Now, more than ever, the soil of the minds is ripe for planting the message of the Tea Party. The media is trying to claim a victory for BO and demoralize us. They're hoping we will retreat. We must prove to them that their fear of us is warranted!

As the polls show a majority of this country have lost their confidence in BO and congressional leaders. We MUST capitalize on this by using simple, practical arguments to open people's minds to the truth. To do this effectively, we must understand something basic, and crucial, about human nature.

Every year soda manufacturers spend ten of millions of dollars trying to convince you that your preference for the opposition's product is wrong. Literally, when Pepsi tells you that 'more people prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coke,' they're saying, "Hey, you life-long Coke drinkers..... you're WRONG. You should be drinking Pepsi."

How well does this work? Not very. In the book, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" (a quick, simple and fun read, BTW, that everyone should read to better understand human thinking) authors Al Ries and Jack Trout point out that time and again marketing companies make the mistake of telling prospective consumers that their current opinion or position is wrong. This is a practically guaranteed losing proposition -- people simply do not doubt their viewpoint, particularly when faced with another person whose arguing with them that they're wrong. Pride won't give them clarity. Only personal observation and personal experience (their own or someone's close to them) will really change one's opinion. And this is what we have on our side.

Right now things are bleak in our country. People have overwhelmingly said they didn't want this healthcare bill to become law, and they were ignored by our elected officials. That, alone, is a slap in the face to disillusion many folks. Couple this with the coming skyrocketing premiums on people's health insurance as a direct result of this radical new law, and many more will wake up.

Obama, of course, plans to blame premium increases directly on the greed of the evil insurance companies and use it for further proof that the government needs to step in and take over. But I'm not convinced that the majority of our country is that stupid. For over a year Americans have observed, and even participated in a public discourse the likes of which we have not seen in my lifetime (I was a small child during Vietnam). People on both sides have taken notice, and it is clear our side outweighs theirs. When those premiums hit, most folks will understand why, even those who, like myself, grew up in a family that voted Democrat and have recently begun to question their elected officials. It will spark an even greater outcry for something to be done to fix this mess.

And it is becoming increasingly clear, as well, that Obama is not interested in helping our economy at all. People from both sides are becoming clear on the fact that he wants only to control the private sector, demonize private industry, and tax tax tax, which NO ONE believes will grow the economy. The leftists love it, but they only account for a quarter of our country. The other 75% have hearts and souls of Americans.

Even those who think he's legitimately trying to do good for us are being forced to conclude that he must simply be mistaken, and stubborn, and they're learning that his tactics, regardless of his intent, are NOT the way to lead back to prosperity. Either way it works to our advantage.

We now need to actively engage in conversations with the people in our lives and ask them for their expertise on the subject (I don't mean this sarcastically... I literally mean to approach such subjects as if you're sorting through the information and looking for the right conclusions). With your air of 'teachability' people will gladly tell you their opinions, and then you can respond, kindly, with comments such as, "Yeah, I had been thinking that too, but then [such and such] happened, which didn't fit with that." Or, "Yeah, but if that was really true, then why.....," and insert your point (truth) in the form of a question. To them you'll not be trying to correct them, but brainstorming WITH them to get to the truth. It'll allow you to plant seeds in their minds that they'll continue to mull over and use to filter new information each day.

Questions such as, "Wouldn't letting people keep more of their money mean they'd spend more? It seems to me that would help businesses. I know when I have more money I spend more. Wouldn't that lead to more jobs for those businesses to be able to provide for the demand? And wouldn't more jobs mean more people with an income to spend?"

The overwhelming majority of our citizens are rational people with good brains and American values. We are a center-right country, and BO is scaring our people right now. People don't want someone to engage them in a fight, people want someone who understands what they're going through, who shares their concerns and who can offer rational perspective in a non-threatening, empathetic way. We are all in this together, and it is with this attitude that we should engage people around us.

And engage we must! The time is now!

By engaging the people in our own lives this way, we will make converts of them, and then we can get them into the process of similarly converting the folks in their spheres of influence. The result is a mathematical explosion that will help us to take back our country and restore the Constitution to its respected place as the founding document of our republic.

Another great book for teaching how to deal effectively with people is well known, has a goofy name (IMO), but is straight scripture as far as I'm concerned. It is a MUST READ. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. You can find copies at half price books regularly. Buy a stack and give them to fellow Tea Partiers. We need to access and implement this wisdom in our relational recruiting.

Peace to all,

r7fm