Can we fight Stupidity with Simplicity?

[Armstead]

I've been wondering about how to counteract the GOP's appeals to stupidity.

By stupidity I mwan convincing voters of things like "You will be better off by supporting policies that favor the obscenely wealthy and powerful who are the ones who wrecked the economy. " (i.e buzzwords lije the job creators, the productive sector)

Or "It is your Christian duty to support a system of economic values that are totally contrary to the teachings of Jesus."

OR "Science is just a Socialist tool."

Some people are just natually attuned to such moronic and self-deceptive thinking. Forget them.

But those messages also to be seeping steadily into the non-ideological mainstream. The GOP seems to be able to lie outright and CONvince independents that UP IS down.....For example: The stimulus did not create obe new job."

How can Democrats/Liberals//Progressives counteract such nonesense and lies?

Is there a way to produce equally convincing counter-messages based on actual raality?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Here's what I noticed in the 2004 election

I went to Bush's website. It had a warm and fuzzy feel, and it was easy to find out what Bush's positions on the issues were. The positions or the links to them were all on the front page.

Then I went to Kerry's website. It looked as if it had been designed by a bunch of poli sci majors from an Ivy League university to impress their professors. The front page was full of gobbledygook. If you wanted to find out what Kerry's position on any issue was, you had to download a PDF, and not just one PDF, but one for each issue--something that everyone just loves to do, right? :sarcasm:

The Democrats either suck at public relations to a degree unknown to the rest of humanity or have had their public relations apparatus infiltrated by Republican moles.

[Tennessee Gal]

2. You are talking about "framing" the issues in ways that

convince Americans to vote against their own interests. That is what Republicans are trained to do. They have been working on it for at least 40 years. They have invested gobs of money in think tanks and getting their talking heads out in the media.

I suggest reading books by George Lakoff. I recently read this one: Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives

[Cali_Democrat]

3. The only way to counteract the GOP bullshit is to confront them and fight back, hard.

You can't be timid and conciliatory. You have be aggressive and constantly on the attack. And you definitely can't compromise with them.

[Tennessee Gal]

4. That is not what Lakoff recommends and it has never worked for me.

You don't have to confront them or even compromise with them. What works best is asking them pointed questions that make them think about their positions.

[lovemydog]

8. doesn't work for me either

In about six years, I've helped a friend change from hardcore republican to conservative to voting for a democratic party president and a democratic party governor, to telling me the other night that he hates the tea partiers and all they stand for. I've accomplished this by being courteous, and by asking lots of questions, and by respecting his positions on some things, even if I didn't always agree.

[Armstead]

10. I think it's probably push hard on a general level, but discuss and question personally

I dunno. I have a friend who is a conservative Republican...We have good natured debates about things....But what is frustrating is that hevoften sort of agrees with me on specifics, but won't consider changing his stripes.

[Claudia Jones]

5. Democrats are divided

The Republicans (politicians and their sponsors and cohorts) know what they are fighting for and press relentlessly forward.

Democrats are divided on all of the points of conflict with the right wingers.

- Organized Labor (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Public education (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Privatization (the right wing supports, Democrats are divided)
- "Free" trade and "free" markets (the right wing supports, Democrats are divided)
- Progressive taxation (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Public services to include health care (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Equal rights for all (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Economic equality (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Protection of public resources (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)
- Worker protections and safety and health regulations (the right wing opposes, Democrats are divided)

[Vattel]

7. +1

[Armstead]

9. That is a problem.....But given that reality....

....Are there enough common threads in the different variations of Democrtas to have a set of unifying themes?

[opihimoimoi]

6. Yes there is reason for HOPE....the TRUTH is emerging and The GOPers loooking BAAD