Mormon Women for Ethical Government recently hosted a Deep Dive event with a focus on principled conservatism. Sarah, the president and CEO of communications firm Longwell Partners, was the featured speaker and shared her perspective with MWEG members and invited guests.
Sarah Longwell is a lifelong conservative who was a loyal and influential Republican — until Donald Trump was nominated by the GOP and then elected president.
“When he was nominated, I was extremely alarmed. When he was elected, that turned into a five-alarm fire,” Sarah said. That’s when she became a “Never Trumper,” working against Trump and for other candidates who disavowed Trump’s particular ideology.
Sarah’s focus as a communications expert has been two-fold: how to beat the president in 2020, and perhaps more importantly, to genuinely figure out how he got elected.
“There’s no way to look at Donald Trump and say there isn’t something deeply wrong with the Republican Party,” she said.
Understanding the Trump voter:
To try to gain a better understanding of these issues, Sarah does frequent focus groups with Trump voters to figure out what drove them. She approached these focus groups with respect for the Trump voters and a sincere desire to understand what had drawn them in. She learned that:
Many Trump votes were cast in opposition to Clinton rather than in affirmation of Trump.
A significant number of voters had not been paying attention to how the president was governing — until the pandemic forced them home, where they’ve watched him on TV. Then many were concerned about what they saw.
“What-about-ism” compromises moral clarity — present a Trump flaw and get “what about (insert name)” — usually a false equivalency.
Eight years of TV’s “The Apprentice” mythologized Trump as a successful businessman.
Trump made big promises the average citizen doesn’t have the skills to evaluate.
Voters mistrust traditional media outlets.
Racism and intolerance are present in Republican voters to a greater degree than Sarah had realized.
Conceptualizing a renewed and healthy Republican Party:
Sarah believes Trump and his ideology can best be understood as a cancer in the once-healthy Republican Party. For the party to enjoy long-term health, this cancer needs to be cut out now. Overwhelming electoral defeat in 2020 would force the Republican Party to rethink itself and reflect on political mistakes. Sarah outlined a return to health for the party:
Decency should trump policy.
Completely defeat Trump, or he will likely retain significant political power and likely hamper efforts to move forward.
Build a dominant and more diverse coalition.
Stop being the party of “no” — the future must be about competency, plans, ideas.
Use the rich intellectual conservative tradition as the basis for building out productive political plans — climate change, healthcare, education.
Return to collaborative governance:
Where can Democrats and Republicans find common ground to cooperate toward solutions?
Anti-corruption
Rule of law
Immigration
Role of MWEG members and principled conservatives in this period of transition:
What can MWEG members do to take the country to a better place? Sarah pointed out that women have power that often goes unrecognized. Women often function very effectively at the grassroots level and can move policy and electoral outcomes through local efforts. Currently, the most sought out swing voters are college-educated women in the suburbs with a high probability of voting. Action can include running for office, getting involved in primaries, voting, and demanding better leaders.
Women need to have more confidence in their political opinions, be forthright, and lead from their convictions.
Listen to Sarah’s presentation here. And find the list of resources she mentioned here.
Sarah Longwell is the President and CEO of Longwell Partners, a full-service communications firm in Washington, D.C. Sarah is a co-founder of the organization Defending Democracy Together and the spokeswoman for its project, Republicans for the Rule of Law. She is also the publisher of The Bulwark and chief strategist for Republic Affairs, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening our country’s core values and institutions. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her family and is a graduate of Kenyon College.
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