The power of six little words…

Welcome to part 2 of a 12 part series where I can share with you, at a slightly deeper level, what we envision our state and country can look like through our work with Represent Us!

Last week we covered the vision of Represent us WI which was to see:

good candidates –> good governance –> good society.
or, in “business-speak,”

A restored republic with team-oriented elected officials who:
*  represent us – not special interests (good candidates)
*  solve our toughest problems & (good governance)
*  move Wisconsin forward  (good society)
thus creating a brighter future for us, our kids and our grandchildren.
This week, I want to share with you the message of Represent Us WI.  Our message can be broken down into 3 parts:

Our 3 word message
Our 6 word message
Our 30 second elevator speech

Each successive message builds on the previous one to go deeper in explaining what we are about.

1.  Our 3 word message

“Country over Party”

This is the primary filter (but not the only one) we will be looking at in terms of the future candidates we will support.  Being willing to put “country over party” means a candidate is willing to buck party leadership when an ideological vote is called for that is different than what the majority of the people want.  It means the candidate views herself as an American before she views herself as a Republican or a Democrat.  It means the candidate will compromise and negotiate to find the greatest good for all People – not just the greatest good for her Party.  It means the candidate is focused on moving forward with the best of bipartisan solutions instead of getting mired in the pervasive “ping-pong” politics we play today where each we spend more time undoing what the other party did as opposed to creatively working together to find durable solutions.  Ultimately, it means these candidates are “Uniters, not Dividers!”

2.  Our 6 word message

“Common-sense people campaigning for common-sense politics.”

Right on the heels of “country over party” comes our 6 word message.  The importance of a 6 word message traces its roots back to Ernest Hemingway whose literary genius was challenged when a rival once made a wager that Hemingway could not possibly tell a meaningful story in 6 words.  To which Hemingway replied:

“Baby shoes.  For sale.  Never worn.”

His rival paid up =)

Our 6 word message answers a few critical questions:

a.  Who are we?
b.  What do we do / what are we about?
c.  What are we fighting for / what’s our cause?

To expound on those points, we are common-sense people.  Ordinary folks who care about our country.  Very few of us are super-spectacular geniuses or lifelong politicians.  We just want to see change that most people want (that’s the “common-sense” piece).

What is it that we (and most people) want?  We want an end to gridlock!  We want an end to hyper-partisanship!  We want our politicians to solve problems not engage in stupid (ass) ideological pontifications!  In short, we want “common sense politics.”

And how are we going to get there?  Well, we are going to have to “campaign” – for all aspects of our vision:  good society, good governance and in the very near term, good candidates.

3.  Our 30 second “elevator speech”

Our political system is broken. Instead of working on issues that
matter to Wisconsinites – like healthcare, jobs and wages, or
education – the system “incentivises” our politicians to fight each other and forces them to raise huge amounts of money from big donors.
This leaves us unable to comfortably care for our families and save for retirement.

Represent Us Wisconsin connects
team-oriented Republicans, Democrats & Independents
to elect “people over party” representatives
who will enact legislation to:

• fix our broken political system (good candidates)
• solve our biggest problems, and (good governance)
• move Wisconsin forward. (good society)

Note that the very first paragraph comes directly from some incredible research regarding specific items that were of highest concern to Wisconsinites.  (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these folks for research so if you are interested please reach out to me and I will connect you.)  It also starts out with our mission to “fix the broken political system” (more to come on that in next week’s newsletter!) The second paragraph builds on our 6 word message – indexing primarily on “what we do” in connecting team-oriented folks and in electing “people over party” candidates. Finally, the third paragraph touches again on the three time horizons of our vision in terms of what we want to see happen – the “why” behind our motivation.

So there you have it – our 3 key messages for Represent Us WI which succinctly embodies the essence of “who we are,” “what we are fighting for,” and “why it should matter to you!”

This week’s action

Similar to last week there is a great event on gerrymandering this week that you should consider going to. 

Thursday, 6:00 pm
Two former Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leaders, Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), will be hosting a very similar discussion at the Jefferson Public Library.  They are doing this together because fair redistricting is a bipartisan issue!

Both events are sponsored by our friends from the Fair Elections Project and a few other non-partisan groups who want to “restore our republic” and who share a similar vision of “good governance.”  

Please consider attending the event  as gerrymandering is one of the items we must address if we are to “take the hill” to “fix our broken political system” in the first phase of our vision!

Rich Eng

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