How the Democrats were beaten
Progressives globally must counter an effective right-wing election playbook.
David Muir
Published 03 November 2010
New Statesman
“….In the bright fall sunshine in Washington DC, I explained to the Democratic operative. "I feel I have seen this movie before"…..The movie in question is the right wing election playbook. It is simple and that's what makes it effective. And from London to Louisville it is taking progressive scalps….First, it speaks to a sense of national decline. In order to do that it needs symbol of that fall…..The first of those is debt…..In order to increase the toxicity of the attack the global right ties debt to a second symbol of national decline - waste….Learning from this success, Republican Party and Tea Party affiliates have hammered home that much of the stimulus supported by the Democrats has needlessly expanded the States' ability to waste money…. Taken together debt and waste speak to a sense of national decline, and create a sense of unease about the country's progress and cast real doubt about the effectiveness of counter cyclical policies…..The final element in this playbook is to ensure that you are exceptionally well funded in order to deploy these attacks against progressives. Thanks to the Supreme Court, the airwaves were flooded by attack adverts from shadowy interest groups while I was in the States. And that money was used not just to buy scale, but creative skill. This toxic brew was enough to allow the Republican's recapture the Hill...."
“So how are progressives to beat this global right wing playbook?
“….First, understand that unless we develop a shared global story we will be picked off one by one. The right thrives on turning the financial crisis into a national disaster rather than a global emergency. When we elevated the financial crisis and explained that this was global and we could only get through it globally people would start to understand……Second, we must showcase success. Get testimonials from those families who've kept their jobs and stayed in their house and show how right wing politicians would put that at risk. Equally in opposition we must bring home dramatically the human cost of the coalition cuts and display the waste of lost potential. Humans are programmed to be disgusted by waste…..Third, we need to be much sharper in pushing right wing politicians out of the mainstream. Our most effective attack against the Conservatives was on the threat to tax credits while they planned a tax cut for millionaires. Progressive's must learn from that humans are fundamentally "loss averse" - in other words we are motivated by threats of loss than promises of gain. Labour's "repo man" party election broadcast was highly effective as was the Australian Labour's attacks on their opponents employment policies that would have imperiled mainstream families....”
Read the Entire Article @:
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2010/11/160-wing-playbook-debt-waste
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