Okay, I’m going to let you in on an open secret. I can tell you why Democrats continually lose Presidential elections. I can tell you what Americans want.
The good news is it has nothing to do with your policies.
It also explains why Sarah Palin is attracting an almost cult-like following.
It also explains why Obama has attracted an almost cult-like following.
Here it is:
Stop Bitching at the American People.
It’s that simple. Why do you think Ronald Reagan was such a successful president, and so beloved by many? Why do you think Jimmy Carter was such a failure?
Americans look to their Presidents for inspiration. They want to feel good about themselves, and about their lives. They want to be told that they’re not all going to hell, that the economy isn’t about to collapse on their heads, that they have a long list of grievances that must be addressed, and that America is evil and bad and needs to be changed.
Democrats are terrible for this. Their whole agenda is one big laundry list of grievances. They can’t connect with middle America, and can’t figure out why. “Hell, we’ve told them their lives suck! We’ve explained to them that they’re getting the shaft, that they can’t make ends meet, that someone (us) has to come along and stop them from having their lives ruined! Why won’t they vote for us?”
That’s what Democrats do. They first tell the people what’s bad about their lives. Too many people are homeless, no one can make ends meet, jobs are leaving the country, the rich are getting richer and taking their money. The environment sucks, the earth is warming, minorities and women have it tough. Democrats beat their constituents down, then tell them that if only they’ll vote them into power they’ll make it all better. Your life sucks now, they say, but vote for us and we’ll make it better.
Then along comes someone like Ronald Reagan or Sarah Palin, who says, “You know what? We’re all strong. We’re Americans, damn it. We’re not afraid of the bogeyman. We’re the bad guys? Screw that. We’re the country that everyone comes to when they need help. I’m not going to apologize for who we are. If we’re not producing up to the best of our ability, if we don’t have the jobs we want, it’s because Washington is in the way. You don’t need other people looking after you - you need other people to get out of the way so you can show them what Americans can do.”
Modern feminism is another laundry list of grievances. Women are oppressed. They need help and support. They need laws passed to protect them. Listen to a liberal feminist give a speech, and it generally some angry harangue about how tough women have it.
Along comes Sarah Palin. She’s not looking for ‘help’. She doesn’t feel oppressed. Her speech was a huge success because it wasn’t a typical laundry list of problems and programs to solve those problems. There she was, a mother of five from nowhere, with a family full of their own problems, but she’s not complaining. She wants to do more. She kicks ass and takes names, and does it with a smile. Americans love that.
In another thread, A shameful cracka… said this:
This is the same attitude that just couldn’t figure out why the religious right was giving Palin a pass on her pregnant daughter. The reason is because these troubles make her own rise MORE compelling. Her family’s apparent happiness and success MORE lauditory. Everyone’s got kids with problems. Lots of people have had DUIs or smoked some pot or done something else they’re not proud of.
The ‘old’ Republican moral majority would have scolded such people - told them they’d lost their way with God, that they were sinners, etc. The same downbeat, hectoring attitude liberals use. But Palin doesn’t give a hoot about that. She’s up there smiling and cracking jokes and telling everyone life’s good. Trouble? Sure, everyone’s got trouble. What, that’s going to stop you from achieving? Nut up! Grow a pair. Life is fun, warts and all.
And the people cheer.
The old black community standard-bearers, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, were nothing but deliverers of bad news. Again, the big list of grievances, constant lectures to black people about how tough their lives were and how America is bad for them and how they needed to support Al and Jesse so they could go off and bring some Washington relief into their sad lives. And those two couldn’t get elected dogcatcher.
Obama comes along, and says, “Yes, we can! We’re the future. Hope and change.” And he becomes a hero. Screw the past, screw the grievances. We’re not going to talk about them. We’re going to talk about what a great country this is that a guy like me can rise up out of nowhere and run for President. We’re going to talk about a positive vision for the future.
You can sell the liberal agenda. But you have to sell it with a smile and a positive message. Where Obama started to lose his Mojo was at the convention, when he dumped his standard inspirational speech and gave a typical laundry list of grievances and Democratic answers. And as the campaigns heat up, he’s now in a mode where he’s telling everyone how much their lives have sucked under Bush. He’s talking them down again.
Stop whining and bitching about the past. Stop making the poor and downtrodden the only thing you’ll talk about. Stop promising to fix people’s miserable lives, and start telling them how great things are going to be in the future.
Palin is the most popular politician in the country right now because she’s seen as the most upbeat, can-do, Reaganesque politician around. Obama had that mantle before, and he’s letting it slip. McCain is making big mistakes with his negative campaigning and setting up his own grievance list against the Democrats.
Bottom line: Get out of the mud, stop trying to tear other people down, stop telling the country how horrible everything is, and start giving them a positive vision of their own lives and of their country and its future.
Whoever does that the best in this election will win.
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