The following was sent to IPR on July 21, 2013.
Reform Party Targets Key Voting Blocs
The Reform Party continues to build its organization by identifying target audiences that its message naturally appeals to. Those groups include small business owners, blue collar workers and young, concerned voters, who are entering the workforce and becoming increasingly influential. The party hopes to grow by turning these voting blocs into a viable base, which will allow the Reform Party to better compete with the Republican and Democratic Parties.
“Most candidates and minor political parties focus on narrow appeals to individual voters. That might serve a politician’s needs for small, local elections, but on the statewide and national stages, you generally have to target groups,” explained National Communications Director Nicholas Hensley. “To a large extent, the Democrats and Republicans build their bases by appealing to single issue voters who typically vote based on social issues such as abortion and marriage rights. The Reform Party will become a viable alternative by appealing to centrists and others in the political mainstream, by offering comprehensive reforms on issues such as government ethics, electoral reform and intelligent, coherent economic policy. The party takes no position on social issues, because, in the belief of its members, social issues are used to take voter’s attention off the issues that matter the most.
“The Reform Party’s message is a main street message,” said Mr. Hensley. “Our platform is built in part around bringing back good paying manufacturing jobs that will benefit American workers, and providing an atmosphere for small business owners to succeed. Doing that will require implementation of shrewd, intelligent economic and energy policies that focus more on enhancing America’s overall economic welfare and competitiveness than on responding to special interest demands. At present, the U.S. lacks coherent and comprehensive economic and energy policies. That often puts the U.S. at a disadvantage relative to its trade partners. The current situation is completely unacceptable and it must come to an end. The American standard of living has been stagnant for years, and the Reform Party believes that is due in large part because of key failings by two-party politics in these critical policy areas”.
One of the oldest planks of the Reform Party principles, which date back to Ross Perot’s first presidential run in 1992, revolves around rejecting free trade. According to independent studies, since the start of free trade agreements with NAFTA in 1992, America’s trade deficit rose from 39.2 billion dollars to 559.8 billion in 2011, or an increase of over 1428 percent.
The Reform Party believes that to a large extent, the increase in this deficit was caused by the outsourcing of jobs, and the exploitation of unregulated environments and labor overseas. To fix this problem, the Reform Party wishes to amend trade agreements in ways that benefit the United States.
Party members argue that ending free trade agreements would bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, and benefit the working class. These benefits, they argue, come from the fact that manufacturing workers have the same education as their peers in retail, hospitality and restaurant industries, but make larger wages on average.
The Reform Party does well with small business owners. Many reform party leaders own and operate their own small businesses. In the opinion of party leadership, this support comes from the fact that the party has fought against unnecessary barriers, taxes and regulations that unnecessarily burden small businesses.
“A large number of national, executive and communication committee representatives own small businesses,” said Mr. Hensley. “This is because the Reform Party has a record of understanding the barriers they face and fighting on their behalf to intelligently address those legitimate concerns. This isn’t just a matter of a blind, wholesale endorsement of deregulation. The Reform Party intends to identify and implement a smart but less-burdensome operating framework that affords a more competitive and locally sustainable business environment”.
Regarding another key target group, the Reform Party has successfully recruited young, reform-minded activists. As a group, there is a recognition that increased transparency and extensive reforms are needed throughout the federal government. There is also recognition that such transparency and reform is unlikely to come from the Democratic or Republican parties, given the crippling ideological and other constraints that limits their capacity to see and effectively address important problems. Reform Party leaders view young people as an open-minded demographic they can increasingly count on come Election Day. Currently the Reform Party leadership is flush with young activists. Two members of the executive committee, Jake Zychick and Dennis Mikolay, as well as National Communications Director Nicholas Hensley are under the age of twenty five.
According to the party’s platform, Reform Party members wish to bring increased transparency and accountability to American government operations. Their principles list several reforms that would reform the government’s accounting and other means to better direct the relationships between lobbyists* and lawmakers toward public service while downplaying service to special interests, which include the needs of the two parties and their politicians.
“To create a highly competitive political party, it is necessary to build a good voting base,” concluded Mr. Hensley, “I can’t think of a better base than one that contains concerned young up and comers, many of whom have recently entered the work force, the average worker and small business owners. Those three groups make up the backbone of the American economy, and are among the most important contributors to the country’s social and economic well-being”.
For More Information Contact:
David Collison or Nick Hensley