The Mackinac Island Debacle Underscores a Simple Truth – Your Team Really Matters

Were you at the Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island? Neither was anyone else.

The stunning self-immolation of the Republican Party continued before God and country in newly embarrassing ways on the Island.

The next President of the United States? Sorry. Best we can do is a last-minute no-show from convicted grifter Dinesh D’Souza. Sorry. No refunds.

It’s true in sports and it’s true in politics: The Michigan Republican Party’s withering corpse underscores a simple truth – when you’ve got a goal to accomplish, your team really matters.

None of us can do it by ourselves.

Have a bill you want to see moved out of committee and through the legislature? You’re going to do a heckuva lot better with a coalition and professional partners than you are with an anonymous email account and a broken CAPS LOCK BUTTON.

Have an issue you want the public to take seriously? You’re going to be more effective bringing in a team of professionals who know how to write, shoot, produce, fund and place a professional advertisement than sticking your iPhone on a tripod in the middle of your pack of pals from the dive bar down the road.

Campaigns aren’t rocket science, but bringing in a few trained political scientists can provide important insights into messaging, outreach, recruiting and deploying a staff, knowing how to turn out the vote. The little things.

Several years ago the Michigan Republican Party begun a wholesale purge of professional staff, but they didn’t just tear down their team. They didn’t even bother to build a new one.

Now a statewide political party is operating out of a single cubicle in a downtown Lansing rental space, it’s drowning in debt, embarrassing itself on the national stage and, you know, losing elections at a historic pace.

There’s a lesson here that extends beyond poor messaging. The Republican Party certainly hasn’t cornered the market on terrible policy and disgusting ideas.

Your team matters.

You’ve got a priority to tackle? Build a good one.