I was reading Frank's "What's the Matter with Kansas" on my flight home from Seattle to San Francisco. The flight attendant stopped at my seat as she collected trash and leaned in to look at my book. I told her, "...interesting read, but rather scary..." She proudly announced to me that it probably wouldn't scare her because she was a conservative. She then asked how I knew any of what was in the book was true. I pointed out the extensive footnotes, some of which I've checked on my own and found to be correct.
After that, my memory of the conversation is a bit blurry, as I was pretty nervous. I tried to explain that the book was about people voting for legislators based on social wedge issues who in turn end up acting against the best interests of those who put them in office and how the author was using Kansas as an example of this phenomenon.
It went downhill from there...
1. She pointed out that Clinton's economic success was simply the result of Reagan's economic policies
(I sputtered something about many economists stating that trickle down was a horrible failure.)
2. She questioned whether I really thought Kerry and "Big Government would really make things better..."?
(I sputtered something about how it was the responsibility of government to try to strike a balance between free market capitalism and economic justice.)
- I mentioned examples of income disparity familiar to people in the Bay Area including multiple families sharing the same apartment. She pointed out that this was no different than what her ancestors had done when they arrived here (I didn't mention that I was thinking of new immigrants--she just assumed this.)
- I envoked the examples of Enron and World Com and how years of deregulation and extremely pro-business laws got into pushed by Conservatives have led to so much trouble.
In the end, she simple said "...things are just so complicated..." and walked away.
I'm just an average Joe. I used think that reading up on the issues before each election and then casting my vote was all one needed to do to be a good citizen. After this last election, I've had a major awakening. When this woman approached me, I so wanted to make good arguments like I read here so often, but in the end, I thought I sounded like a high school debate student.
So, I'm throwing this out there... How do you folks here in dKos respond SUCCINCTLY to challenges like this. What are your favorite talking points. Please help arm me so I'm better able to do this in the future. A few key talking points would be so helpful. I'll bet there are plenty of lurkers out there who come here for the same reason and would really appreciate some advice and "ammunition" the next time they are confronted at 30,000 feet or at a family reunion or on a bus or....