Defining 'The Ray Kroc Vote'
According to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, 44% of likely voters were most concerned about the economy. Voters concerned with the economy and inflation prefer the Republicans (64%) over the Democrats (30%).
According to Pew, registered voters favor the Republicans on economic issues and crime. They favor the Democrats on abortion and healthcare.
With most voters decided at this point, it will likely come down to turnout.
The high-propensity voters will vote in almost every election no matter what.
Mid-propensity voters will vote in November during presidential years and midterms.
Low-propensity voters will vote for president and that’s about it.
Finding ways to motivate the mid and low propensity voters to turnout in midterm elections is hard.
In this election, I would like to call the "mid-propensity," and "low-propensity," economic voters. In other words, "The Ray Kroc Vote."
A few years ago, I watched the film "The Founder" on Netflix.
It's one of the most inspirational movies I have ever seen.
It tells the story about how Ray Kroc expanded McDonald’s into an empire of more than 40,000 McDonalds restaurants in more than 100 countries.
The film begins when Ray Kroc visits Richard and Maurice McDonald at their restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
While the McDonald brothers tried to franchise before — it didn’t work.
Ray Kroc later said, "Perhaps it’s a combination of your background and experience, your instincts, your dreams.
"Whatever it was, I saw it in the McDonald operation, and in that moment, I suppose, I became an entrepreneur. I decided to go for broke."
At the time, Ray Kroc was 52 years old.
For years, this salesman kept trying and he finally struck gold.
In five years, he opened 228 McDonalds restaurants.
When he died in 1984, there were 7,500 McDonald’s restaurants. As Kroc liked to say, "I was an overnight success alright, but 30 years is a long, long night."
In the movie, Ray Kroc is played by actor Michael Keaton. As much as I loved Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice and Batman, Ray Kroc is his best role.
Keaton’s character was easy to respect but hard to like.
I would urge people to get past his personality and realize that there is much we can all learn from him.
Many of the McDonald’s executives framed Ray Kroc’s favorite inspirational quote (by former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge) about persistence, in their offices:
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
"Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
"Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
There are many voters like Ray Kroc. These people believe that America is the land of opportunity and they hope that they will eventually make their dreams come true.
In her 2012 campagin, Elizabeth Warren ran for office telling voters the "system is rigged."
In 2011, Warren said, "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own."
In 2012, President Barack Obama echoed Warren’s views when he said, "If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."
At the time, comedian Adam Carolla, gave the perfect response to Warren’s destructive message. Carolla said:
"It’s a horrible message, because whether you’re playing chess, football or trying to get ahead in the workplace, once you learn the system is rigged against you, then why bother going outdoors?
She’s going to fix the rigged system, but how did she get to where she is, if the system was rigged? . . . What did she do to overcome the system? She did what everybody should do — she worked hard."
Republicans are likely to take the House.
Republicans need to turnout the Ray Kroc voters to win some of the tight races in the U.S. Senate. In Pennsylvania, I think it is a safe bet that the Ray Kroc voters would prefer Dr. Mehmet Oz, a self-made businessman and physician, over Lt. Governor John Fetterman.
Fetterman lived off his parents until he was 49 years old. Before he was elected Lt. Governor in 2018, Fetterman was the mayor of Braddock for 13 years.
This job only paid $150 dollars a month.
Whether its Blake Masters in Arizona pushing the incumbent Democrat on border security, Lee Zeldin in New York closing the gap with his opponent due to rising crime, or Dr. Oz talking about the economy, the main theme from all these debates is now clear.
The Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress.
There is nothing more that they can do. If voters want the economy to improve, and crime to fall, they cannot vote for the status quo.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer whose work focuses on foreign affairs, national security and presidential history. He has been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.