NPR: Frum's Advice for Top GOP Candidates

Frum's Advice for Top GOP Candidates

Former White House speech writer David Frum has some advice for the top three candidates for the Republican presidential nomination: You each have a national message that would resonate with voters, and you're not using it.

For Mitt Romney: "Quit running as the social conservative you manifestly are not, and run as the superb manager and problem-solver you have proven yourself to be."

For John McCain: "In 2000, you ran as a reformer at a time when most voters paid little attention to government ineffectiveness. Today that problem pervades everything. You were ahead of your time then ... but you could be right on time now."

For Rudy Giuliani: Use the same kind of tough-love approach for America's problems that you used to help New York. As for abortion, say "'I will appoint judges like John Roberts and Sam Alito. I do not want to see abortion outlawed, but I am glad that the national abortion rate has declined by 30% over the past 15 years ..." Then shut up about it.

Over at the conservative Powerline blog, Paul Mirengoff writes that this is all good advice, but he adds that it's important to remember that candidates often don't have much control over their messages in the context of places we are likely to see them, like televised debates.

The good news is that each of these candidates has a good story to tell -- one that should generate broad appeal and differentiate the candidate from President Bush. And I suspect that each candidate is closer to having developed that message than Frum gives them credit for, though none is there yet.

9:57 AM ET | 05-14-2007 | permalink

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