Come November, the Republican Party may need to change their mascot from the elephant to the lemming.
In the aftermath of Scott Brown’s upset election in January, the GOP redoubled their bets on the failure of Health Care Reform. As they had for the last year, they showed no hesitation or remorse in spouting outrageous lies to frighten the public, incite hatred and caricature Pres. Obama as a socialist who is bent on destroying America by turning it into the USSR…and is also Hitler, the Antichrist, Dr. Evil and an arugula farmer all rolled into one.
It was and continues to be a scorched earth campaign to destroy Americans’ belief in their democracy, their government and the concept of doing what’s right for our entire society instead of “me”. But this strategy may already be backfiring once their Sherman’s March across the soul of America ran into the month of March.
Sen. DeMint was the first to connect “Waterloo” with trying to pass HCR, towards Pres. Obama of course. It would be ironic if it did indeed turn out to be the GOP’s Waterloo. Negative campaigning has historically proven to be effective in the short term but can boomerang in the long run. The public can be stirred into fear, resentment and/or hatred far too easily as a kneejerk reaction to negative campaigning. Emotion trumps reason for many in the immediacy of the moment. However, as time passes, emotion wanes. The public which has been whipped up to feel negative emotions by politicians…can start to associate those feelings with the source of them and feel greater distaste towards those politicians than their targets.
Aiding this is the debunking of the terrible, trumped up accusations that the passage of time can expose. When the sky doesn’t fall and we don’t have our guns taken away on our way to government work camps after being taught our new official language of Russian…at least some will begin to recognize that they’ve been a sheep in lemming’s clothing.
Let’s take a look at where public opinion is today, after passage of HCR per Gallup:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126959/Majority-Poor-Young-Uninsured-Back-Healthcare-Bill.aspx
Hmm…what was the hue and cry of Republicans over the last week? Listen to the majority and follow their wishes or you undermine our democracy. So, now that a greater number favor HCR, does that mean we can expect John Boehner to start crying in regret at opposing HCR? I wouldn’t bet my tanning bed on it.
What’s interesting about the above poll is that the main demographic that is opposed to HCR is that of Senior Citizens. This seems to be very intuitive. No offense to Granny but she is likely still trembling a bit about that death panel that’s coming for her. It is well established that Seniors are the biggest target for scammers, they are naturally easier to scare, intimidate, convince and manipulate. So, it would seem that the above poll is actually good news for Pres. Obama and Dems and bad news for the GOP.
At a time when they’ve thrown all the fear and hatred they could at HCR, most favor it. And the biggest demo opposing it who we know can be easier to convince, will soon get $250 checks, drug payment donut holes closed and health care guaranteed for all of their grandchildren and in 4 years, all of their children too. They’re going to vote in November for Repubs who want to take that away from them?
By the time November rolls around, will the emotions and the lies surrounding HCR still be as resonant with the majority of the public or will they have moved on? With the short attention span of today’s MSM and society, will an 8 month old bill be on the front burner still? Nothing else like the economy, jobs or anything that pops up in the meantime might get the focus? And in the end, might not people simply come to accept and appreciate HCR even more once they personally experience the benefits and protections and/or the lack of terrible things that the GOP insisted would occur?
Yes, the GOP will keep beating that nasty drum from now until then but instead of marching to the beat, might not Seniors just begin to complain about all that racket? Especially after buying that new box of hard candy they can afford since they are saving a fortune with the donut hole being mostly closed.
And where will that leave the GOP, the party of “hell” and “no”? As is typical, the party out of power is likely to pick up some seats in Nov. The GOP will doubtlessly claim a landslide mandate no matter how common the number of the pickup is. In truth though, given a near-depression, rampant home foreclosures and job losses and a dishonestly vicious campaign against the Dems and Pres. Obama, if the Repubs’ pickup is unremarkable for an off year election, will they not have lost hugely?
After all that’s transpired, if the best the GOP can do in Nov is perform typically, they will have sacrificed their identity and whatever moderates would have considered them worthy of leading the nation in a futile, self-destructive (and intended to be destructive to the nation and or democracy) campaign.
Instead of this mutated GOP succeeding in a scorched earth campaign, they may instead be marching like flaming lemmings right off the edge of the political cliff.
Looks like Pres. Obama feels similarly. From the AP:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_on_re_us/us_obama
I come to confession on this subject, fellow Planet Church members, seeking absolution…
You see, I may have violated my professional ethics just a teeeensy bit. Over the last couple days at work, naturally, the passage of HCR came up. And, inevitably, patients asked me whether I thought it was a good thing or not.
Well, we’re not really supposed to get into religion or politics as nurses, because–of course–we hold the keys to the box that contains the morphine and oxycontin and that tends to make the power balance appear a bit lopsided. Go figure.
But I did allow myself to say that, after years of seeing people come in through the ER, having gone without necessary meds, preventive care or much needed diagnostic tests, after having seen the disastrous results of all that deprivation, due to lack of insurance coverage, I had every hope that things could only get better.
Because they could hardly have gotten worse.
Mostly–you’re right, AdLib–it has been the older patients who’ve been the most scared. I’ve tried to reassure them that, from what we know now, nothing will be taken away from them (except the blasted donut hole). They still seem a little sceptical.
Do you think I “done right”?
You told the truth when another human being asked you a question, I see nothing wrong in that. It wasn’t a sin so you don’t have to confess.
