It's called the "The Eleventh Commandment," and it was popularized by former President Ronald Reagan. The commandment states, "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

As the 2012 Republican primary season nears its boiling point, some conservatives are concerned poisonous rhetoric among candidates is alienating middle-of-the-road voters.

"You have to move the mushy middle," says Craig Copland, author of 2012 Conservative Election Handbook (www.conservawiki.com), a guide to winning campaigns at any level. He contends it is always better to elect a "soft conservative" over a "soft liberal." Those are two categories of voters, along with independents, rounding out the "mushy middle."

With more than 600,000 elected offices at stake throughout the United States, "the GOP has got to stop circling the wagons and shooting inwards," Copland says. His goal is to fill every one of those positions with a conservative.

Here are ways to get more conservatives elected:

• The "Four Box" method: This includes talking points that can be used for and against your candidate, and points used for and against his or her opponent. This method allows campaign managers to easily navigate and accentuate key points. Knowledge is power.

• Narrative & Emotion: In politics, "a good story always beats a rational argument," says Copland.Use strong emotions to move people into action. A compelling anecdote about wasteful tax-and-spend liberals elicits deeper feelings than a list of budget items.

• Target, Target, Target: Among the five categories of voters, two are predictable - hard-core conservatives and hard-core liberals. Those votes are taken, which is why it is essential to focus a proactive conservative message on soft conservatives, independents, and soft liberals. Fight for what is available.

• Media cluster: Getting the word out most effectively means using all tools at your disposal, including television, radio, print, media events, debates, speeches, and the internet.

• Content matters: There is a common denominator between Google searches and a campaign message - content. A candidate's visibility matters only if his or her message is properly managed.

"You may have the purest conservative credentials," says Copland. "But if you can't win the election, then you're only entertainment."

Entertainment value has been a key ingredient during this primary cycle, with nearly every conservative candidate enjoying front-runner status, at least for a short while. Copland is skeptical, however, about whether all publicity is good publicity.

"In politics, a single gaffe can end an election and ruin a career," Copeland says.

Along with proactive measures are the missteps to avoid. These mistakes include adultery, conflicts of interest, lies, breaking election rules, and embarrassing records such as video footage, emails, tweets, and Facebook posts.

"This is a handbook," says Copland. "It contains no theory, no stories - only instructions. It tries to be honest and blunt."

About Craig Copland

Craig Copland is a retired entrepreneur with a long history as a volunteer and professional consultant with expertise in fundraising and managing political campaigns. He spent many years as an executive and CEO of international humanitarian aid agencies, helping establish and run disaster response programs for children. After searching for a guide to elect conservatives to office and not finding one, he authored "2012 Conservative Election Handbook." As founder and president of Conservative Growth Inc., he helps elect conservatives to all levels of public office.

Presented by the Geography and Map Division and the Philip Lee Phillips Society

WHAT:
"Visualizing the Nation's Capital: Two Centuries of Mapping Washington, D.C.," the first conference devoted to mapping the nation's  capital, covering the period from Pierre-Charles L'Enfant's 1791 Plan of the City of Washington to the present.

WHEN:
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 18, with a reception from 5:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., and 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, with tours of the Geography and Map Division from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The conference is free and open to the public.  Reservations are needed; contact specialevents@loc.gov or call 202-707-1616.

WHERE:
Friday's session from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. will be in the Coolidge Auditorium followed by a reception in Room 119, both located in the Thomas  Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington.

Saturday's session from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. will be in the Mumford Room and the tours from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. will be in the Geography and Map Reading Room, both located in the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

WHO:
Participants include historians, archaeologists, building and landscape architects, urban planners, cartographers, geographers, land surveyors, Library of Congress specialists and Anthony Williams, the former mayor of Washington, D.C.

The conference is presented by the Library and the Philip Lee Phillips Society, which was established in 1995 as an association of collectors, geographers, historians and map enthusiasts, with a shared interest in supporting and promoting the programs and activities of the Library's Geography and Map Division.

More information on the conference presentations is available at www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/.

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Thanks to Baby Boomers and modern medical marvels, more Americans than ever are heading into their senior years, and they're expected to live longer than ever, too. Barely 50 years ago, our average life expectancy was 62.5 years; today that number has risen to 78.2 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That means that more Americans than ever will also soon be deciding how to handle their eldercare. Steve Casto, Retirement Income Specialist and author of Is Your Retirement Headed in the Right Direction?, (www.stevecasto.com), says there are important questions and answers to consider before making that critical decision.

"The key thing to balance is the difference between what you think you'll need and what you can afford between your liquid assets and insurance coverage," Casto said. "If you don't start by asking yourself the right questions, you'll never get to the answers that will lead to a successful long-term care plan."

Here are some questions - and their answers:

Q. Should I opt for nursing-home or in-home care insurance?
A. When selecting insurance plans, protect against your worst risk first. In-home care is more about maintenance, while care outside the home is focused on crises. Home care is good for when a person needs help getting around. If he has a stroke, he'd need to be cared for outside the home initially, so there is a need for both.

Q. What should I select as my daily allowance?
A. If your health deteriorates, a daily allowance of $100 per day could cover all your care outside the home, but only a third of the care inside the home. Your home-care costs could rocket to more than $400 or more per day, so plan for the worst.

Q. What is an elimination period?
A. Sometimes referred to as the "waiting" or "qualifying" period, this refers to the length of time between the beginning of an injury or illness and receiving benefit payments from an insurer. With long-term care, the typical elimination period is 90 days, which means you are responsible for covering the first 90 days of care on your own. Most people believe that Medicare covers the first 90 days, which is dead wrong. It only covers it under certain conditions, and not all patients meet those conditions, which include :

o A nursing home stay that follows a three-day hospital stay
o Admission to a nursing home within 30 days of hospital discharge
o A Medicare-certified nursing home
o Physician-certified need for skilled care on a daily basis

Your best bet is to be insured through a long-term care policy for that first 90 days.

"These are just a few of the issues," Casto says. "A good starting point for those planning early is to completely discount the idea of getting a dime from Medicare. Even if it is still around when you need long-term care, the restrictions on Medicare are tightening. You'll be lucky to get the program to pay for 10 percent of a nursing home stay.

"The real answer is to get a solid long-term care insurance policy that is based on a sound plan."

About Steve Casto

Steve Casto is founder and president of Strategic Wealth Solutions, Inc. an Omaha, Neb.-based financial firm that manages money for investors in the Midwest. Steve helps clients reduce their tax bill, minimize their risk, and ensure they don't outlive their money. He's the author of Is Your Retirement Heading in the Right Direction? and offers presentations on how to increase income while reducing taxes.