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[pinkpops]

1. You are not simplifying

in my opinion. It is just that simple.

[sistersofmercy]

2. Perfect actually, just a perfect observation!

Sometimes simplicity is the best approach.

[NewGuy]

3. I think you have to be

His approval rating is at or near 50%. Are you saying half of all Americans are stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible.


:wtf:

[DuctapeFatwa]

10. Try this simple test

go to a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Stop the first 100 people you see and offer them $10 for every country over 10 (not counting the US) that they can name.

It's a cheap, and for many, informative way to spend an afternoon.

[Name removed]

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[NewGuy]

19. Ahhh, That makes a bit more sense.

Lets hope it is igmorant and ill-informed as that is easier to fix than stupid. Hopefully the ill-informed can become informed. The other thing to overcome is that the Clinton folks were correct that for most Americans "Its the economy stupid." If the economy keeps improving what happens elsewhere may not rise to the level of interest of for the common man/swing voter.

[Bandit]

14. You "don't" think they are????

I would venture to say more than fifty percent are exactly what the poster insinuated they are. Stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible. I would throw in dumb as a rock also.

[K-W]

4. Far too simple

you need to go back further as to why those people hold the opinions they do.

[pistoff democrat]

9. I agree with you!

People hold these feelings for a lot of reasons; some of which are not necessarily stupid but could certainly be characterized as fearful.

For example, your sentence: "Anybody who still likes W is too stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible for us to worry about."

No, because we don't know WHY everyone who likes W actually does (or thinks he does). A lot of people in this country are hanging on for dear life...we need to worry about getting a message to them that W is not the answer!

[Doc_Technical]

17. Simpletons.

I think that for many people, their only connections with
politics are the 30 second sound bytes and the screaming
idiots on television and radio.

Issues of any real value are rarely mentioned and are soon
made into simplistic attacks on individuals.

Many people either consider politics petty or too confusing
to comprehend, and because of this they think they don't really
have any voice in what is decided by the politicians.

So instead of studying the issues, they base their political
decisions on how they feel about a politician's personality;
face it, many people like W because he is very much like themselves.
Yes he is a SOB but he kicks ass and the smarty-pants liberals
hate him, what better reason is there to support this
"regular guy"?

[sistersofmercy]

26. Va te faire foudre!

In case you don't know french, GO FUCK YOURSELF!

[bleedingheart]

5. Ya hit the nail on the head...

[Tinfoil]

6. You mentioned three groups in there

I don't know how many people are in each group, but if groups 2 and 3 out number group 1, I would be worried.


If you think people are ill-informed/ignorant/gullible, you should probably go out there and inform them or at least use their gullible traits against them to see the progressive side of the story...

I wouldn't be calling swing voters stupid, either, no matter if it's true or not. They seem to be what decides elections.

[Armstead]

7. I disagree with 2 and 3

On point 1, there is a substantial group for whom Bush can do no wrong because he is a Republican conservative. And among the undecideds there are some who really are so clueless that they just go with the flow.

But I think that there is a large mass of people among Bush supporters and swing voters who are not "stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible." The problem is that they do not have access to a balanced picture. They're busy with their own lives, and think that if they watch TV news they are getting real news.

So it does matter that the media pumps up Bush's "successes" and ignores the administration's darker side, and protrays the Democrats as hapless.

[leftofthedial]

23. "lack of access to balanced picture" and "too busy"

IS" ignorant and ill-informed."

I know many of these people too. My opinion is that even if you DO inform them, they are too lazy to worry about it. It's hard to think about this stuff. If you are one of the lucky few who still has a job, it is easier to do the 9 to 5, take the kids to soccer games, watch televised sports and drive your SUV to the mall.

Let someone else worry about it.

Compared to my friends in Europe and Asia, Americans are by and large willfully ignorant, less intelligent, and intellectually lazy to the point of self-induced autism.

The RW has invested billions, if not trillions of dollars, and a full generation now, dumbing these people down.

If you think that is elitist, so be it.

