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"Culture of Corruption" - the New Liberal Mantra?

 
 
 
Elixir

Elixir

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Seriously? Yet another election cycle with Dems lacking anything positive to offer a country that is starving for something positive.
Is "Culture of Corruption" a winning message? If so, why don't they drop the charade and make the new slogan "Fuck Trump!"?
 
Elixir said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It was in 2006. Well that and Mark Foley texting underaged male teens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it worked pretty well back then, so Dems are resurrecting it.

I think it's a tired meme, and will prove ineffective at pulling in moderates and independents.
Click to expand...
Well, we are kind of in this rut of Americans don't want to hear that the Republicans "fiscal policies are aimed at ending Social Security and Medicare". So we get stuck with "They be the bad guys!"
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Elixir said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It was in 2006. Well that and Mark Foley texting underaged male teens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it worked pretty well back then, so Dems are resurrecting it.

I think it's a tired meme, and will prove ineffective at pulling in moderates and independents.
Click to expand...
Well, we are kind of in this rut of Americans don't want to hear that the Republicans "fiscal policies are aimed at ending Social Security and Medicare". So we get stuck with "They be the bad guys!"
Click to expand...

Sheesh. Medicare, Social Security, education, public lands, immigration .... there are plenty of things that could lend to a positive message - without even having to dwell on what a mess the Trump Administration is making of all those things.
 
Elixir said:
Sheesh. Medicare, Social Security, education, public lands, immigration .... there are plenty of things that could lend to a positive message - without even having to dwell on what a mess the Trump Administration is making of all those things.
Click to expand...
the problem, however, is this:
the people who are going to vote for the democrats (ie, democratic voters) are going to vote for democrats either way, so the question is just one of motivating them to bother to vote - as in, the deciding factor is whether or not they get up and get out and vote in sufficient numbers or if they don't bother to vote.

now, whether it's true or not, it's currently the opinion of the cultural zeitgeist in the US that fear and/or anger are better motivators to encourage voting than hope or positivity or self reflection - the former gets your base out in droves, the latter gets you fuck-all (see the 2016 election for evidence of that)

the message of the democratic party itself is inherently one of positivity and change, because democrats are the party of "generally working to increase the quality of life for all citizens of the country so that everyone is living by a standard of a 1st world country", which is clearly the polar opposite of what republicans are pushing for.
the problem is that all the people who should be voting democrat but instead vote against their own interests in every practical way are doing so for dogmatic ideological reasons, and are too pants-on-head retarded to ever be able to see how idiotic they are.
so emphasizing the positive aspects of the message "vote for us to protect livable wages, social safety nets, and utilizing our first world status to enhance the lives of everyone" is a wasted effort on right-wing thinking people because they don't value any of those things, they only value on increasing the net worth of rich white men and oppressing others under the guise of jesus.
 
prideandfall said:
Elixir said:
Sheesh. Medicare, Social Security, education, public lands, immigration .... there are plenty of things that could lend to a positive message - without even having to dwell on what a mess the Trump Administration is making of all those things.
Click to expand...
the problem, however, is this:
the people who are going to vote for the democrats (ie, democratic voters) are going to vote for democrats either way, so the question is just one of motivating them to bother to vote - as in, the deciding factor is whether or not they get up and get out and vote in sufficient numbers or if they don't bother to vote.

now, whether it's true or not, it's currently the opinion of the cultural zeitgeist in the US that fear and/or anger are better motivators to encourage voting than hope or positivity or self reflection - the former gets your base out in droves, the latter gets you fuck-all (see the 2016 election for evidence of that)

the message of the democratic party itself is inherently one of positivity and change, because democrats are the party of "generally working to increase the quality of life for all citizens of the country so that everyone is living by a standard of a 1st world country", which is clearly the polar opposite of what republicans are pushing for.
the problem is that all the people who should be voting democrat but instead vote against their own interests in every practical way are doing so for dogmatic ideological reasons, and are too pants-on-head retarded to ever be able to see how idiotic they are.
so emphasizing the positive aspects of the message "vote for us to protect livable wages, social safety nets, and utilizing our first world status to enhance the lives of everyone" is a wasted effort on right-wing thinking people because they don't value any of those things, they only value on increasing the net worth of rich white men and oppressing others under the guise of jesus.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with any of that... but it reminds me of another thread where we were discussing making voting mandatory, with consequences for not showing up at the polls. I am starting to believe that would be a good thing for America.
 
Elixir said:
Seriously? Yet another election cycle with Dems lacking anything positive to offer a country that is starving for something positive.
Is "Culture of Corruption" a winning message? If so, why don't they drop the charade and make the new slogan "Fuck Trump!"?
Click to expand...

