My parents are stupid

[crimsonblue]

My parents are classic low information voters. They were leaning Obama (but swore to vote against him if Hillary got the Veep). However, my mom is now leaning McPalin. My mom said she likes Palin. I told her that Palin was corrupt and exactly lime Bush, and she almost flipped out. I forgot she thinks Georgie is a good person. Did I mention that any talk of politics is forbidden in their house? The GOP gimmick worked on my mom and it can work on any uninformed person. I think my mom is so enamored simply because Palin has a vagina.
My dad hates Bush. Calls him the worst president ever. I think my dad has more of a soul, because he voted Carter the first time around. He voted Reagan because Ronny lowered his taxes. I'm pretty sure my dad is a social liberal. Mccain appeals to him in that respect, even after I explained that McCain would eradicate his right to work ethically as a doctor and would make abortion dangerous again.

Goddamn it. Even my sister (who went to the Obama acceptance) is rethinking. If my family, your family, America, fuck us over again, then Im fucking leaving. Fuck it, I would fulfill my dream and move to a small island in the south pacific and hope for Apothos to hit us.

[ComplimentarySwine]

1. Concerning your sister

She went to the Obama acceptance and now she's considering jumping ship? Did she say what changed her mind? That seems like an awefully radical shift.

[crimsonblue]

3. Palin made her rethink.

She's working with the idiotic- those that pay more attention to Fox's dancing show than CNN. I think some women are shitting themselves because a pretty celebrity looking woman could be VP. I dunno. If McPalin wins, Im fucking done with this country.

[Chan790]

6. What are her core beliefs?

If she's pro-choice, point our that Palin is not.
If she's a feminist, point out that Palin thinks she should make less than a man to do the same job.

etc.

[crimsonblue]

14. Christian

church of Christ. My other sister, she's smart. She was the one that convinced me to be pro choice.

[sfwriter]

22. Tell your siste to be sure and vote on Wednesday...

:-)

[sfwriter]

23. Tell your sister to be sure and vote on Wednesday...

[samuraiguppy]

2. wow just wow n/t

[writes3000]

4. Educate them. Calmly. On issues that matter to them. nt

[depakid]

5. That's what you get when campaigns like this FAIL to define their opponents

in no uncertain terms.

[writes3000]

8. If only they did exactly what you said 100% of the time. You'd still complain. nt

[depakid]

17. If they'd just listen to the littany of political scientists, psychologists

communications scholars and seasoned observers and commentators, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Instead they rely on milquetoast consulatants and their own inclinations to take the high road- which history shows is the losing road.

Professor Weston puts it this way:

Decades of research in social psychology have demonstrated that two of most important principles of persuasion when people have a choice between options are to get there first--to tell your side of the story--and to inoculate against what the other side is likely to say. Democratic consultants need to read that research--tonight--and stop relying on the same intuitions that have proven wrong in election after election. We are supposed to be the party of science, yet we constantly practice political creationism.]

The full article is here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/brand-first-equivocate-la_b_122855.html

Read it.

[still_one]

10. They have defined mccain in no uncertain terms. He is an extension of bush

and voted 90% with bush

no ambiguity there

[depakid]

19. That's not enough

I don't think I've ever witnessed a campaign where one side was handed SO MANY indefiensible public statements and action to use as McCain, Palin and their cohorts have handed to Obama and now Biden.

At the same time, I've never seen so many inexplicably ignored or punted away.

Just yeasterday, Biden was STILL praising Plain- rather than calling a psade a spade. Sheesh.

[elkston]

21. I guess you haven't seen this video.

Biden rips Palin, McCain, and the Republicans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE

Or maybe you have and you still want more bloodlust. Hey, I'm angry at them too. But I have more faith in Obama and Biden than you do. They are a great team and are covering twice the ground as the crippled McCain/Palin duo.

[still_one]

24. Do you really believe that no one knows where palin stands on the issues?

It is clear she is a creationist, is against abortion, even in the case of rape and incest, does not believe in the use of birth control, and that she wants books she does not agree with removed from library shelfs

It is also clear from her speech that she is against reading a prisoner their rights

The real question is, what is America?

In two weeks there will be a debate. This is the clearest election we have ever had

After that debate, we will know where America stands

The women and the young people WILL vote for Obama, and if they come out in force WE WIN

[depakid]

27. People in the bubble of DU understand

The majority of swing voters do not.

That's what political ads and media campaigns are for.

