Miniver Cheevy makes, as is often the case, an interesting point:
One tragedy here is that Red America perceives the pressure on rich family and social interdependence as a breakdown in culture, while I think that much of Blue America understands pressure on families as a consequence of logistical and economic circumstances. So strangely it's Blue America that is more sympathetic to European-style social democratic policies that support family stability, while Red America allows themselves to be suckered by plutocrats who are actually creating the pressures that make it difficult for them to live the family lives they crave.
In part, Red America understand the problem that way because that's how they're TOLD to understand it, by everyone from their minister, to the president, to the tv shows that they watch. But even once you understand the problem, the more interesting, and still unanswered questions, are: (1) what factors allow residents of Blue America to see through all the bullshit and (2) how do we go about making changes that allow those in Red America to understand that they'd be far better off letting gays get married and getting free health care for their families?
I think part of the solution is to begin to speak directly to this issue. Ads, news articles, even tv shows that explain: "Your family isn't falling apart because of stem cells being used in research. Your family is falling apart because there's no nearby well-run nursing home that you can afford for Grandma. [Insert name of country] has such facilities and they're paid for by the government. We could have the same thing here in America, but the Republicans won't support it. Vote Democratic. The Democrats are the party that truly values families." Or, "Your family isn't falling apart because gay people can get married. Your family is falling apart because Mom and Dad are both working 1.5 jobs to try and pay for medical care for your diabetic child. In [insert name of country], health care is provided free of charge and people don't have to work extra jobs in order to keep their children healthy. We could have the same thing here in America, but the Republicans won't support health care. Vote Democratic. The Democrats are the party that truly values families."
The Republicans have done a good job of convincing Red Americans that their problems are due to the fact that our culture is "falling apart" and that they need to focus on whether other people can have abortions or birth control, rather than on the need for sensible governmental policies. Democrats have been scared witless of this issue, in part, I think, because they do understand that preservation of what Cheevy refers to as "rich family and social interdependence" is a deeply emotional issue for people. But we need, Rove-like, to attack our opponents' greatest strenght -- their ability to appeal to people's emotions so strongly that they aren't able to either think logically or to follow the shells that the Republicans keep shifting around. We can only do that by focusing relentlessly on this topic (just as the Republicans focus relentlessly on these "base" issues) and by tying what we need to do to the strengthening of family and community.
2 comments:
While at the DMV getting my daughter her learner's permit, I ran into a Red wackadoo who lives in my neighborhood. The only pleasantry I could think of is how long the wait is for service at the DMV. He chirped up, "Wait until they socialize medicine! We'll be treated like this in the hospital!"
Meaning, of course, that he would have to wait in line with blacks and Hispanics for his health care.
I looked right at him and said, "Earlier this year, my husband sat in an emergency room for 5 hours waiting for a bed. The place was packed. Do you think you'll be here 5 hours?"
My cousin in Germany says that the health care is terrific (and he's needed surgery). His son is living over there now in order to qualify for free college!
Taxes? Bring them on! I'll pay them!
I'm tempted to share your belief that “Republicans have done a good job of convincing Red Americans that their problems are due to the fact that our culture is ‘falling apart’,” since it would mean that Democrats have a chance to combat this idea by going toe-to-toe with Republicans. Unfortunately, I'm pretty convinced that Red America's belief in a liberal cultural assault on them is something prior to Republican propaganda. And hey, that belief is even partly true: there's been a liberal cultural assault on sexism, racism, and other elements of traditional American culture over the last two generations. We're proud of it.
The thing isn't that the GOP has created that myth of a liberal attack on the traditional, it's that they've figured out a pernicious way of reinforcing it and capitalizing on it.
The Doug Muder essay that inspired my post over at Miniver Cheevy makes pretty clear why the appeal that you describe wouldn't take with Red Americans. To them, saying that the Democrats want to provide government-sponsored nursing homes for Grandma is a strike against the Dems, since that would be helping families shirk their obligations to do that care themselves. That's not to say that we cannot make a case that the Democratic Party is the party that really supports families—I think we can—but I think that Lakoff and Muder make clear that we're going to be craftier about how we make that case, since our existing language depends upon assumptions that Red Americans don't share.
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