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Kennedy Conservatives

Whether you think he was a liberal or a conservative, John F. Kennedy certainly left his mark on America.

Ira Stoll of Reason.com speaks effusively about JFK’s legacy.

He even goes as far as to encourage Republican presidential nominees to be “Kennedyesque” in their policy and presentation.

Would you call JFK an innovator?

“Kennedyesque” GOP

In his article, Ira seems to say that were the Republicans to run a candidate of the Kennedy mold in 2016, it would indeed mark a new and improved direction for the party:

My own interest in all of this, as the author of the book JFK, Conservative, goes beyond the merely commercial. I find it an encouraging sign on two levels. First of all, as a political matter, if any of these Republicans hopes to win in a general election, they’ll need to carry some Reagan Democrats and independent voters. So they are smart to talk about JFK, just as winning Republican candidates like Reagan and George W. Bush talked positively during their own general election campaigns about Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.

Second of all, on a substantive, ideological level, the embrace of President Kennedy is progress for a party that once had significant elements that were sharply critical of JFK and his record. They mocked his obsession with economic growth. They, along with some Democrats, opposed his tax cuts for fear that, if not paired with spending cuts, they would explode the deficit. They blamed him for dividing Berlin and starting the Vietnam War, and they saw his space program as classic big government. (On the space program, contemporary Republicans who, unlike Rubio, Cruz, and Bush, don’t hail from the space states of Florida and Texas may yet be unconvinced on this particular point.)

I can appreciate the need to innovate a more productive way of doing business in an environment that has become a bit stodgy.

To some extent I think the life insurance business has become an “old.”

Same old products, same old sales pitch…

…And same old (basically negative) view in the eyes of the buying public!

Is it any wonder that most Americans are under- insured?!

The lost art

My own solution to this problem has been based on reclaiming the lost art of field underwriting.

We brokers need to get to know our clients upfront so as to be proper guides for them in the marketplace.

We need to prequalify them for coverage so that when they are finally ready to apply, they can be confident of the outcome.

My entire sales practice is based on obtaining an approval at the rate quoted.

This methodology may be something that consumers generally take for granted, but all too often it is not the path they are led to travel when purchasing life insurance.

My goal has been to follow the lead of JFK and make some changes that make the buying experience better for consumers and for the industry as a whole.

How about you?

Do you wish that somebody had innovated a better way to buy life insurance when you obtained a policy?