Years ago Coca-Cola changed the formula of their signature product: Coke because they were losing market share. They assumed they were losing customers to Pepsi and came out with “New Coke,” which was more Pepsi-like. Not better, just more Pepsi-like. They assumed that’s what people wanted because they assumed they were losing customers to their dreaded rival.
Turns out that Coke wasn’t losing customers to Pepsi, they were losing customers to Diet Coke. So they changed their formula for no reason and wound up ticking off a bunch of people for no reason. Suddenly Coca-Cola Classic appeared on the market and New Coke began to disappear.
I see the same thing happening in politics today. I think the Republican Party is afraid they are losing market share to Liberals. So they’re giving us a “New Coke” version of the Republican Agenda. They seem to think that if they’re more like the Democratic Party they’ll woo Liberal voters while keeping Republican voters by virtue of brand loyalty. Let’s face it, the Republican Party has gone so far left that, given a set of campaign promises, I couldn’t tell you which party they came from.
Guess what: “New Coke” sucked.
I think the Republican Party is losing market share because they’re starting to smell TOO liberal. They’re are headed in the wrong direction. Right now it feels like my voting options are “liberal” and “more liberal.” I want my “Classic” back.
