I was recently reading this op-ed by Al Franken, and the related kos diary. The op-ed criticises Norm Coleman for an ad he ran against Franken. The ad attacks Franken for a comment he made, disagreeing with Coleman's vote to criticise moveon.org. Franken then goes into a well-reasoned argument as to why other things matter more than an ad by moveon.org. I just want to say that democrats must beware. As this debate shows, republicans can beat democrats if they can get voters to not think. And they are best able to get voters not to think if they make emotional arguments about issues they invent.
Coleman's ad attempts to demogague the issue, from criticisms of policy to attacks against the military. This was why gay marriage worked so well for republicans in 2004, and why the swift boat attacks worked. In both cases, voters wouldn't bother with republican attacks if their reasoning was intact. But emotionalism is the enemy of reason. Nothing dilutes a persons ability to think quite like emotion does. And the most powerful emotion is fear.
If republicans can get people to be afraid, and to be outraged over non-existant emotional issues, they are in the best position to win. The problem with Al Franken's op-ed is the same problem democrats face if they want to win anything. The only way to win is if voters think. But it is easier to get them to not think than it is to overcome emotionalism. And, as happened in 2004, as soon as emotionalism takes hold, there can be no stopping it. But on the other hand, as soon as reason takes a hold, it becomes increasingly difficult for emotionalism to overtake reason.
We have to realize that people who don't think are the best weapon republicans have. When people don't think, their emotionalism spreads. This is what happened in 2004. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again.