I know this "Independent", who has this New Rule for voting, this time around:
Throw the bums out -- they had their chance.
Anyone already in office, automatically gets a 'No Vote' from him.
He has a myriad of reasons for taking this stance. Including anger and a general disgust for Government incompetence ... Fear of Debt ... a pervasive distrust for the Sellouts to Corporations and Lobbyists and Wall Street.
Presenting arguments to him, on Why he should vote Democratic, have been 'challenging' to say the least; Since basically he puts ALL 'Career Politicians' in the same boat -- a boat where their own self-interest guides all their decisions and votes -- a boat he hopes to boot them out of, this time around.
Republicans, with the help of Fox and Tea Party Rhetoric, have been quite effective in Getting out their Talking Points -- even to those Independent people -- who aren't necessarily 'Fans of Fox'.
Well targeted Anger sells -- to those who are Angry (and worried too).
Yesterday I finally found a Pro-D argument that seemed to get some traction ...
Explaining that
"It took 8 years to create this mess, it will take more than 2 years to fix it."
did not help the case of "bums in the boat" -- even Ron Wyden is "not doing enough to fix it", in this Indie's mind -- and will get his No Vote.
Explaining that
"That the GOP in the Senate have filibustered over 400 'fix it' Bills -- that the Party of No has had effectively 'Minority Rule' for 2 years -- blocking all the Dems efforts.
did not help the case of "bums in the boat" -- even Harry Reid "didn't do enough to change the system", in this Indie's mind -- and would get his No Vote, if he lived in Nevada.
Explaining that
"That the newbie Tea Party Candidates are hardly 'qualified' to uphold a Constitution (that they haven't read) -- they are ill-qualified to actually Represent the People; that they will just cause draconian Grid Lock and unrealistic Budget Cuts, given the chance.
did not help the case of "bums in the boat" -- even Sharron Angle "has one thing going for her -- She's New", in this Indie's mind -- she would get his Yes Vote, if he lived in Nevada.
BUT when I explained HOW
"The Right-leaning Roberts Court puts 'Corporate Rights' way above 'the Rights of People' -- how their 'Citizens United' Decision has super-charged the ability of Corporations and Wall Street, and their Front Groups, to strengthen THEIR control over OUR Government ...
Well that got his attention. Of course this had to be put in the context of "long term trends" -- how the Balance of Power of the closely-divided Supreme Court -- MUST NOT be allowed to shift EVEN further towards the Right, towards the empowering of Corporations and their Outsourcing agenda, with EVEN MORE of a 'Direct Line' to get THEIR policies pushed through Congress ...
That argument, started to make the Democrats -- the Party of the little guys -- look palatable again. In this Indie's mind.
Whether he will Vote D in any of our local elections, is still yet to be seen.
But now he has a REAL Pro-Democratic Reason, in his mind, for Why a Vote for D, might in the long run, be better than a Vote for R.
Some bums, may actually be better, than other bums -- when it comes to
"Salvaging the American Way of Life -- from the ever-increasing Powers that Be ..."
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Diarist's Observations: The Dems really have our work cut out for us, in the Messaging Dept, in the long run too. Too many People, out there, have very real concerns and fears. The Dems have done far too little to directly address those "kitchen table" concerns and fears. Platitudes just don't cut it sometimes.
At least in the minds of Indies, who are spending too much time and effort, to shore up their "own sinking ships" -- to spend very much time trying to figure out
"What the Democrats have actually done for me lately?"
Indies just don't see the world that way. They've got their own Boats to steer.
And the waters ahead look very choppy ... Especially so, to those who "don't follow politics" much -- but still "love their country" anyways, in their own minds.
FWIW
I give the Indie guy credit for actually Voting, despite his Anger and Fears (or maybe because of them?). I did my best to give him some reasons to Vote D.