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Arguing With Pangloss
Democrats see the American Dream fading, the middle class being squeezed, jobs disappearing, schools crumbling, and wages stagnating.That is not the way middle-class Americans view their own lives. Days after 9/11, 80% of Americans expressed optimism about the year ahead. Two months after gas hit $3 per gallon, 73% said they were optimistic about their family's finances. In 2004, 78% said they were doing "fairly well" financially.And only 22% believe they will not "earn enough money in the future to lead the kind of life [they] want."
And I was wondering what the overlap was with people who were like this...
Bennett found that nearly one-third of adults were unaware that the Republican Party is more conservative than the Democratic Party. And lest the reader think that this is an expression of cynicism rather than a lack of knowledge, Bennett found that whether or not respondents knew there were major differences between the two parties was associated with the amount of knowledge they had of major politicians and the parties but not with their levels of governmental trust.
Some research indicates that when a (white) family's income exceeds $24,000, they become more likely to vote Republican than Democratic. What do you have to do these days to convince someone they're being screwed?
6 Comments:
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OK, whatever "they" are smoking or shooting up, I want some of it! ARGH, now I'm fit to be tied (really mad).
By
I had to go into business for myself because (1) I couldn't find anyone to hire me at more than $7.00 an hour and (2) we needed a tax write off. My husband grosses more than $24,000. But, because of our grand Repub govenor, he loses nearly 40% of his paycheck - not only to taxes, but to health insurance, and retirement. Yep, we be livin the american dream.
Penguin, at 9:11 AM
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You are the reason I'm in politics.
By Arbitrista, at 10:33 AM
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The greatest achievement of the Republican party seems to me to be the ability to get people to vote against their best interests.
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Without seeing the actual questions, knowing the way they were asked, and hearing about who comissioned the study, I am completely skeptical about numbers like these. For one thing, the Republican Party is NOT more conservative than the Democratic Party - at least not fiscally in the last few decades. Ask nonsensical questions, get nonsensical answers. sheepish, at 12:58 PM
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Personally, I think it's all about image. When uninformed people get to vote, that's what it comes down to.
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Figure out what is the most important issue to the public, then get a candidate who can make them believe he/she can deliver.
Clinton knew his numbers dropped every time he veered away from the economy, that's why he carried the sign around with him. Bush stayed mostly on values. Gore and Kerry just weren't focused enough, among other things.
I mean, really, if there are people with incomes of $24,000 voting Republican, then they are not doing so because of facts - it's all perception. Image.
The Democrats could probably use a little help with their smoke and mirrors skills too, though, while they're at it. Rebecca, at 2:09 PM
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Thank you, Publius. You are my Poli-Sci hero!
By Penguin, at 8:36 PM
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Sheepish: Well to me being conservative in America means being a neofascist who supports social intolerance, corporate whoredom, and imperialism. So by that account I think that the Republican party is pretty damn conservative.
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Rebecca: I certainly agree that Democrats could be more effective at using imagery and symbol. But isn't it a bit alarming that we have such widespread ignorance out there? How can self-government be meaningful when people don't KNOW anything? Arbitrista, at 7:44 AM
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