Why Don’t DEMS Just Instantly “Get It”?
Repubs will primarily vote for Frump the Plump Grump for one (or two) reasons:
Sadly, they are greed-based losers and suckers, blinded by desire for money and/or power, with a general disinterest for humanity and any universally shared good, or concept of a global future,
and/or
They are tragically self-loathing racist haters, incapable of seeing anything outside their personal idea of pleasure. (And clearly, they take great, almost orgasmic pleasure from their hate. And their hate is not only for people of color, but liberals, Democrats, Jews, the LGBTQ+ community, “race traitors” and other non-Christians as well. And the list goes on.) And I dare say that even white “so-called” Christians fall into these categories, since both motivations I’ve listed are ultimately based on shortsighted ignorance, and the somewhat desperate desire for control over anyone not exactly as they are.)
But Dems are very different. They are generally nuanced and diverse, not only racially, but emotionally, historically and socially (unlike repubs) , and that makes it harder to appeal specifically. Free-thinkers (which is ultimately what I think all concerned Americans might choose to be) have so many interests, all hopefully based around ideas of justice and equality:
Health care? Repubs simply see “KILL OBAMACARE!” as the solution, despite the tens of millions of hard working Americans it currently covers. (It was never specifically designed for immigrants and so-called “freeloaders”, but for some of America’s hardest working, who still can’t afford expensive healthcare for their families, or they need coverage for pre-existing conditions.) Dems on healthcare issues see a range of detailed programs going back to the 1970s, with preexisting conditions and single payer as strong considerations. (Repubs often don’t even realize Obamacare and the ACA are the same thing, and many may still believe in “death panels”, Politifact’s 2009 “Lie of the Year”. Under tRump, repubs are death panels.)
Immigration? Repubs simply see “Beautiful WALL! Mexico is paying!” Dems see various opportunities, largely based on promises America has made (and substantially broken) over the past two centuries, as well all the possibilities for growth-based national diversity and international brotherhood. (But repubs, like tRump, see no problem when they can profit from exploited illegal immigrant labor.)
Climate change to repubs is simply a “Democrat(sic) lie”. To Dems it involves a multitude of possible opportunities involving divestiture in fossil fuels, investing in renewable energy, banning drilling on public land and offshore, restricting dangerous pipelines, controlling fracking, global participation and countless other ideas. (Repubs actually want the government to endorse and subsidize fossil fuel companies and ignore renewable energy (except for the cancer-causing windmill noise, which must be eliminated! Or whatever silliness tRump wants today.))
Repubs see America’s racial issues as “All lives matter, but especially WHITE people! And Blue people! The first (and 2nd) amendments ONLY matter to WHITE people….and smurfs!” Dems see it as a complex combination of options including REfunding/DEfunding police, examining reparations, educating America’s youth more honestly and appropriately, and hundreds of other ideas. Repubs see ONLY, “Dominate the streets to control freedom, with ARMED Robert E. Lee statues in every state!”
No doubt you’ve heard the thousands of examples, endless and complex…but only for Dems. For repubs, EVERYTHING is simple: bow down and worship tRump! To Dems, nothing is simple. (And I suspect nearly everyone reading this will agree…nothing is simple when every free thinker has valid ideas of their own. And for repubs, everything is simple when they really just want to be told everything to think and say.)
While Dems fall in perhaps 180 degrees of a 360 degree “motivation wheel”, I only see Repubs within about 10 degrees of the opposite side of that wheel; the 10 degrees that tRump (and racist hate) occupies. And to vastly oversimplify, that is why it’s so much harder to appeal to every Democrat equally, or with a single message. Democrats simply don’t think equally, or have identically matching ideas. Unlike repubs, they think too broadly to ever be so pigeonholed into such tiny categories.
Repubs can be told how to think and feel (and as we’ve seen), very successfully. Yet they call us “sheeple” for wearing life-saving masks! (I suppose even sheep are smart enough to choose life over death.) We no longer hear of “moderate” or “centrist” repubs. (At least not seriously, considering the Senate impeachment vote, the packing of the courts with unqualified young, white, male, white, male, lifetime judges, and now the Supreme Court hypocrisy.)
Dems cannot simply be TOLD. They already know how they feel. (Fortunately, this time around “Dump tRump” has gone far toward narrowing that range for Dems. Let’s hope it’s enough.)
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
Thank you all.
