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Opinion | Republican candidates should find their message and stick to it

Andrew Gessler, Columnist

There was a telling moment the Sunday before the Michigan primary on ABC's This Week. Host George Stephanopoulos asked Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to weigh in on President Obama's energy policy.

Snyder did what all on message politicians do best: he answered the question how he wanted to answer it by pivoting directly to the unemployment rate, the deficit and the President's handling of the economy.

His insistence on not answering any journalist's question is one of the reasons why people hate politicians, but the ability to effectively pivot and drive your message is one of the most important skills a candidate can possess.

Rick Santorum does not have this skill. When he's asked about contraception, gay marriage and other social issues Republicans don't exactly have a popular opinion on, he drones on for five minutes about them.

As Republican strategist Alex Castellanos told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd in an obvious reference to Santorum, "Republicans being against sex is not good. Sex is popular, as a party it's a bad thing to be firmly against sex."

99 percent of all women and 98 percent of Catholic women report they have used contraception. President Obama is weak with the American public on the economy, not social issues. Last month, Gallup reported that the only 38 percent of Americans approve of the president's handling of the economy, while 59 percent did not; 32 percent approve of his handling of the federal budget deficit, while 63 percent disapprove. These are the issues the GOP should press the President on.

When it comes down to it, electoral politics is all about finding the issues where your opponent is weak and drawing a clear contrast with them on these issues. There are some slight exceptions, most notably President Obama's "the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice" storybook campaign four years ago, but even then he hammered Republicans on their policies.

Campaigns are all about contrast; they are ultimately a choice between two visions, not a referendum. Because of this, they too are often inherently ugly; it's nearly impossible to create an effective contrast between you and your opponent without being negative. As the polling above indicates, the contrast Republicans must create in their quest to take back the White House and senate in 2012 must be drawn on economic terms.

Mitt Romney seems to understand this, as his campaign is all about what Americans want: "Americans are crying out for more jobs, less debt and smaller government — and I will deliver." This is the final applause line in his stump speech, repeated by Romney several times.

This is not because all Mitt Romney wants to talk about is the economy; he just knows it presents the best opportunity for a contrast that is advantageous to him given relevant polling.

Romney's ability to talk about what matters to a majority of Americans is a big reason why he will be the Republican nominee. Unfortunately, everyone else in the race lacks any semblance of message discipline. During their respective moments in the sun, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have both talked about pressing American concerns like the horrors of negative campaigning, contraception and in Gingrich's case, an American colony on the moon, all in the face of a $15 trillion deficit and 8.3 percent unemployment.

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Some Republicans may argue that social issues are important, which I happen to agree with. I also know that according to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans identify themselves as independent, 31 percent as Democrats and 27 percent as Republicans.

So the GOP can either continue their death march into the oblivion by talking about issues Americans disagree with them on, or they can do what conservatives do best: talk about building a dynamic economy largely unburdened by a paternalistic government.

Americans clearly want a leader willing to tackle our big economic issues, not one who lectures from the bully pulpit like it is Sunday morning, or who describes themselves as "grandiose."

Despite the Looney Tunes quality this primary has taken on, President Obama is still vulnerable, but not for long if the party doesn't get a message, and fast.