Values were what killed us...

[rndmprsn]

Not the lack of...but the lack of effectively communicating them...not having over-arching strategies that pull together single issues under shared/common values, not having our own wedge-issues and there could have been many...the environment, birth tax (deficits), etc and letting their wedge issues go un-challenged...guns, gays and God, letting the repubs frame the debate and controlling the message...this put us in a defensive position against ghastly Owellian policies, no child left behind, clean-skies and ugh, healthy-forests etc...

In short, working-poor rural voters were scared of us and didn't trust us...they know that we look down on them (I am guilty of this too) and they never got our message that we share their values...hard work, fairness, responsibility, personal freedom, and opportunity.

unless we can reach these people, who are our natural allies...we will always lose...period.

[Dookus]

1. the problem

is it's always easier to appeal to fear and hate than to reason and fairness, especially in uncertain times.

[rndmprsn]

2. if we can craft reasonable messages that appeal to their values...

then we at least have a chance in the rural south and midwest...we have to combine all the single issues that we all cherish into a over-arching strategy that acts as a force-multiplier for each single issue and then apply a value system to the overall message.

[Dookus]

4. it's a losing battle

we CANNOT run based on so-called Biblical values.

Our hope lies in resurrecting the ideals of the Enlightenment and convincing people that their own personal religious beliefs have no role in government.

[rndmprsn]

8. i'm not suggesting we move to the right...

but move the center to us...by controlling the language and thus re-framing the debate to our advantage...

ppl will vote for whom they trust are like them and share their values...george bush DOES NOT have these ppl's interests at heart, but he has convinced them that he shares their values...he's more than half-way to their vote without even trying.

tax-relief implies that there is a burden to be eased...taxes are our PATRIOTIC duty and an INVESTMENT in americas future

not paying our FAIR share of taxes is not patriotic and it causes a BIRTH-TAX on our children...own the language and re-frame the debate.

PATRIOTISM, FAIRNESS, INVESTMENT IN AMERICA...these are OUR values...we stand for these...we spend too much time of the defensive yelling about what we DO NOT STAND FOR...and the repubs laugh at us.

[Warpy]

3. We need to reacquaint them with the words Jesus spoke

These damn right wing preachers only give them the Old Testament, Paul, and the RNC talking points, all of which mesh nicely into hatred for imperfect neighbors, greed, and selfishness.

Freestyle Evangelicals have noticed this. However, their numbers are still quite small. We need to increase their numbers, to awaken the people who consider themselves Christian to the fact that Bush and his team represent the Antichrist.

The Antichrist is not a single human being, which is where fundies go wrong. The Antichrist is a mindset, a philosophy that runs exactly opposite to the teachings of Christ.

This is what we need to be teaching (among so many other things).

[rndmprsn]

9. I completely agree with this...

jesus taught us to be compassionate and care for our fellow man...and there are churches and ministers out there that are OUR NATURAL ALLIES...we need to find them and nurture this relationship...religion is inherently progressive.

has anyone read the supply side jesus cartoon in al frankens book...very insightful and humorous, but too the point

[LSK]

5. no, diebold machines killed us

The values story is more media BS.

[snacker]

6. add:

hate and intolerance to that

[found object]

7. value issues are slight of hand

increased levels of fighting in Iraq and a dwindling economy are taking a back seat to gay marriage?

[sandnsea]

11. That isn't the point

The poster is talking about a campaign that reached beyond bigoted "christian" values. Even going so far as talking about fighting differently in Iraq as an expression of Democratic values. One being the difference between bottom up and trickle down economies and that's why reconstruction isn't working over there.

It wasn't gay marriage, particularly. That was the face of the "values" Republicans sell to their base. Digging deeper, they actually believe that "freedom is on the march" shit and think it's righteous to die for it. It's a whole phony nutty package, sure, but they believe it. It's part of their current view of values. Republicans are able to repackage values to their base any time they want because they always attach anything we say to "evil God-hating liberals" so their base is always voting against that more than anything else anyway.

[Lindsay]

10. Many issues contributed here.

Repug fake values are certainly a large part.

Corporate ownership of the media meant the majority of people were hearing only the message the corporations wanted us to hear.

And corporate control of the voting process cannot be allowed to stand.

We have a LOT of work to do, and it's going to take all the brains and heart and talent we've got on our side to accomplish our goals.

[Beacho]

12. No

Hatred and bigotry disguised as 'values' is what it's about.