Well, whatever you might want the reality is the GOP is a culture of corruption.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
Elixir said:
Seriously? Yet another election cycle with Dems lacking anything positive to offer a country that is starving for something positive.
Is "Culture of Corruption" a winning message? If so, why don't they drop the charade and make the new slogan "Fuck Trump!"?
Click to expand...

Well, whatever you might want the reality is the GOP is a culture of corruption.
Click to expand...

Most certainly! But "culture of corruption", for all its alliterative genius, is a worn out meme. That can't be the only three words that apply, right?
 
Elixir said:
reminds me of another thread where we were discussing making voting mandatory, with consequences for not showing up at the polls. I am starting to believe that would be a good thing for America.
Click to expand...
honestly i don't know about that, because it's predicated on the idea that a majority of the people who don't vote would vote intelligently.
maybe there's some kind of study out there which could shed light on it, but i can't help but feel like if you take the total number of eligible voters who don't vote and then break down who they would vote for if they were forced to vote, it wouldn't result in more democratic wins... certainly not if the compulsory voting was tabulated via something ridiculous like the electoral college or districting rules.
 
Elixir said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It was in 2006. Well that and Mark Foley texting underaged male teens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it worked pretty well back then, so Dems are resurrecting it.

I think it's a tired meme, and will prove ineffective at pulling in moderates and independents.
Click to expand...

Seems to me that the right time to hammer a republican is exactly when that republican is indicted on insider trading.

OR overlooking sex predators.

Or being a Nazi fetishist.

Or whatever.

Around here, the dems are mostly happy to discuss plans for better schools, helping small businesses, and medicare for all, though, and the minor ones are...mostly shoe-ins anyway. YMMV with what your state/local candidates are talking about. But there's no doubt that they're also saying "And let's stand against Trump, that guy's awful" as well, as they should, since even the few republicans hare want nothing to do with him.

All I'm hearing from the GOP, meanwhile, is how awful Nancy Pelosi is because...something something. Well, and the "we hate blacks and jews, build the wall" stuff.
 
Mumbles said:
Elixir said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It was in 2006. Well that and Mark Foley texting underaged male teens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it worked pretty well back then, so Dems are resurrecting it.

I think it's a tired meme, and will prove ineffective at pulling in moderates and independents.
Click to expand...

Seems to me that the right time to hammer a republican is exactly when that republican is indicted on insider trading.

OR overlooking sex predators.

Or being a Nazi fetishist.

Or whatever.

Around here, the dems are mostly happy to discuss plans for better schools, helping small businesses, and medicare for all, though, and the minor ones are...mostly shoe-ins anyway. YMMV with what your state/local candidates are talking about. But there's no doubt that they're also saying "And let's stand against Trump, that guy's awful" as well, as they should, since even the few republicans hare want nothing to do with him.

All I'm hearing from the GOP, meanwhile, is how awful Nancy Pelosi is because...something something. Well, and the "we hate blacks and jews, build the wall" stuff.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm all in favor of hammering rethuglicans, in whatever way is most effective. As you observe, different angles will play differently in different districts. That would imply that adopting a national slogan is a ham-fisted approach in the first place, and I think the midterms can do without it. It seems to me that those trying to advance the "Culture of Corruption" meme are mostly thinking about 2020 when a national slogan might be more useful. But THAT one? Come on, Dems - ya gotta try harder!
 
What are you all complaining about? Culture of Corruption is the best catchphrase since Joementum.
 
Frankly, Elixir, I think you're just not looking. All three of the Dem governor candidates ran on healthcare, infrastructure, lower auto insurance (MI is the highest in the country), among other issues. There was very little Bonespurs/conservative bashing.
 
I think that the Democrats have a great many positive issues that they promote all the time. That won't stop the press from cherrypicking the ones that they think will sell their stories, and those are not usually issues like election reform, infrastructure repair, cheaper insurance, and civil liberties for minorities. The reality is that Donald Trump ran one of the most negative campaigns in the history of the country against Hillary Clinton, and he got almost half the vote. He pushed all of the buttons that attracted people's attention. "Crooked Hillary" put out a gazillion policy papers with detailed explanations of how she planned to improve the country. Nobody paid much attention to her positive messages. It was all about the negative drama surrounding her and trumped up scandals.

What is driving all the talk about a "blue wave" election? It is that elections this year are seen as referendums on the Trump presidency. Democrats would be idiots to ignore what is driving the voting patterns that are helping them to sway voters. What Democrats really need is more charismatic leadership, but that isn't really likely to happen before the presidential cycle. Right now, its all about local races and the anger that people on both sides of the political spectrum feel.
 
Good points, Copernicus.

I would say that what Democrats also need is for voting to be easier on the working class. Voter holiday, mandatory paid leave to vote, vote by mail, extended votin hours. All the things that make people who WANT to vote not able to vote.
 
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