If the last thirty years have proven anything they show that Democrats often lose the messaging wars because Republicans pick a message they want to drum into the public’s mind and repeat it endlessly and, unfortunately, to great effect.
Democrats are “big spenders” even though deficits balloon under Republicans.
Democrats are “weak on defense” even though it has been W and Trump trashing our alliances, and through, in W’s case his stupid Iraq war, and with Trump his blatant Islamophobia and embrace of Putin, it has been the GOP who have made us more vulnerable.
Democrats encourage late term, pre-birth, during birth, after-birth abortions for the convenience of women.
There are many other examples where, with ad nauseam repetition they have convinced significant numbers of independent voters of the truth of their lies.
Now they are doing the same thing with Pelosi’s no-impeachment proclamation.
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine.
“This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she opposes impeachment. You might think this would cause Trump’s defenders to rethink their belief that the Russia investigation is a ploy to justify impeachment. You’d be wrong. Instead they have decided the news proves just the opposite: Democrats must know Trump is innocent of wrongdoing on Russia.
“If Pelosi and Schiff really believed their outlandish rhetoric on Russian collusion, they would be moving to impeach the president,” argues the Federalist’s David Marcus.
This has become the new standard analysis on the right, and swift reversal of the party line has been picked up by the right-wing press with all the subtlety of a Stalin-era policy announcement in the Daily Worker: “There is an even more important takeaway, which is that Pelosi no longer believes in the Russia story, if she ever did. There is simply no way she would subject herself to this level of rebellion from the liberal wing of her caucus and deliver this much disappointment to the Democratic Party base if she thought there was any chance that the special counsel report would substantiate the assumptions they have all held so closely for so long.” (Mike Huckabee.) “How could anyone conclude impeachment isn’t ‘worth it’ if you have all the evidence Schiff has claimed?” (Scott Jennings.) “If those charges are true, they should lead to impeachment.” (Charles Lipson.)
...The right’s response to Pelosi’s comments seem to show one possible drawback to Pelosi’s strategy. Republicans disbelieve all evidence against Trump, which becomes a reason for Democrats not to impeach him, which in turn becomes further reason for Republicans to disbelieve all evidence against him.
For two years, the Democrats’ plans to impeach Trump were evidence the Russia scandal was supposedly a hoax. Now, the Democrats’ plan not to impeach Trump proves the Russia scandal is a hoax.
Be prepared to hear a lot of this over the next 18 months or so.
The GOP will worry our inaction like Fido chewing on his favorite bone.