Dealing with Republican Propaganda

[Rizen]

Democrats and other progressives need to address how conservative propaganda works and inform people. This should be the core focus of left wing media. The main issues are false equivalency, people don't understand nuance and conservatives control the dialog.
Take any piece of propaganda against Hillary Clinton. She has no indictments or convictions and Republicans do the exact same thing even more but people are furious with her. Republicans can take a less than ideal situation that's true, exaggerate it to the point of falsehood and Democrats are put on the defensive. The problem is humans have a negativity bias and are generally uninformed. This leads to apathy ie "it doesn't matter who you vote for" and even progressives turning on Democrats.
People don't vote based on economics and issues but rather treat elections like they're voting someone off a soap opera. Progressives don't see voting as a responsibility but want candidates to win them over. This will rarely happen as you can't win moderates and progressives simultaneously. There's an old saying "liberals want a candidate they can fall in love with and conservatives want a candidate they can fall in line with". This paired with all the ways Republicans cheat elections like gerrymandering, voter suppression, Russian aid and of course propaganda gives them the edge. The issues get drowned out by whatever soap opera scandal Republicans think up be it Benghazi, pizzagate or something as trivial as the type of mustard Obama eats.
The other issue is people see things as black and white. It's much easier to say about the morning after pill "it's an abortion pill" than "actually it inhibits ovulation and has no effect if the egg is fertilized". People don't resonate to logic and facts but rather emotions. We need to say things with strong language and conviction like "calling it an abortion pill is a lie".

The bottom line is propaganda works. We should inform people so they can fight it and get progressives to stop demonizing Democrats for being more moderate than they'd like. We need talking points like "you won't get a candidate who 100% represents you so choose the best option", "Hillary never did anything illegal but Trump has" and to push the significant differences between Democrats and Republicans.

[pwb]

1. I am starting to see us fighting back in recent political ads.

It's long overdue.

[olegramps]

10. The problem is the MSM.

It is damn rare that they ever challenge the Republican liars. They allow them to assert crap that is an absolute lie. It provides for a false equivalency that they are just expressing an opinion no different than those who oppose them. Don Lemon is one of the exceptions.

[violetpastille]

2. Has anyone ever tried to sell the Democratic Party like a Dating App?

We are sexier. It's just a fact.

"We need our reproductive rights intact, because we are the party that actually has sex."


"Vote Sexy. Vote Blue."



(Just spitballing here.)

For the Millenials:


"Don't Let Putin Slow Down Your WI-FI!"

"No Immigrants Means no decent TACOS."

"Beyonce or Ted Nugent? Who do YOU choose?"

[Trust Buster]

3. We can begin by stopping the use of the term "conservative" to describe these animals.

[Turin_C3PO]

4. Rightwing Radicals is what I call Trump fans.

[Trust Buster]

5. They want to be called the "C-word". I refuse to define those animals with such respect.

[47of74]

22. I call them Branch Trunpvidians

Or Reich wingers.

[JHan]

13. thank you driving this point home continuously, it's important.

[onit2day]

16. Every progressive I know cares about the issues more than the personality of the candidate.

During President Clinton's term the party was concerned with funding and the DLLC strove for funding from bankers and CEOs etc as the Unions decreased in number. Obama was such a candidate who was dynamic as well as very informed on the issues. It's ok to be critical on how candidates stand to accomplish the democratic agenda (candidates want to know our will) but we must stay informed as well as active and progressives do just that. But when candidates vote against constituents wishes out of favoritism or a personal agenda, of course we will let them know we reject their actions but repubs want to act like this means a republican would be better in our minds but we never think that...we just want a better dem when possible I also believe we vote strongly due to the economy because when has a republican ever done better with the economy? lol When it comes to the economy, republicans always sink us with huge debt and dems always bail us out

[lunasun]

6. It's clear many voters in the US buy the hype and like it . Logic seems lost on many

[EndGOPPropaganda]

7. Things to do!!!

We have been working on rightwing propaganda for a while.

First, watch “The Brainwashing of My Dad”. And get your family and friends to watch it. Amazon prime or iTunes.

Then, commit to “Fox Off”. If you see Fox on in a public place- complain. Tell them that Fox airs white supremacy and hate and has done great damage to America. And you will not stand for it.

You can also buy and wear our shirts or bumper stickers.

https://weprotectthetruth.com/

[JudyM]

9. +1. It's important to stand up against Fox new in public places.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

17. +1 Yes!

[Gregory Peccary]

14. Fuckin' A

Me likey!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

18. Want 👏🏾😄

[0rganism]

8. K&R for looking at the heart of the problem

but see how many recs you get? see how fast the post falls down the page? you'd get more views, recs, and replies by insulting Sen. Sanders than you will by pointing out this simple fact.

i can't count the times i've put posts here (mostly in the video & multimedia forum these days) which point out how the right wingers are playing the media strategically. when i post them in GD, they drop just as fast as yours has been.

the bottom line, the crux of our communications dysfunction: Republicans are much better at projecting strength than Democrats are at exposing truth. clearly public communication and language must be a painful topic that we'd all rather avoid, so it's all the more important we shine a light on how it happens.

this guy nails it:

i linked to his youtube series from this post:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017497492

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. Yes, indeed, and thank you for a cool link! nt

[ChoppinBroccoli]

11. The Problem Is Republicans Think In Bumper Stickers

And most of the explanations for why their little slogans and catchphrases are lies are often longer than a bumper sticker-friendly slogan, so they just won't listen. If it's not a slogan that fits on a bumper sticker, it won't resonate with a Republican.

The Republican Party: Complex problems; bumper sticker-sized solutions.

[maxsolomon]

12. I'm sorry for shouting, but WHAT LEFT-WING MEDIA?

Amy Goodman?

[mtnsnake]

15. You are right, and this has been a problem for years

Our Democratic spokespeople are extremely intelligent, but unfortunately they don't know how to play the game to win as well as they should. It's like they don't know how to get down on the same level as people of average or less than average intelligence. In the examples you brought up in your post, our people don't go far enough to EXPLAIN in dumbed down language just how wrong each wrong Republicans are with their propaganda.

For example, the Rebubs always plaster us with statements like "Democrats want to take away all your guns." Democrats then counter with something like "Democrats want smart gun legislation." Half the folks sporting guns in their homes interpret that to mean the Dems are coming for ALL their guns. Democrats should be making it loud, clear, and simple that no one is going to take away ALL their guns. Just assault weapons. They just have't found a way to make that message clear enough.

[Cetacea]

21. True nt

[samplegirl]

20. Let's face it

people don’t care about the truth or the facts! It about who is more convincing. Even attack ads! Maybe it’s time to beat them with a bunch of their own tactics!