[still_one]

7. The truth is this, mccain voted 90% with bush. Look at his voting record

If your parents are concerned about medicare and social security, they should be very worried with a mccain presidency

mccain IS NOT a social liberal, again look at his voting record

mccain voted against childrens healthcare, headstart, and other issues your father cares about

If he is worried about taxes, the trillion dollar war that bush got us into, mccain is right behind him

unemployment went to 6.1% today

another bank went under tonight in Henderson, Nevada

Fannie and Freddie Mac are going to be taken over by the government because of the credit crisis as result of deregulation caused by the bush administration

If they enjoyed the last 8 years, of high oil and food, then if they vote for mccain they will love it if he wins

[No Elephants]

12. Worse. McCain votes with his party 100% of the time when his vote might matter and 90% the rest of

the time.

[izzie]

9. I woke up to this type thinking many years ago. My first vote -Ike

I came into this thinking people voted after reasoning thing out and it was a blow to find out people vote for feeling more than reason. When I heard some one say to me I am not going to vote for JFK because I do not like Jackie's voice I just gave up on the reasoning part of how people vote. I am sure they will vote as always reason, emotional, how their family voted and the whole thing of how we have always voted. If we are lucky we will get rid of the last 8 years and those guys that have made such a mess.

[Thirtieschild]

32. My first vote was for Ike too.

My question to myself is would I still be voting Republican if I had stayed in Texas. I truly don't know.

[izzie]

39. I just voted Ike because the whole family had always voted GOP

I just did not think much about such things even if we talked the subject in the house my whole life. I slowly started thinking about it all and over the years found I was very liberal. I do not think that I am much off the mark on how people vote. I came out of the voting as my family did to some thinking about it and then just voting my reasoning what was best for me and the country. I can not recall voting for the feeling part at all. But I hear so many say things that I am sure it is feeling they are voting for. I feel bad for this country if we get McCain but I am sure many people will vote for him. This country likes that war 'hero' and so many think we can fix it all with a gun. You would think they would think more about how this group of dead end kids has hurt this country and I am sure it will just move to McCain if he gets in.We also have the color thing this time. I lived in the South and I think it will count. All those people, that hated blacks when I lived in the South, can not be dead yet. Plus they hand it down. I pity the USA if we get another group of these GOP people, really.

[quantass]

11. So let me get this straight...

1. Your mom is clearly voting McCain not because of issues or how it can imporve her life but because there is a vagina on the ticket.

2. Your sister, after seeing the acclaimed Obama speech, is possibly voting McCain because (although she doesn't say it) she discovered there is a vagina on the ticket

3. Your dad is voting McCain because as a doctor although he will see less vaginas under the ticket (i am assuming he is an abortion doctor from your OP) he wants lower taxes (he is in the upper 1% bracket that McCains benefits?) despite the illogic of now getting less business and lowering his income.

New polls will be released next week to see if this is a trend with women. As for your dad :crazy:

[crimsonblue]

16. My pop is general practice

he is pro choice because he wants to keep it safe. He is all about safe decisions. But shit, money speaks and he's closing on retirement age.

[Chan790]

31. Counter arguments:

Mother - Point out repeatedly how detached from the issues that women care about Palin really is. She opposes self-autonomy for women (Her anti-abortion stance is just the most immediately-obvious of these. She also opposes birth control, educating women about their bodies, equality of women within their marriages, and a dozen other points on this plank), she opposed equality in society and the workforce for women (she put her husband on her emails and brings him to meetings because she considers his decision-making an extension of his primacy as "head of household" as defined by her faith. She vetoed a bill requiring equal pay for the same job regardless of gender.)

Father - McCain wants to privatize Social Security. For the soon-to-retire, there is no greater gamble than that...especially with the bloodbath the market and economy, including traditionally-safe/low-risk investments (stable commodities such as oil and precious metals(cuhigh but wildly-fluctuating), bonds, real estate, secured debt, and mortgages), has taken in the past 24 months. If McCain wins, there is a not-small chance your parents might either retire on far-less than they expect or will under Obama; or that they might not be able to retire as soon as they are planning. If you want print information that lays this out in clear simple language and written with people like your father in mind...contact the AARP. This, combined with health care concerns, is their biggest issue.

Sister - I have no idea. I Googled Church of Christ and they seem very similar to what we in New England call Congregationalist. No over-arching beliefs or leadership. Bible-based and personally-interpretive. Decisions are made at the parish level and neighboring parishes might hold diametrically-opposed views. Possibly the same issues as with your mother? They both seem to like Palin for the same reasons.

[cameozalaznick]

34. If it's money they're interested in...

It is a proven fact that the economy is better under Democratic administrations, than Republican ones.

[okieinpain]

41. and don't forget that obama is black. a lot of people like to

play it off like it doesn't matter but race is still very important.

[quantass]

13. So your sis and mom prefer to be LESS as human beings with no rights?

I just dont get it...how can they prefer not to have choice?

You are the only one that know how your family ticks and thus know what issues will resonate with them.

