This is pretty much what I feel. It’s not simply because I’m a liberal that I believe it would hurt the GOP more, but conservatives on a whole like to push the “we’re more moral than you” schtick and their voters are, on a whole, a lot less forgiving of dissent. Witness the fact that the Tea Baggers were borne out of discontent within the conservative base and you’ll see that the Liar, Liar curse would be devastating for the GOP
Come on, aim higher than that! I’m hoping that instead of trying to find ways around the truth and reality, we’ll have people that accept it. Politicians who can say they don’t give a shit about their constituents but will do what they say to keep their jobs could get elected, and in fact I wish more people were like that. I don’t want to pretend I give a damn about filling some potholes when my street is fine, but I want you vote, so I will gladly give your town money to fill your potholes if you’ll vote for me. I think that is a much better result than trying to be deliberately ambiguous.
Just for fun, I compiled a small list of possible things some of the Dems and Reps would say based on what I think are their true feelings:
Dems
I don’t care about [minority group] but I will vote like I do to get elected
I’m atheist, like all smart people are. I’m sick and tired of pretending to be ultra-religious to be elected in this country. There’s no god and evolution is correct. Intelligent Design should be laughed at, not taught
Big corporations buy my vote as well, but at least I sometimes vote against them
I like sex, get over it.
I think guns should be banned but I’m not going to vote for it because too many of you are lunatics
The wealthy need to have some of their wealth redistributed
I hate terrorists and would torture them all if I could, but it leads to a slippery slope
I really don’t want so many brown people in this country but they are the future voters and we have to appease them
To hell with the debt, we need to pay the unions and special interest groups so they can keep us in power. Our kids and grandkids, by which I mean YOUR kids and grandkids, can pay for it because I’m too afraid to get voted out because I cut a social program
Global warming is real because science says so. No, I have no idea how it works, but most of my constituents believe it so I’ll pretend like I do too
Abortion. I don’t like it, but I don’t really consider fetuses people, so who gives a shit?
Reps
I hate [minority group]. If I could, I’d have them all rounded up and killed
I’m a rich and powerful person. What do I need to believe in a god for?
I’m rich, a corporation is rich. That’s just how it is suckers, they pay my check, not you people
I really like sex, get over it
I want people armed. I don’t care if some [minority group] gets shot, it’s always their fault. Don’t piss of the guy with the gun
The wealthy, people like me, should be able to keep as much of their money as possible, and be allowed to make more without worrying about things like safety or the health of the poor
I hate terrorists and would torture them all if I could, the end
I’m actually racist. Fuck the brown people
I really don’t give a damn about the debt but it’s fun to bludgeon the Dems over the head with it. Spend the poor taxpayer’s money, I’m personally rich!
Global warming is real but most of my constituent don’t believe it so I have to pretend I don’t either. Plus, it would hurt my big business friends
Abortion. I don’t really think they are real people but it’s an easy issue to score points on
I wonder if any of this rings true to anybody else and what party people think would hurt more if this came out as the truth
It wouldn’t change much. Elections are a gentlemen’s duel between different sectors of state capital and we’re the audience. Things could get pretty comical though if it turns out there are plenty of actual crazy people running things.
“I wanted to pull out of Iraq but I had to obey the dictates of my masters, the Star Gods.”
Thread over. This was a worse idea than most political discussions. With other threads, there are facts to be had, but we can’t agree on them even with cites. With this one, there is no hope of facts or agreement. Nothing but masturbatory material.
(fap fap) “If only we could get those dirty Dems to admit what racist fascist-communist-gun-hatin’ homo-hatin’ liars they . . .are . . .uhh . . . UHHH!”
I keep seeing these references to the Joe Barton mess…yes, it was an egregiously stupid thing to say, but…aren’t Democrats just as beholden to corporate interests as Republicans? I’ve always assumed so.
To me, this corporate kowtowing is what really gets us into trouble in a lot of areas. On the surface, it seems like Dems want too much regulatory control (the nuclear power industry springs to mind) and Pubs want too little (oil)…
We need a viable third party and have like…forever. Why isn’t it possible for a well-monied political party to arise out of the ashes of our system that draws on the best ideals of both parties? The divisiveness of our two party system seems to polarize not only legislation and governance at the highest level, but down to our citizens as well (tea partiers). This shit sucks.
Maybe, maybe not. But is an easy proposition to sell to the voters. Just as they will believe untruths like Democrats want to take their guns, they will sooner believe Republicans are in the tank with Big Oil than Democrats are. It is a bonny cudgel to beat up the GOP with, and it should be used.
How often do you vote against your conscience to appease voting blocks? (unions etc)
Do you try to appear friendly to social programs because you want poor voters to feel beholden to you? Do you fear that you’d lose their votes if they became less dependent on those programs?
How do you really feel about environmentalism? Is it a real personal cause, or are you just trying to appeal to those people?
It would hurt Democrats far more. The Republican base is dominated by authoritarian personalities. This type of person believes in hierarchy, and is perfectly comfortable with people they perceive as their betters, or leaders, acting however they choose. As long as the Republican politicians actually believe the same things they do, they will continue to vote for them. And I believe the secret beliefs of Republican politicians are far more in line with the public beliefs of their base than is true of the Democratic party. Democrats are far less loyal, as a group. Hypocrisy bothers the hell out of them, which is why they continually accuse Republicans of it and are surprised it has no real effect on their electability.
Not really. First, the the Democrats are just corrupt; the Republicans are both corrupt and ideologically committed to it. And second, Democratic voters IMHO tend to have a lower opinion of their representatives; they are harder to scandalize because they never expected anything but scumminess and dishonesty. If this truth telling disease makes Democrats tell their constituents that they care nothing for the causes those voters support and only vote for them to get elected, well that’s just what most voters already thought.
This is the key point. Very few Republicans intelligent enough to run for office could possibly believe the nonsense they parrot in order to get votes from bigots, anti-science freaks, and the latest group of idiots who want more entitlements, lower taxes and reduced deficits all at once.
Republican voters would then have to rally around morons who do believe such tripe. Hmmm … maybe that’s what’s behind the Sarah Palin phenomenon…
The scary part is that they believe in it. I think out of all the crazies in the party, only Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck understand that it’s just entertainment.
Question is, would the public in general know that their representatives were being compelled to tell the whole truth? And even if they did, what percentage of them would still just go “Oh, Senator Such-And-Such didn’t really mean that…”?
Not so, given the history of dishonesty on the part of anti-abortion rights activists whose nonsense is kowtowed to/endorsed by their politician supporters (such as “Abortion causes breast cancer!” (or other diseases), “Planned Parenthood pressures women to have abortions!”, “We’re passing this legislation compelling women to watch videos/get lectured to before having an abortion because we want them to be informed!” etc.)