For adman Donny Deutsch, there's really no difference between pushing a political party or a bag of potato chips: it's all about the branding. S.E. Cupp, in contrast, is a conservative with bedrock principles.
Seated next to each other on today's Morning Joe set during a discussion on GOP strategy going forward, a blow-up was clearly in the cards. And clash they did, with Cupp arguing that the GOP doesn't need to re-brand itself, but rather to "spend more time explaining why their policies work for everyone." Deutsch, repeatedly trying to cut Cupp off, exclaimed that she "couldn't be more wrong" and that her anti-re-branding argument was "absurd." View the animated video after the jump.
Please watch and consider who you feel got the best of the argument. If Republicans need to abandon principle to win, what's the point? Also note how Cupp doesn't let herself be derailed by Deutsch's frequent interruptions and insults.
S.E. Cupp: Conservatives don't need to
rebrand. They don't need to --
DONNY DEUTSCH: Yes they do.
CUPP: They don't need to soul
search.
DEUTSCH: Yes they do.
CUPP: Conservatives need to spend more talking about why their policies work for everyone.
DEUTSCH: No, they do need to rebrand.
CUPP: They can't keep indicting the electorate and blaming Obama and and playing defense on the things that Obama has done.
DEUTSCH: How can you say they don't need to rebrand? You couldn't be more wrong there. Their brand is irrelevant. Brands have attributes. What they stand for. Demographic fait accompli. They completely need to rebrand themselves. I'm shocked --
CUPP: No. I mean, Exit polling after the election --
DEUTSCH: Stop exit polling.
CUPP: -- shows that most people want less government, not more
government.
DEUTSCH: Can you talk, just --
CUPP: They don't need to let go of their values. They need to make their case about them.
DEUTSCH: You saw the values--you saw you saw
Mitt Romney's, another articulation of 40% [sic; presumably meant 47%], us and them. We're here --
CUPP: That's not a value, that's a message. The message was wrong.
DEUTSCH: That's a values system.
CUPP: That's not a values system and it's not a conservative values system.
DEUTSCH: That's a values system, and that's been a message of Republicans for the last twenty years. It's out of date, it's irrelevant. The brand is not in touch with where the world is going. So for you to say they don't have to reinvent that brand is absurd, frankly.
CUPP: There are certain conservatives who are out of touch, but the message and the
values of conservatism are alive and well and will survive this election and others.
