing commentators come across as angry, gloomy, apocalyptic and perpetually outraged about even trivial irritants (remember how poorly public condemnation of TeleTubbies or Sponge Bob served the conservative cause). In selecting a Presidential nominee, Republicans should seek the candidate who most closely resembles Reagan's cheerfulness and decency and avoid at all costs those who seem to revel in indignation, bitterness or desperation.