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The Democrats are losing the war on misinformation. They’ve never been good at messaging, but now it’s become dangerous because the Republicans are no longer a political party…they’re a cult.
We used to be able to argue against insane, stupid stuff. Now, it doesn’t matter what the argument is about. Republicans find an emotional trigger, pull it and watch, while Democrats flail helplessly about. The two parties are operating on different planes, entirely. Somehow, the Dems can’t get their message out at all, while Republicans hit their mark every time.
The essence of this problem seems obvious: Republicans use emotions to reach their base and Democrats use logic. Emotions are exponentially more powerful than logic. Granted, emotions can’t solve problems, but a party that operates like a cult and isn’t interested in governing doesn’t need to solve problems.
While Democrats go on ad nauseum about policies, programs, regulations, and stimulus, all the Republican base hears is “higher taxes.” They hate that, so Dems lose.
The Republican base wants their leaders to validate what they already believe. They want to hear that nothing will change. Republican politicians understand this, and they give their people what they want. They don’t concern themselves with truth because their base doesn’t concern themselves with truth.
The current Republican base is not evolved enough to realize their perceptions are subjective and they will never put their feelings aside. To them, that’s denying reality. They live for their righteous anger, their judgment, their grievances. It fuels them.
The goal for the current Republican Party is to keep Christian White men in power. Any truth that forces them to acknowledge the anti-democratic nature of a White male power structure (maintained at the expense of women and POC) isn’t welcome.
I remember when I first heard Newt Gingrich refer to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat” Party. It was a subtle shift, but a significant one. Today, I rarely hear a Republican call the opposition “The Democratic Party.” They can’t even say the word “democratic,” let alone tolerate a fully democratic system of government.
Gingrich was also the one who pointed out that feelings are more important than facts. In the world of physics this clearly isn’t the case, but in politics it absolutely is. The Dems are losing the political game because they keep thinking logic and truth will win. They won’t. That only works for people evolved enough to recognize the subjectivity of their own perception and put their feelings aside in order to focus on facts and apply logic. Republicans no longer do this.
While Fox TV consistently blasts the same lies over and over, and FB uses algorithms designed to inflame emotions and fuel hatred, the message that needs to go out to the people of this country is muffled, if not completely absent, from the circles of Republicans who prefer to focus on ‘news’ that confirms their deep-seated biases and validates their worst fears. The ability they once had to apply critical thinking skills to a healthy debate about policy choices has all but disappeared.
Regardless of the messages Democrats send now, they won’t be heard over the cacophony of angry tweets, Fox TV host conspiracy theories and FB feeds that are designed to curtail knowledge and promote conspiracies. The only path forward for Dems is to get as strong a hold on their own party as they can. This means re-thinking their approach.
According to the book, The Misinformation Age, “… what you believe depends on who you know. If social forces explain the persistence of false belief, we must understand how those forces work in order to fight misinformation effectively.”
Democrats continue to behave as if social forces can be ignored. They want their Build Back Better programs to be appreciated for their value but allow every conversation about them to center around the cost to the taxpayer, without explaining how the cost would be spread out over ten years or how the benefits would far overshadow the expense.
Even when they tried to reframe the argument more recently, by discussing the value as opposed to the cost, it was too late. We’d already been subjected to months of hype over the “unprecedented” infrastructure bill that was nothing but an idea—it hadn’t even been written yet.
How were we supposed to get behind something nobody could even define?
Our frustrations were downplayed, our impatience was ignored. The Democratic leadership continued to tell us there was nothing wrong--they had faith in Biden, and they were sure the bipartisan and BBB plans would be passed together. Trust the process. This is how it works. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
This was the wrong approach. Asking the American people to put up with increased uncertainty around something the Dems made sound like a done deal, then lecturing them on patience while the Dems played footsie for months before finally getting down to serious negotiations, long after the promised bills should have been passed, was misguided.
We have been dealing with uncertainty since the pandemic began. Where was the empathy, understanding, and leadership we needed to take us past that and into a more certain future? Instead of assuaging our fears and addressing our concerns, Dems strung us along with promises they couldn’t keep and forced us to watch as two Democratic Senators provided the same obstructionist roadblocks we’ve only seen thus far from Republicans. Nobody was impressed.
Democrats know how to govern. They don’t know how to message. So, here’s a tip: We don’t want to see the sausage making. It makes you look incompetent. Try creating laws that address our primal fears and concerns. Then talk about that. Here are a few examples if you’re coming up blank.
What are you doing about the current threat of white nationalism?
Why hasn’t Congress acted to protect the vote?
Why are we still living with the unconstitutional abortion law that recently passed in Texas?
How have we still done so little to address police violence against Black people?
Is Sheldon Whitehouse still the only person in Congress willing to talk about dark money and the importance of getting it out of politics?
Is anybody in Congress focused on finding ways to remove the conflicts of interest inherent in a system that allows members of Congress to spend their time fund raising when they should be legislating?
Does anybody in Congress care that Senator Joe Manchin, who makes half a million dollars a year in dividends from the coal brokerage company he founded, is the one in charge of climate change legislation?
Is it okay for parents to show up at Town Halls and School Board meetings and harass everybody with lies and threats?
Are we going to allow Republican Sheriffs and legislatures to defy the Constitution with impunity?
Will our democracy survive if Republican legislatures are allowed to discard election results they don’t agree with?
Dems need to understand that while governing is critical and policies and regulations are needed to do that, what WE, THE PEOPLE need to hear, is how you’re going to address what’s important to us. This isn’t head stuff, it’s heart stuff. This is what Republicans understand. When they talk about intellectuals with disdain, it’s because logic and truth are meaningless unless they support their values.
We already know we can’t appease Republicans unless we agree to allow White supremacy and male dominance to reign at the expense of democracy. That’s not a deal the Dems are going to make. So how about they focus on messaging that will win back the rest of us?