Posted by JanR on November 10, 2010 at 11:28:03:
In Reply to: When the book of the 2010 election is written posted by CC2 on November 07, 2010 at 11:07:13:
You forgot to mention that they base their decisions on ideology. For example, they believe in Capitalism (with a capital C). Capitalism is like a religion to them. Therefore, socialism is like a competing religion. Capitalism must be left to its own devices and should not be regulated in any way. If it results in all the money gradually moving from the poor to the rich, so be it. It is God's will.
: When the book of the 2010 election is written, it will say the Democrats lost because they didn't have their finger on the pulse of America. The election of 2010 was a gutter brawl, and the Democrats are above that. They would be embarrassed to use the gut-level propaganda tactics that the Republicans used. The Democrats see themselves as logical and intelligent. As such, they are "above" using the scare and hate tactics the right-wing Republicans are so good at. The election of 2010 was a harbinger of what is to come. The start of the 21 century marked the end of the "me-generation" and the start of the "me-versus-you" generation. From now on, politics will be about smearing your opponent, not about building yourself up. The so-called tea party is representative of that approach to politics. The tea party is a reflection of the fear and hate that is becoming widespread in America. The tea party and the right wingers are in favor of a strong military and in favor of pursuing foreign wars (in other words, they are in favor of killing foreigners if it is necessary to further American values). They are in favor of capital punishment (in other words, they are in favor of state-sponsored killing of those they are afraid of). They are in favor of long, long sentences for those convicted of minor crimes (in other words, they are in favor of locking away those they don't like). They are in favor of police-control versus individual freedom. They dislike all foreigners: the current hated groups are Muslims and the Mexicans. They are mistrustful of science and of intellectuals. Many of them would be in favor of a state religion (Christianity) versus freedom of religion.
: The Democrats know Americans are moving toward such values, but are not willing to lower themselves to appeal to such base emotions. Therefore, they lost ground in the 2010 election and they will continue to lose ground to any candidate who is willing to pander to those kinds of values.