Newt and the future of the Republican party

Chris Byrne has a set of videos up on his site that are worth your while. It's Newt Gengrich giving a speech on how the Republicans can not just win, but sweep the coming elections. Chris comments:

I think he's brilliant as a political writer, and political commentator (which is fitting, because his background is as a history professor), but as a politician, he and I are probably below 50% in agreement on major policy issues.

But we're above 75% on major issues of principle; and that's what this speech is about. Taking principles, and making them into politics.... Something it seems most politicians are too cowardly to do.

Newt is talking about competitive differentiation, a topic that Marketing folks have studied for years. There's a lot that the Stupid Republican party can learn from this, so I'll keep it simple for them.

Consider a hotel chain. I'll use a european chain in this example, because europeans like their strong central government defining everything for them, and that makes it easier for us to measure things. Specifically, we'll look at the hotel "star" rating (one-star, two-stars, etc). Most hotels look like this:

(picture scanned from "Practical Product Management" class notes; highly recommended). Two star hotels will have better services across the board, compared to one star hotels. Duh.

So if you're a hotel, how do you differentiate yourself? You can improve services (move to three star, for example), but this costs a lot - you'll have to raise your prices. What if you want to target a particular price point? You focus.
Formule 1 is a chain that targeted business travelers. As frequent travelers, business folks make an attractive target for repeat business. They also let you focus your services, because some service options become irrelevant. For example, you don't need to have a good restaurant in your hotel, because a business traveler is almost certainly meeting clients for dinner. Likewise, the rooms can be small, because your business customers are out meeting with their customers, not hanging out in the room. The money you save by not investing in these services is money you can put into things that your business customers will value: better, more comfortable beds; better sound insulation for quieter rooms.

Focus gives you a more interesting, more valuable product for your target market. But focus isn't free. To gain something, you have to give up something. As Napoleon said, on any battlefield there will be a single decisive point. What happens there is more important than what happens everywhere else. A visionary can see this, and will not fear the sacrifices that will ensure victory ("What do you mean, there's no restaurant in the hotel?").

Newt is clearly a visionary. But what of the rest of the Stupid Republican party? Are they willing to sacrifice what is necessary to win big? Or are they too afraid of making a wrong move, ensuring that they make all the wrong moves? As Chris says:

Taking principles, and making them into politics.... Something it seems most politicians are too cowardly to do.

Judging from the Massachusetts senate special election - an opportunity for the Stupid Republican party to break the 60 vote filibuster-proof majority that the Contemptable Democratic party has - I'd have to say that the smart money is on "too afraid". If so, then 2010 will be a year of tactical, rather than sweeping Republican gains.