Would the D.C. rally have changed my brother's mind?

[DancingBear]

This is a question I have been chewing on for some time now. Here’s some background – my brother is 2 years younger than I am –he’s 48. He lives in Florida, has a high school degree, works for the county government, and is, as they say, “willfully ignorant.” A recent comment to me was that “he supports the war on terror, whether it is in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, or wherever.” He (so far, anyway) refuses to discuss his position, for fear (I believe) that he will not be able to back it up, but I am sure he discusses it with other like-minded folks. I am hesitant to say that education (or lack thereof) plays a big role in how he sees the world, but I believe it does.

Now, mainstream news has begun to at least question the motives of the Muppet-In-Chief, and little brother probably watches mainstream news. With the war in Iraq going as badly as it is, let us play “what if” and suppose that little brother will listen to reasoned (and impassioned) arguments w/regard to same. Let us also suppose, for the sake of argument, that I could have convinced him to go to D.C. with me on the 25th. This is my window of opportunity to make him aware – he could meet with parents of soldiers, and he could hear reasoned responses to his beliefs. For every argument he made, there would have been people there to (nicely) point out the fallacies in his thinking. He wouldn’t be able to yell or scream his way past anyone, nor would his tactics of refusing to discuss it work.

So off we go to D.C. – we arrive just in time for the start of the rally. Little brother is ready, a mind is waiting to be changed, and then – A.N.S.W.E.R. shows up and declares solidarity with the Iraqi resistance. I’ve lost little brother now, with no hope of him ever coming back to our side. He’ll probably even tell his friends and co-workers about the “wackos” he met, and we’ve now lost them as well.

This is my dilemma – there are millions of little brothers out there. How do we reach them? I know A.N.S.W.E.R. is not the answer, but perhaps the march was. My impressions of the march were of unbridled joy and hope (posted in a thread called “And So I Marched Again”), and I am so very glad I went. But what of little brother and his ilk? Free The Cuban 5 won’t do it for them –what will?

As I said, I’m 50 years old, and I look at things through the filter of, well, a 50 year old. I’ll steal a phrase from a previous post of mine to describe how I viewed things on the 25th, and where I’ll be in the future:

>I learned that I have many things in common with my fellow marchers, and I learned that I have very few. I felt old, yet I felt young. Half of me wanted to shake these "young pups" by the throat and tell them the ways to make middle America see, while the other half marveled at their unbridled exuberance and honest belief that they could change everything. I remember those feelings well.

I know now that there is a place for me, and that I can help. I temper things with wisdom now, and the pragmatist lives within, but I know now where I belong. I'll be doing my part in the way I feel works best, but when the time comes for numbers I'll be there.<

Middle aged middle America are our “swing voters” – it is those minds we need to chance in order to remove Bush from office. While I commend A.N.S.W.E.R. for its amazing ability to organize, I think it can be agreed upon that it is not the proper venue for Democratic activists such as ourselves, who (I believe) are looking to still work within the mainstream to get things done. The young must take the wisdom from the old, and the old must take the energy from the young. I’m open to suggestions as to how to meld the two.

[BurtWorm]

1. If he went to a march, he would probably have opened up

just a little, at least, to the energy. But very few of those swing voters will make it to protests. They'll have to be reached by media mostly. How does the message get on the media?

[DebJ]

2. how about a rally that uses speakers who list facts and information?

We were disappointed because we went hoping to learn something more, get more details, from speakers. As I mentioned before, with CSPAN coverage, even if only a few watched and listened, wouldn't it have been great to here details on the Patriot Act and how it has been carried out...list names, dates, places, reference sources.

The administration lies, but the opposition gives too few facts. If one is motivated to look for facts, you can find them. But the swing voters aren't motivated ... we need to motivate with facts... THEN
you can have rallies that move the emotions.

[DancingBear]

3. That would have been helpful, I believe

depending on how it was presented. Especially to a viewing (as opposed to in-person) audience. No screaming alllowed - passion can be presented in other ways.