Love Jennifer Rubin! Yes, we don’t get credit for taking the high road if we lose. Thank you for your insight into the problems of timing and toughness that plague us. Speaking the truth unequivocally is not the worst thing Dems can do, but Mr. Nice Guy may just undermine the efforts of the past two years. Pelosi is a great role model.
Which party is living and which is dying (politcally and, sadly, literally)? The Republican Party is in a death sprial. As I've said out here before, the party is a zombie--it may lumber around for awhile, it may make noises that sound like human speech, it may do great damage, but it is dead. And that becomes more apparent every day. Look at Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas, who at least had the guts to admit that he should not have signed that bill banning mask mandates. Look at the fire piling up around Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott for their suicidal policy choices. Hear the talk show host who derided the vaccine until he got Covid, then told his listners to get the shot; sadly, he died over the weekend. Look at how many Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill, even as Tump and his most loyal acolytes continued to savage it.
Do Democrats need to fight hard? Yes, because we cannot afford just to wait for the Republican Party to die; if we stand back many other people will die needlessly. But nonetheless, the Republican Party is on its way out. Eventually, and irretrievably.
I agree with everything you say, but the next four years will be treacherous. Every signal in the system says that the GOP will attempt to disregard the popular and Electoral votes if they lose in 2022 and 2024. While the GOP is a dying party, it is desperate to hang on to power by any means possible, including another attempted coup. We need to remind people every day that Republicans are an anti-democracy party. And, sadly, the inevitable outcome of having 35% of the population that refuses vaccination is that they become a variant factory. The risk is that a variant emerges that will be highly contagious and highly deadly to everyone -- vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. Hence, my point that we need to be more hard-hitting in our pushback against the disinformation and lies being promoted by the Republican Party. Where is the Democratic equivalent of the Lincoln Project?
Maybe instead of a cheese plate, Democrats need to walk in with some fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti :-) - ready for a bit of a fight. Messaging has certainly become more significant than ever. Democrats have relied forever, it seems, on deeds speaking more loudly than words. In our current situation as a country, the value of deeds is drowned out by the sheer quantity of lies and volume of the narrative. Democrats need better thoughtful and persuasive PR, better messaging to combat untruths. Hooray Jennifer Rubin! Yes and yes again.
It appears we are winning the messaging war with everyone but the remaining Republican base, and the virus is messaging them better than any message Dems can send. Below is an interesting article on the concept of "stupidity" from a systems rather than individual point of view. If, as the author says, stupidity “is more the property of a political culture than of the individuals in it, needing to be tackled at that level”, I’d like to hear more on how to do that.
I especially like and agree with this statement, Robert: "We ought to be able to convince Americans that increasing revenue by pursuing tax cheats is a legitimate way to fund the fight against climate change." What on Earth is anyone thinking when they refuse to go after tax cheats?
I hope Jaime Harrison and the heads of the DCCC and Dem Senatorial Committee have read Jennifer Rubin and Charles Blow. It’s beyond frustrating how ineffective Dem messaging is.
" Let’s hope that Democratic leadership is burning the midnight oil to prepare for the coming fight. Joe Biden’s agenda hangs in the balance—and with it, a brighter future for all Americans."
The survival of life, as we know it, on our planet hangs in the balance. Climate change can only be addressed by Americans backing the path set out by Democratic leadership, and this requires winning the the messaging war.
Love Jennifer Rubin! Yes, we don’t get credit for taking the high road if we lose. Thank you for your insight into the problems of timing and toughness that plague us. Speaking the truth unequivocally is not the worst thing Dems can do, but Mr. Nice Guy may just undermine the efforts of the past two years. Pelosi is a great role model.
Whoa! Democrats have lost the messaging war? Huh?
Which party is living and which is dying (politcally and, sadly, literally)? The Republican Party is in a death sprial. As I've said out here before, the party is a zombie--it may lumber around for awhile, it may make noises that sound like human speech, it may do great damage, but it is dead. And that becomes more apparent every day. Look at Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas, who at least had the guts to admit that he should not have signed that bill banning mask mandates. Look at the fire piling up around Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott for their suicidal policy choices. Hear the talk show host who derided the vaccine until he got Covid, then told his listners to get the shot; sadly, he died over the weekend. Look at how many Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill, even as Tump and his most loyal acolytes continued to savage it.
Do Democrats need to fight hard? Yes, because we cannot afford just to wait for the Republican Party to die; if we stand back many other people will die needlessly. But nonetheless, the Republican Party is on its way out. Eventually, and irretrievably.
I agree with everything you say, but the next four years will be treacherous. Every signal in the system says that the GOP will attempt to disregard the popular and Electoral votes if they lose in 2022 and 2024. While the GOP is a dying party, it is desperate to hang on to power by any means possible, including another attempted coup. We need to remind people every day that Republicans are an anti-democracy party. And, sadly, the inevitable outcome of having 35% of the population that refuses vaccination is that they become a variant factory. The risk is that a variant emerges that will be highly contagious and highly deadly to everyone -- vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. Hence, my point that we need to be more hard-hitting in our pushback against the disinformation and lies being promoted by the Republican Party. Where is the Democratic equivalent of the Lincoln Project?
Maybe instead of a cheese plate, Democrats need to walk in with some fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti :-) - ready for a bit of a fight. Messaging has certainly become more significant than ever. Democrats have relied forever, it seems, on deeds speaking more loudly than words. In our current situation as a country, the value of deeds is drowned out by the sheer quantity of lies and volume of the narrative. Democrats need better thoughtful and persuasive PR, better messaging to combat untruths. Hooray Jennifer Rubin! Yes and yes again.
Thank you for some concrete, encouraging news today. There is all too little of it right now.
It appears we are winning the messaging war with everyone but the remaining Republican base, and the virus is messaging them better than any message Dems can send. Below is an interesting article on the concept of "stupidity" from a systems rather than individual point of view. If, as the author says, stupidity “is more the property of a political culture than of the individuals in it, needing to be tackled at that level”, I’d like to hear more on how to do that.
https://psyche.co/ideas/why-some-of-the-smartest-people-can-be-so-very-stupid
Hi, Tim. Thanks for the link to the article. I will check it out.
I especially like and agree with this statement, Robert: "We ought to be able to convince Americans that increasing revenue by pursuing tax cheats is a legitimate way to fund the fight against climate change." What on Earth is anyone thinking when they refuse to go after tax cheats?
I hope Jaime Harrison and the heads of the DCCC and Dem Senatorial Committee have read Jennifer Rubin and Charles Blow. It’s beyond frustrating how ineffective Dem messaging is.
" Let’s hope that Democratic leadership is burning the midnight oil to prepare for the coming fight. Joe Biden’s agenda hangs in the balance—and with it, a brighter future for all Americans."
The survival of life, as we know it, on our planet hangs in the balance. Climate change can only be addressed by Americans backing the path set out by Democratic leadership, and this requires winning the the messaging war.