Its time to brand the GOP as the party of bait and switch and salesmen of miracle elixirs. The Dems need to win the narrative war.
I was talking with my 80 year old father the other day. When I asked how things were going, replied, "Fine, so long as Obama doesn't take away my Medicare." My response was a stunned, "What are you talking about, its the Republicans who are trying to take it away." When I went on to explain how the GOP is playing the biggest con game of all time, he mumbled something about that its all just politics.
My Dad is in good help and lucid for his age. He is just one example of how the GOP through their mouthpiece, Fox News (which my Dad watches online and on TV), are winning the narrative wars.
The GOP narrative of wild over spending by Dems creating an economic crisis which they must fix by making spending cuts, with the hint that things like Medicare will be cut, but if it is its the Dems fault for over spending in the first place.
The Dems and Progressives need to fight this narrative by telling the truth in simple to understand terms. The Great Recession was caused by excessive tax cuts, mainly for the wealthy that strangled revenue, by two unfunded wars which exploded the deficit, and under regulated greed in the financial markets which wreck the economy, and further reduce government revenue. The GOP and conservatives, instead of addressing the causes of our fiscal problems, are now using these events as cover to wage on the progressive foundations of the country.
They are the party of bait and switch, promising to work on job creation, then attaching family planning programs. Promising to balance a state budget, and then taking away workers collective bargaining rights. And many more
Feel free to add your own examples of the GOP's bait and switch operation.