In politics, you’re either on-message or you’re losing. Let’s get to it.

Welcome to On Message, a weekly look at where the battle lines are drawn and who is winning the war of words.

This week… Take Your Medicine.

After a political party loses an election – particularly a presidential election – there is usually a period of turmoil that leads to self-reflection from which a leader will emerge with a fresh way to articulate a message and rally support around the principles espoused by the base of supporters.

That process is underway for the Republican Party, though it is certainly complicated by the fact that the person who lost the national election isn’t going away quietly and continues to exercise whatever level of influence each faction of the GOP will give him.

And that has put Republicans on a collision course with some issues they would rather not deal with but really should.

Over the past week or so the House Democrats have been working to put together what is being referred to as the January 6th Commission. That name, of course, refers to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol following the election that was seen in HD video on screens across the country and across the world.

Republicans range from those who recognize the need to fully investigate what took place that day, to those who would rather not. And of course, there are those who deny the whole thing happened as if hoping to convince you that you didn’t see what you saw. That’s what the kids call gaslighting.

Democrats are not altruists here either. At least not all of them. A thorough investigation is probably a winner for them and a club with which they can batter their opponents.

Republicans have made a strategic decision to fight against the formation of the commission and I think that’s the wrong call.

You’ve heard that a picture is worth a thousand words and it’s true. Images and video are nearly impossible to erase from the collective mind of the public. And that’s a good thing.

Fighting to convince the American people they didn’t see what they saw is not a winning argument. It pushes the GOP further along the path of being the party that won’t face reality – an image that hurts when important debates arise about capitalism, personal liberty and energy development.

Since the majority of Americans know what they saw, the more prudent path would be to demand a full-fledged investigation, root out those who tried to undermine our Constitution and declare boldly that Republicans are still the party of law and order, the party that supports the brave men and women who did what they could to protect the capitol that day and the party that wants to unite a divided nation.

To their detriment, politicians become obsessed with the game of political chess they are playing in Washington and forget that voters, their target audience, aren’t paying attention at that level.

You get to send one message and it takes real discipline to hammer it through – and it’s only grown more challenging as our attention is splintered across apps, websites, twitter and traditional media.

So, what’s that one message you want to send? If it is that you refuse to recognize reality and prefer to sweep it under the rug… don’t be surprised when you have a hard time convincing people you are serious about issues in the future.

That’s it for this week.

More On Message in the next issue of the Utah Political Underground.

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