From what you've told me though your sister and mom are only interested in McCain because of a woman on the ticket and nothng more...if new revilations come out that damn Palin it is doubtful they will switch since they arent voting on issues at all...interesting.

[Unsane]

15. I'll go with you.

[im1013]

18. I know your pain...my entire family is die-hard repuke.

:scared:

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. Read this technique: It works on independents:

Read this technique: It works on independents:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Pacifist%20Patriot/68

[treestar]

37. Good job!

I like that technique.

[provis99]

25. amazing, isn't it?

My grandmother used to vote for whichever politician came to her door and shook her hand. That proved he was a good man and cared about her, in her reasoning. I'm not surprised there'd be multitudes of people who would vote for McCain because it would be "cool" to have a woman VP. Most voters are brain dead like that.

The good news, however, is that the Democratic party will get lots of brain dead voters voting for them, too!

[obamacon]

26. Not stupid

I don't think your parents are stupid. That seems like a natural reaction to the hype over Palin. My folks were swept up with the Palin buzz after her pick, but since then the lustre has worn off. They are somewhat socially conservative and they weren't pleased with her high-school daughter getting pregnant; but more so because they said thats whats wrong with the pro-life/abstinence-only approach. Just today, they started saying that they think Palin is being too negative when she speaks. I mentioned the "Sambo" thing as something that people are talking about. With all the buzz on Palin, its hard not to get swept up temporarily. But I think the bloom's coming off the rose. That's the problem with hype- its almost impossible to live up to.

[TheKentuckian]

29. How is hard to avoid getting caught up in the buzz?

I hate to be a douchebag but I really don't get how someone you never heard of that doesn't share your beliefs, can come in and just swap you out.

That's pretty damned open to suggestion and impulsive. In my mind a woman voting based on gender reflects pretty poorly on that person, no better than than refusing to vote for a woman. In this case many times worse because you rubberstamp an agenda that would do many years efforts.

[AtomicKitten]

28. Make it your business to make them lotsa information voters.

Then it's up to them.

[LaurenG]

30. I live in Ohio there are tons of people just like your mom here.

They can deny the evidence even if it happened in front of their faces because they are "proud republicans" and like football fans they are after one thing, a win for their team. They don't care about the issues they care about winning. With republican voters, other than the evangelicals (and probably the majority of them as well) they have one primary issue, and I've heard this all over the place; MONEY!

They are so consumed with keeping their % of tax dollars that they will cut off their noses to spite their faces.

I walked into the lunch room yesterday and one of the owners of the company I work for was talking to two sales reps about the election. They were raving about Palin, I glared at one of the reps facing me and shook my head as they said, "Palin is so good, she can even out debate OBAMA!?! I couldn't help myself, and laughed out loud. These are educated men and they are consumed with money. I hate to admit this about myself but the choices these men are making leaves me feeling sick about their characters. These are not people I have any respect for now that they've outed themselves. It just makes me think of those old you tube videos from 2004, "I hate republicans" and "Your an asshole."

There is a deficiency of unknown origin in republicans and because of what they have done, I'll have a hard time changing my mind about any of them for years.

In case you haven't seen these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvBEVYMs0p4

http://www.bushflash.com/ihr.html

[D-Sooner]

33. I'm kind of noticing the same thing in my family,

unfortunately. Before Palin, they never talked about McCain and I got a definite sense that my mom and my aunts were voting for Obama. Now, when they talk about the election, they're talking about McPalin. I haven't heard any anti-Obama talking points yet, but I'm not liking this direction. Maybe it's just a flash in the pan.

[Blarch]

35. blame yourself.

You are still treating these people with respect, you are still treating them as equals. These people support the destruction of our constitution ...and you treat them as equals.

The problem is with you and people like you. Stand up for your nation for once. You can't respect the US constitution, and at the same time respect the very people who want it destroyed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chqi8m4CEEY

[treestar]

36. If they switch their opinions that fast maybe they will switch back

again when something else happens. Quaylin is just the shiny object of the moment. The more crap that comes out about her, the more they will back off again. DUers demand proof, but these low information voters just have the hear the rumors and that could be enough for them.

Anyone who has so few underlying principles that they can change from Obama to McWar just because Quaylin is a girl can be convinced to change back for some equally frivolous reason. She's not a nice girl. Obama is a nice guy. It will be cooler to have kids in the White House. A president who looks to the future because of having still young children.

[Skidmore]

38. Well, Brilliantine, they birthed such an amazing child as you so that

you could teach them about world in this century. Instead of belittling them, show respect and talk to them about what Obama has to offer.

You have two whole months to be the best you can be.

[WinkyDink]

40. McCain appeals to your father because "dad is a social liberal"? WTH?!