Dems need to win the "emotional argument" this time...

It is not uncommon to hear that the Republican party wins the emotional arguments while the Democratic party wins the issues arguments in American politics.  As a 60 year old cynic, I will parse that by saying exactly what it means to me: the Dems talk shop while R's appeal to fear. 

Yes, that is right, I am saying that the so-called emotional argument is an appeal to fear (and reassurance of those who are scared). Reagan did not get votes by talking about a shining city on a hill. He won votes by stoking fear of government, communists and welfare queens, and promised a shining city once they were dealt with. 

To counter the Republican fear machine, divert the fear to something else, namely, to the GOP.  

Socialism is one of the GOP's fear campaigns.  Crime is another.  Drugs are another.  Oil shortages, inflation, tax increases, immigration, gun confiscation, bad trade deals -- all of these are things to fear and the GOP will harp on them to get votes.  Fear did not keep Netanyahu in office in spite of a shooting war last week in Israel.  Fear does not always win, but it wins a lot of races.  

Alongside their fear campaigns, the GOP has resentment/hate campaigns.  They appeal to resentment against teachers, professors, scientists, scholars, librarians, philosophers, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, accountants, statisticians, tech heads.  You name it.  If its a recognizable line of profession, the GOP doles out hatred against it.  They also dole out resentment against select groups of the laity: feminists, LGBTQ peeps, leftists, liberals, democrats, government workers, unions and their members, Hollywood types, bleeding hearts, environmentalists, and do gooders of all variety.  

To answer the resentment campaigns, liberals and Dems need to refocus the resentment onto our enemies. 

But I am here to talk about fear.  What the Dems need are a set of fears to discuss relating to the GOP.  I have produced a short list of things that everyone should fear in the GOP.  

1. They will force their religion on us all.  There was a bill in the AZ house last year that would have forced everyone to attend church.  That is the kind of thing the GOP stands for. 

2. They will outlaw abortion and contraception. 

3. They will outlaw alcohol.  

4. They will outlaw pornography.

5. They will outlaw stip shows, and censor Broadway and Las Vegas. 

6. They will force students to pray out loud in public schools.

7.  They will force public schools to teach religion. 

8. They will outlaw marijuana nationwide 

9. They will outlaw any and all criticism of (their ugly, stupid) religion. (Blasphemy laws)

10. They will create an ethno-state, with a class based society where Protestants are on top

11. They will start religious wars 

12. They will censor musical lyrics

13. They will ban all religions except Christianity and Judaism (just like ancient Rome)

14. They will ban women from the military, police, fire and medical fields

15. They will force religion into professional sports broadcasts

16. They will censor the libraries. No more reading Nietzsche's Antichrist.  No more Thomas Payne.  

17. They will outlaw LGBTQ everything they can 

18. They will outlaw discussions of history that they do not approve 

19. They will outlaw having an opinion of the behavior of powerful people 

20. They will outlaw public protests and demonstrations 

21. They will impose English as an official language 

22  They will outlaw gay marriage and unmarry the gays nationwide 

I understand that there is plenty to fear in the GOP already. The party and its acolytes are immune to reason, facts and logic. They are hell bent on getting their way, and no longer feel the need to acknowledge the legitimacy of those who disagree with them.  The leadership of the party is covering up a violent insurrection on the part of their most rabid followers.  The leadership of the party seems to have no goal in sight other than the next election, which their state parties are preparing to steal.  2024 is not what they are thinking about.  The party is a whirling and deepening cesspool of incompetence, corruption, bigotry and violent rhetoric.  I fear all of that.  But you can't run on it!  It's too complicated and dark for a political campaign.  It cannot be packaged in ads.  It cannot be dropped into conversation quickly by lefties at the water coolers of the world.  

But the statement that the GOP will outlaw all religions other than their own, can be dropped into conversations quickly.  The statement that they will outlaw all abortions can be, and so can the statement that they will force us all to go to church, or force religion into public schools, or force kids to pray, or force women out of the military, or force LGBTQ kids to go to forced reeducation camps.  Those sorts of statements about the GOP bigot party are the sort that the world needs to hear more of.  Lots and lots more, from lots and lots of us lefties.  So get out there and say this stuff. Add simple assertions like this to tweets and posts. 

The idea is to use simple stuff to create fear of the GOP, and to develop a whisper campaign against them of the sort they have been running against us for decades.  They call us socialists, gun grabbers, tree huggers, baby killers, PC, woke, communists and a lot more.  This stuff works and has taken over a portion of the center in America.  Plenty of left leaning types fall for this stuff.  Plenty of middle of the roaders are wary of left ideas like raising the minimum wage, or lowering carbon emissions, or taxing the rich, because they have been taught to be wary of those "socialists" and "baby killers" and "pinkos" etc.  

We need to make sure the persuadables in undecided camp know what to fear from the GOP. The menace of electoral fraud, or of electoral nullification by state legislatures, or of voter suppression will not work as well.  Most people only hear a little bit of politics a week.  Most people do not take in the news. The electoral stuff is too remote, dark and difficult to spark fear of the GOP.  But the news that they want to force religion on everyone, and outlaw alcohol and gay marriage will sink in and stay there.  

Win the emotional argument=win the fear argument. 

Note: I wrote this several months ago.  I am putting it up barely edited today, after the leak of the Roe decision from SCOTUS.