This is a take that gets a blog.
I direct you to a five minute portion of the November 3rd episode of Pod Save America, “Last Call for Democracy.”
Pfeiffer is correct, and you have to listen to his rant on Pod Save America. This is a brilliantly articulated version of what rolls around in my head all the time.
Starts at 25 minutes and 15 seconds (to include John Favreau sigh). Ends at 29:20
Listen to all of it, please. Then report back in the comments.
Walk out your fucking door, and touch some grass.
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or Paperback
*Please note:
Links to books and other items on this page and elsewhere on Greg Ladens' blog may send you to Amazon, where I am a registered affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, which helps to fund this site.
Wasn’t this just a democrat yelling at democrat’s not to yell at other democrat’s?
Yes, but I wouldn’t use the word “just” there because I think important yellings were done there.
Right. I just thought it was ironic (grin).
I think we waste too much time arguing with the sort of Republicans we will never convince to change, too. Even with data you can’t change people who don’t want to be changed. The only effective way to win is to swing people who are either on your side but not sure of the value of voting, or those who think that the Republicans are nuts, but the “current Democrats are too leftist.”
Yelling at each other makes us defensive, and closes us off to reason or to actually accomplishing anything. When we admit to ourselve that there are people we will never persuade, we can let them go. Don’t engage with them on social media, at least not about politics. If you have other interests that you have in common, steer away from politics. We win with turnout.
Last weekend I was doorknocking and a potential voter told me he was so turned off by the political ads that he isn’t even going to vote. I told him I get it, but then I gave him an Ellison pitch as someone who’s actually been in the courtroom. I don’t know if it worked, but perhaps. Republican strategists want to depress voter turnout, and Democrats just yelling at other Democrats plays into that.
What he said about Manchin is true, and West Virginia’s politics mean that the only way that we have a majority in the Senate is because Manchin is a Senator. If West Virginia Democrats were to primary him with a more mainstream Democrat, the Seat will become a Republican seat. If Democrats want to make Manchin’s vote less off a stranglehold on the Senate (same for Sinema,) they need more Senators to maintain a majority. It’s that simple. Leave Manchin alone, help Barnes in Wisconsin or Demings in Florida. (I hate the acronyms DINO and RINO, they make it seem like two parties in a country with more than 300 million people can be limited in their representation in government to narrow sets of policy position. And I think that this is a factor that has led to greater political divide.)
As far as presenting data, and analysis, in order to effectively present it first you need to understand the perspective of the person that you are trying to persuade. We filter information through our perspective, and in that sense Berkeley’s statement that esse est percipi is actually true. It doesn’t matter in persuasion what the down and dirty facts are as much as how the receiver perceives them, and we each have our filters based on our beliefs, our priorities, our experiences, and how the data are presented. It is well-known that telling the truth in a way that makes it unbelievable is the best way to lie, or to tell a portion of the truth as if it were the most relevant portion. Keep in mind that if everyone had the same perspective that you do, we would be in agreement before we started. Also keep in mind that 70% of Republican candidates believe that there is data that shows that the election was stolen in 2020. You can argue until you are blue in the face, and you won’t change their mind.
FInally, yes, we need to get away from the keyboard for a while and ring some doorbells. The sort of personal persuasion that counters noise is not going to happen on social media. That’s the place you go to bang your head against the wall so it feels good when you stop. Doorsteps are where you get people out to vote.