Go in peace my child. 🙂
I appreciate that “absolvo te,” Kalima! 😆
As for going and sinning no more…I’ve never been very good at that one.
Nor me, the sinning no more I mean, although I do try. 🙂
You did right! You simply stated the facts. And even of you had said that you hoped more people had access to health insurance, I see no problem with that. Also, reassuring seniors is healing!
Thanks, Cher. It’s a delicate relationship, this patient-caregiver thing, and the last thing you want to do is bully, even subtly.
I agree with Cher, it would be less ethical to allow seniors to live in fear and raise their blood pressure believing a cynical lie.
The truth doesn’t belong to any political party, it is apolitical.
Sharing indisputable facts that can make others breathe easier is respect, not proselytizing.
Ya done good!
Certainly, if the person’s response was to want to dispute the truth instead of seek the truth, I would have let it go, allowing them to live under the fallacies they feel they need to believe in.
One thing about the rightwingers — they know their audience. They don’t feel obligated to stick to the facts, tell the truth, or explain an issue. They know that they should pick the most incendiary terms and images they can find, and keep pounding those images into the mushy little noggins of the folks listening to them. That’s how Glenn Beck operates. He pretends to be some sort of professor with his chalkboard, but he is just a simplistic propagandist whose real message is fear and outrage and not so veiled suggestions to “pick up a gun.”
Just keep in mind people will vote in large part not based on what Dems have done and Repugs have not done but what economic conditions are at the time in the country. People vote their pocketbooks and if things don’t improve dramatically Dems are going to lose a fair number of seats. But that’s just another reason why Republicans are so stupid to campaign on just turning back the clock. They should be campaigning on the future based on the current economic situation.
I don’t buy any of the rhetoric they put out there
That the Dems will lose so many seats
because the party of the president always loses seats in the midterms.
Or that the dems will lose seats because
they did not listen to the American People.
Or any of the rest of their BS
I think they have totally underestimated Obama
and the power of the people
I was wondering if anyone had the figures on
how much the opposition to health care spent trying to defeat it?
I am thinking it’s a case of David and Goliath
The insurance lobbies spent $1.4 MILLION PER DAY to defeat health care.
So perhaps those shiny corporate ads won’t be the last word after all.
*
Unfortunately, they don’t need to be intelligent. They don’t need to know how to compose a cogent message. Focus groups and Frank Luntz and advertising agencies and loads and loads of corporate dollars will create shiny campaign slogans and ads for them — thanks to the SCOTUS.
The electorate needs to get a whole lot more sophisticated before November.
You mean people my age aren’t selfish pricks, and overwhelmingly agree this bill was a good thing?
Well, that’s not what the trolls said! 😆
Those who approve of the gubmint takeover are those who don’t have the gubmint health care.
Ooops — I have to take that back. The people who HAVE the gubmint health care seem to know it’s a good thing, too.
It seems to be the CHANGE that scares people. At least we know all those scared people will some day be in the plus column.
One of the finest comments I’ve ever seen ‘over there’:
“GOP in 2020: Keep you gubmint hands off my ObamaCare!”
😆 😆
Funeee 😆
Excellent post Adlib. I was working on similar article but you beat me to it.
I was going to use Stalingrad as my metaphor because the GOP is acting like Hitler and telling General Paulus to fight to the last man when the battle is already lost. In that case General Paulus surrendered and actually became a propaganda tool for the Soviets. Republicans can take on all the lost cause they want.
When is everyone going to learn, especially right wingers that President Obama always comes through in the end. To use an NCAA Basketball tournament analogy Obama is a clutch shooter, right now Dick Vital would call him a diaper dandy because he’s still a little past his Freshman year in office. No the president’s team is not blowing the other side out and passing hugely progressive policies like single payer or the public option but they are beating Republicans at the buzzer every time. I can’t wait to see what moves Obama has when he becomes a Senior.
No matter how you look at it, the strategy they are using is a scorched earth strategy and the earth they are scorching is the entire US electorate.
The only way my opinion differs from yours is that for allot of people who listen to Faux News and right wing radio the truth will not matter. Like you said these people don’t vote on reason, they vote on emotion. So as long as the right wing keeps them frothed up they will not be able to handle the truth.
The seniors have been been used in so many respects. They’ve been scared to death, their age (as in past societal issues) has been used against them, the way they were raised has been used against them. They’ve been manipulated, and Republicans should be ashamed, but I’m sure they’re not. I find this behavior repugnant, not to mention it leaves an after-one-has-puked-all-night kind of taste in my mouth.
Fifty years ago, my father was 30; fifty years ago it was 1960. My father would have been a Tea Party Person had the organization existed; now he could be the preacher, the choir, or both.
😆 My grandmother didn’t care for hard candies; she had a penchant for those soft, orange circus peanuts. 😆
👿 And…my father would have accused me of being “uppity” for using penchant in a sentence. 👿
Good post, AdLib! Made me think. Well, obviously, the jury is still out on the fate of Republicans. And I have very mixed feelings about their need to get a grip
AdLib,
We are of one mind on this.
I am simultaneously horrified and astounded by the gross miscalculation, behavior and hypocrisy of the republican “party”, and yet, ecstatic that they appear to be stubbornly headed for the cliffs.
😆 My first response: “…Especially after buying that new box of hard candy they can afford.”
That got me!
(More to come.)