[DrFunkenstein]

8. So It Comes Down To A Personality Contest?

There is no one out there that likes Bush, but would also like to have, you know, health care and stuff? Or conversely, that dislikes Bush, but would feel more secure with a proven commander-in-chief (cough cough) or opposes abortion, etc.?

[msmcghee]

11. I can't imagine a more self-defeating strategy.

"Anybody who can't decide (the much-touted 'swing' voter) is too stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible for us to worry about."


The whole enchilada pretty much depends on how those "stupid/ill-informed/ignorant/gullible" voters line up. That may be shitty - but that's how it works.

You can rest assured that most of Bush's* $200 million war chest will be aimed squarely between the eyes of these folks you so disparage.

[pistoff democrat]

15. agreed!

eom

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

12. The Republicans I know seem to be responding to deeper emotional issues

and I believe they come down in the end to such things as racism, the white victim mentality, sexism and nationalism.

They are pretty intelligent about most things in life and skeptical, actually, and know there's a lot of BS to Bush and co., but they are prejudiced against Democrats because the Republicans are their strong, white man team. The men and the women both all want to be on what the mainstream media tells them is the popular well-off, white team.

[sistersofmercy]

16. "know there's a lot of BS to Bush and co." Generalization for you to chew

on, a basic difference I observe in Democrats vs Repubs is Democrats question essentially all politicians, whether they are Democratic or Republican, whereas Repubs tend to only question Democratic leaders. Repubs give a free pass to their elected or selected officials and just accepted things as the way they are. As Clinton put it at the Harkin Steak Fry "Republicans fall in line." In my opinion, it's worse to accept that which one knows to be wrong. But I liked the simplicity of Pete's post and believe at times situations can be over intellectualized.

[pistoff democrat]

18. I agree with you on the leadership as well

as a large segment of the party, however, I don't think we can win the WH in 2004 w/o doing some outreach into other segments of their party.

For example, the Southern a--holes Dean tried to reach out to; he did it in a wrong-headed way IMHO; but this is just who we might be able to reach!

There are a lot of republicans who, if they will be talked to (not down to), can be made to see that when they vote repig they vote against their own interests.

We can't give up on the entire repugnant party and expect to win. In fact, we can even work that 'white victim mentality' against repukes and they can feel sorry for their lot in life while voting dem.

Keep your eyes on the prize!

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

20. I agree with you on Dean's approach

I think he is smart to talk about race to white people because there is so much going on that race is at the heart of.

The mainstream media seems to be conveying things to some people that they want to hear, not so secretly. The message comes across to them the Democrats are "losers" who should be looked down upon and that the Republicans are the strong ones who will "bomb those towelheads" into submission. Very ugly.

The Democratic nomineee and a lot of other people need to get right in the Republicans' and media peoples' faces about it and say that this is wrong and hateful. And we are all losing by being divided like that. I actually am supporting Clark, but really think Dean is smart on that.

[rucky]

21. I'm afraid * may have scored some points with the stunt...

Not with me. His latest phase of "campaigning" is taking every criticism we have of him & countering it with a symbolic gesture. Americans LOVE symbolic gestures.

Now we look petty when we criticize the president about the very real ways he's screwed the troops.

Now we can't call him a coward without looking petty. He went into Iraq, even though we know the facts - it's the gesture that will stick out in people's minds.

Sorry folks, but our candidates need to shift from the attack Bush/attack each other mode - PRONTO - and start making some symbolic gestures of goodwill ourselves.

[welshTerrier2]

22. What's the point of this post?

to answer your question, "YES !!!", this is way too simple ...

we are in a never-ending war here for the hearts and minds of every voter ...

if a voter is stupid, ill-informed, ignorant and / or gullible, how many votes are they allowed to cast ?? perhaps it is unfortunate that voting requirements don't include at least some minimal level of knowledge of the issues ... but this is not the case ... we cannot let down our guard just because a voter is limited ... this voter could cast votes, not just for president, but for many other candidates and issues as well ...

OUR MISSION MUST BE TO EDUCATE THEM ... many may well be hopeless ... but if we don't try, we can't win ...

[Name removed]

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[forgethell]

25. Not worry about the swing voter?

Now I'm excited, a winning strategy at last!!!

[Name removed]

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