first diary entry. be gentle, please:-)
There's been a recurring Republican theme in my life, lately. Dean did a conference call with Democrats Abroad, and one of the people who came to listen in was a Repub, very straight and staid and sceptical. I kept teasing him to try to get him to smile a bit (not saying Republicans don't smile:-). He did, and seemed to relax a little. But I thought a lot about that clenched, doubting approach to life. I hope the Gov. will stay in his mind as a stand-up guy, and that he'll be won over in the end.
Then, John McCreery, the guy who, along with his wife Ruth, got me into politics after a lifetime of ignoring it posted Campaign Themes on our DemsJapan blog about the Republicans around him. An excerpt: "...They are good but parochial people with a narrow worldview in which the themes of Republican advertising resonate strongly. They haven't yet made the connection between an administration run like Enron (faked growth, secrecy, screw you to the underlings when things fall apart), the moral chaos endemic in the financial services industry, and the big corporations whose advertising drives the mindless consumerism in which the moral decay they sense around them is rooted.
They don't, moreover, want to hear about it, since it undermines their faith in the Good America of which they see themselves exemplars. Attacking their faith head on does nothing but make them mad, and sophisticated analyses of economic or foreign policy make no impression on them. That's not because they are stupid--they aren't. It is, as Mary points out, because their lives are structured in such a way that experience reinforces their faith and being busy with their personal commitments to job, family and church doesn't leave much time for the reading and thinking that make sophisticated analysis intelligible and persuasive.
Most will, I am sure, be unreachable by anything we Democrats say or do. There are, however, some who are unhappy with the administration for what they see as good reasons--out of control deficits and libertarian fears of attacks on civil liberties being, in my view, the most important..."
Then, AfricanAmericansforDean posted some of this Buzzflash interview UC Berkeley Sociologist Arlie Hochschild who "...answers the question, "Why are 50% of Blue Collar White Males Planning to Vote for Bush in 2004, Even When He is Picking Their Pockets and Stealing the Futures of Their Children?
Lots of food for thought for me, because I think that reaching out to folks who think so differently is necessary. Have you succeeded in persuading someone like this to look clearly at this administration and Republican administrations in general? Some people will not change their minds no matter what, I'm sure. But, what are some of the success stories, not just for a campaign, but for a change in worldview...
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