It is not my intention to be insulting or to show some sort of superiority over others. I am simply pointing out that the American majority is uninformed, lacks intellectual curiosity, and in some cases, is incapable of processing the information that they do possess.
Don’t agree with me? Well then, let’s flash back to 2004.
Republicans: Saddam Hussein Involved in 9/11 Attacks
[A] new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found that 42% of those surveyed thought the former Iraqi leader was involved in the attacks on New York City and Washington. In response to another question, 32% said they thought Saddam had personally planned them.
The same poll in June showed that 56% of all Republicans said they thought Saddam was involved with the 9/11 attacks. In the latest poll that number actually climbs, to 62%.
More below...
We at DaliyKos knew this claim was ridiculous from the beginning. Saddam Hussien cooperating with Osama Bin Laden would be like George W. Bush working with Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. It would never happen in a million years. Informed people knew that Bin Laden was smiling the day that American boots stepped on the Iraqi sand in 2003. Ignorant people (42% in the aforementioned poll) only knew that brown people flew jets into our buildings, and since Saddam is a brown person, he must have been involved. It is a hasty generalization and false analogy in one shot.
Not convinced? Okay, check out this frightening information from last year.
Despite the clear and unambiguous facts, the Fox/Opinion Dynamics poll reports that 60% of Republicans, 41% of Independents, and 36% of Democrats support using air strikes and ground troops against Iran in order to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This poll indicates an appalling extent of ignorance and misinformation among the American public. The Bush administration will take advantage of this ignorance to initiate another war in the Middle East.
First of all, there is no evidence that the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons... none. Secondly, the people supporting the strikes on Iran have probably not considered any alternatives, such as diplomacy, to resolve the issue. Third, they probably haven’t considered if air strikes and ground troops would be effective. Lastly, the people supporting invasion likely do not know where exactly we would get these troops for a ground invasion. I’d be willing to bet that the poll results would be much different if the question was: Would you support reinstatement of the draft for a ground attack in order to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?
Still not convinced that most Americans don’t have a clue? Okay, then perhaps you should try an experiment. Find a friend who doesn’t follow politics closely and ask him/her any of the following series of questions:
- Who is Vice President of the United States?
- Who is the Prime Minister of Great Britain?
- Who is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
- What type of government does Iran have?
- How does a bill become a law?
- Name three Constitutional amendments in the Bill of Rights.
- Who is Speaker of the House?
- Who is the leader of North Korea?
- Name one former Soviet state.
- What country has the largest population? Who is second?
While almost any member of DailyKos could rattle off the answers to these questions, most people cannot answer more than one or two. So if they cannot answer simple questions, do you think they can understand the complexity of Middle East policy?
This brings me to my final point. We need to keep the clueless nature of the American public in mind in our approach to campaigns and elections. Here are some general rules:
Don’t repeat Republican talking points.
Yesterday, someone posted a diary that began by suggesting Hillary Clinton is phony. Although the diarist eventually argued that she is more authentic than she gets credit for, the Republican talking point was repeated. I know what many of you are thinking... that approach didn’t work very well for John Kerry. Well I have news for you. Although Kerry didn’t acknowledge the swiftboaters, the pundits and bloggers on the left repeated the charge ad nauseam. Sure, we were trying to defend Kerry, but repeating the charges kept the story alive for weeks. The ignorant public heard the charges and questioned Kerry’s integrity without learning all of the facts. Kerry was right to ignore the smear; we should have followed his example.
Don’t be a pompous ass.
Two things that Kerry and Gore have in common:
- They were both made to look like pompous asses.
- They both lost to George W. Bush, an actual pompous ass.
Image is everything in American politics. While we all care about policy choices, the policies we choose will not likely be implemented if we do not win the White House in 2008. The candidates need to be very careful not to appear like pompous asses in the debates, where most of the rubes will decide who to vote for. I remember the moment in 2000 where Al Gore jeopardized his chances of winning. In one of the three debates, Gore pompously walked across the stage towards Shrub, I think in an attempt to show people he is taller than Bush. Dubya looked surprised to see him standing there and gave a quick head shake, mocking what Gore had done. It made Bush look like a "regular guy" and Gore look foolish, while quite the opposite is true. Typical uninformed Americans, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands, decided to vote for Bush at that moment.
Use plain language.
We all cringe when Bush speaks because he frequently abuses the English language. Hell, last night at the S.O.T.U. address he said "nucular" for the ump-teenth thousand time. When we attack the way he speaks, we are insulting many in the ignorant majority. At the same time, Democratic politicians typically speak eloquently, and the ignorant majority does not understand a word they say. John Edwards gets it; others should follow his example. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
In conclusion, it is important that we recognize that most people do not follow politics and world events as much as we do. They turn on the television and tune into ESPN, MTV, Spike TV, FOX, NBC, ABC, ..., etc. Most people are not watching CSPAN or even cable news networks. And they certainly are not following up on any news that they DO see. Whatever shows up on the television is fact to them. We need to remember that there are many people who fit into this stereotype, and we need to mold our message for these people who do not have a clue.