Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Is Change Hopeless?

President Obama seems to be on a months-long losing streak. Still, I haven't endorsed a Presidential candidate (my guy dropped out). Given the choices, I see 2012 less as an election Republicans could win, but rather one Obama could lose.

Yet, the President might be re-elected. And if so, it might be because, as Kyle-Ann Shiver explains, "Republicans Keep Losing the Propaganda War":
Ask yourself: when was the last time you freely discussed any conservative or even moderate political view with friends at work, or on campus, or in public, or at a large social gathering -- without hedging your every word? When? Can you identify a single recent instance when you felt your conservative or even moderate views would be tolerated without provoking name-calling or public shaming into the nearest corner of societal oblivion?

Everywhere one goes, save conservative websites, Republicans are widely connoted with tinges of racism, hate, selfishness, greed, war-mongering, and conspiratorial theocratic designs against democracy. Fox News has some opinion shows that try to give an ounce of conservative balance to the airwaves and they’ve paid for it with an all out war declared against them by leftist activists.

And, honey, any way one chooses to slice, dice, puree, or grind to bits this reality, it spells one thing for the Democrats: VICTORY.

Democrats are nearly ubiquitously perceived -- key word, "perceived" -- as anti-racist, loving, un-selfish, generous, peace-making and unfailingly tolerant of all religions and all cultures. When conservatives outnumber liberals 2 to 1 among the electorate, and yet liberal views have achieved such dominance that they are perceived as dominant even in private settings, then Republicans are not only losing the propaganda war, they are all but missing in action.
I agree about the perceptions. But I rarely pull punches in debate. And I tend to blame media bias for undermining the right; in his book "Left Turn" (at 245) Tim Groseclose calculates that press slant costs Republicans about 8-10 percent of the vote.

So, and unlike Shiver, I'm pessimistic about changing the perceptions. And about the election.

(via Instapundit)

5 comments:

OBloodyHell said...

>> Can you identify a single recent instance when you felt your conservative or even moderate views would be tolerated without provoking name-calling or public shaming into the nearest corner of societal oblivion?

Look, this is just a flat out matter of BALLS.

You have to have the BALLS to not fear the bully.

You have to have the BALLS to get in the bully's face and tell them to go to hell (in this case, politely and firmly, but still, that's the underlying message).

You have to have the BALLS to take them on despite the fact that I guarantee you they'll have a temper tantrum that you aren't letting them dictate the form of the conversation.

You have to have the BALLS to be prepared for this temper tantrum and use it against them for the benefit of those in view.

You have to have the BALLS to not back down.

This is the problem with modern conservatives. You have to have the BALLS to stop being good little playmates when you're playing with cheats, thugs, liars, and scoundrels.

Me? I came, I saw, I KICKED ASS.

I have BALLS.

How about you?

@nooil4pacifists said...

I've got 'um--except around clients.

OBloodyHell said...

1-20-2013 ... The Day We Hope For Change.

Two words: "President Downgrade".

OBloodyHell said...

Carl, I think the vast majority is, like you, too timid to speak up.

You should feel your way around, if you just show a teensy bit of resistance to the libtard agenda, you might be surprised to find how many there are around you in full, open agreement. And if you don't get any nibbles, you can always fall back to the quiet state and claim otherwise, if it seems prudent.

Libertarian/conservatism is on the rise, and is likely to remain that way for the next decade.

President Downgrade has done the same thing (as I predicted, I'll note) that Carter did in the 70s -- made people realize what a total cluster *uck the government makes of things. All it'll take is another good PotUS candidate to take the lead, just like Reagan did.

And no, Reagan was not someone that was expected of at the time, either. Most people wrote him off as an actor, not as a true politician.

The next PotUS will be just as unobvious now as Reagan was then.

The real fact is, when you're following a total half-assed ass-hat like Carter or The Big 0, it's not hard to appear amazingly competent.

@nooil4pacifists said...

OBH: I think you misunderstood. I'm anything but timid--this blog is some evidence of that. The only time I'm quiet is around my clients--especially when I'm in the Middle East. (Fortunately, I have a few clients who came out of the Bush Administration.) But I have a reputation, "at the water cooler," for fierce debate.