I believe that a conscious decision was made long ago, from the powers-that-be and their media structures--left, right, and center. And, that decision was to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes to systematically, relentlessly, and purposefully take. this. president. down. There are different motivations, but the goal is the same. From my observations (which, I admit, are from polling I've seen and some anecdotal personal experience), about 30% of the country is the crazy right, about 10% is the chronically-dissatisfied left, about 10% is the reachable "middle", and the rest is the group in which I identify with--the other 40%. In this diary, I will mainly focus on these last two groups and the importance of the relationship thereof.
Since we no longer have a credible "fourth estate" in this country that simply reports factual news to the public anymore, what we have left is the majority of propaganda being presented from the point of view of the rights' lies, and the rest being presented from the point of view of the lefts' dissatisfaction. That leaves the other 40% of us without a voice.
Because of this reality, it is imperative that we stand up, speak up, and get the facts out about the good that President Obama and his administration is doing, as well as (most) of the democrats in congress. This is what the singular focus of our political time and energy should be spent on--convincing that reachable 10% to cut through the noise of the lying right and the insatiable left, and stick with us for the long, painful haul that's going to be necessary to fix our messes and make a better future for the next generations. I don't think any more time or energy should be wasted on the 30% on the right, or the 10% on the left, who will never be persuaded and who are not sparing any resource to convince that reachable 10% to give into the cynism and doubt, and join forces with them. We cannot let this happen. We cannot let them get to 50 + 1.
I will share just a short anecdotal experience between myself (a 40%er) and my father (a reachable 10%er). Until very recently (the day before the house of representatives passed the senate hcr bill), I identified as an independent, not a democrat (I wrote a diary on it that day, in fact). My father is largely the reason that I considered myself an indy before (for 12-13 years since I first registered to vote). He is a true independent--lives in a red state, in a moderate-conservative district (that actually swung for Obama in 2008--1st time since LBJ in 1964), has voted mainly democratic but for republicans here and there (especially at the local level), voted for Ross Perot in 1992, etc. I actually had to convince him to vote for Barack Obama because he was in the "he may be too experienced crowd", or, as he put it to me, "he hadn't been through enough sh*t yet". And, although he's been disappointed, and even upset with some things, he's sticking with this president and has been pleased and satisfied with his job performance on the whole, especially considering what he's up against (which he also identifies with personally as a black man). He doesn't follow day-in, day-out politics closely at all (and thinks I'm crazy for doing so, although he appreciates most of the info I email him). But, I say all that to say this: There is a credible democrat running for congress against the long-term republican in his district this year. My father was truly undecided until he witnessed the gulf oil disaster and heard the president's address on it last night. He doesn't follow policy details or political details that closely, but he is a "big-picture" person, especially on the philosophies of the parties. He truly believed, for all these years, that both parties had credible and honest philosophies and that we always needed a middle-ground balance between the two present in our government. Last night, he changed his mind on that. What changed his mind was the demonstrable evidence of one party simultaneously railing against government oversight and regulation (and putting people and policies in place to bear this out, and throwing an absolute "fit" if/when anyone tries to change it in the least), while also screaming about the failure of government to come to their aid immediately and perfectly to fix everything when something goes wrong. It was also the utter hypocrisy of demanding a stop to the oil and its dangers while simultaneously demanding continued drilling before an investigation was even done, and the unwillingness to sacrifice in the least bit and embrace the president's call for a new energy policy. At the end of our conversation today, he said to me, "You know what? You were right. And Obama is right. Their philosophy is fundamentally flawed and has been proven wrong on its face. It's that simple".
So, to "the other 40%", I say this: let's singulary focus on this 10%, people like my father. This is where we will build a lasting coalition, by making this argument to them over and over again. The president did it well, and in simple terms last night. We're going to need to find 50 + 1 over at least a generation to stick with us. The right did it over the last generation; we can do it too.