Here’s why people vote for Republicans

[Cyrano]

Most rational people look at the Republican Party and see nothing but a bunch of political opportunists who are selling greed, selfishness, bigotry and sheer hatred. How do they get away with it?

With the exception of the very wealthy who profit from having Republicans in power, the average Republican voter is drawn in by deception, misdirection and lies. The “how” is really easy. It’s a game in which someone else is always to blame for people’s misfortunes and everything else that’s wrong with the world.

Blacks are to blame. Hispanics are to blame. Illegal aliens are to blame. Liberals are to blame. Homosexuals are to blame. Muslims are to blame. Brown people everywhere are to blame. Poor people are to blame. Everyone who lives in San Francisco is to blame. Everyone, except Republicans, are to blame for the world’s ills.

That’s how they do it. And it works. Their followers are a mixture of people who are misinformed, not paying attention, susceptible to bumper sticker slogans, bigots, those who feel superior to others, those who are just plain dumb, and a variety of others who can’t go through life without having a “THEM” to blame for everything.

I’ve reached the point where I can no longer bear to even try to have a conversation with a Republican. And this will go on until the Republican Party (and all like them) become a relic of a dark past.

[ShortnFiery]

1. If you haven't noticed both the republicans and conservative democrats have been OBSTRUCTIONISTS?

IF we had a TRUE super majority in the Senate (minus the conservadems) we would not have a problem passing legislation.

Our FOCUS should be in changing and/or ousting the Conservative (obstructionist) Democrats NOT bitching about the obvious bigotry of the GOP. The foregoing is "a given." Move on?

It's only when we STAND UP for the Working Classes' rights that we'll be strong again as a SEPARATE PARTY. Right now we seemingly stand for NOTHING. :(

[YOY]

2. Fear.

n.t.

[GoCubsGo]

27. Exactly right.

They couldn't effectively exploit the latest "enemy" or "enemies" without a substantial number of people who piss in their pants at the drop of a hat.

[Caliman73]

55. Plus greed and a sprinkle of magical thinking

that is the holy trinity which keeps people going to the right. They typically want more than they need, they are afraid that someone "less deserving" is going to get it instead of them, and they actually think that the wealthy power brokers are going to give them the opportunity to join their ranks.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Way back during the Bush/Gore race, Helen Thomas said of the repubicans ......

...... "They need an enemy" and then went to explain that if they didn't have one, they'd manufacture one.

[Cyrano]

5. Exactly. Back when the cold war ended, I knew that the

"dirty commie bastards" would have to be replaced by a different "THEM." What I didn't expect is that all the rest of us would be the new "THEMS."

[DrDan]

9. had the opportunity to see Helen a couple weeks ago - whe is a treasure

and is not afraid to express her opinions of the repubs. She did so several times - and met with a huge applause each time. I hope she is around for a long, long time to continue to pick at these partisan scabs.

[Cyrano]

11. Couldn't agree more.

What this country needs is a few million more Helen Thomas's.

[Echo In Light]

4. I've known lefties who vote R in hopes of crashing the entire system sooner

[Cyrano]

8. Isn't that killing the patient to cure the disease?

[Echo In Light]

14. Well, I certainly understand what drives those who do, even if I take a different approach

[sendero]

31. When you find..

... as I have now, that electing Dems results in no real change, it's hard to argue with that strategy.

[Echo In Light]

38. True, that. To be fair, though, the folks I refer to were back in the 90s

Twas ever thus

[DrDan]

6. I think their susceptibility to "bumper sticker slogans" is the gop's most

effective tactic.

"pro-life" - who isn't pro-life. What they mean, of course, is "anti-choice"
"death tax" - that can ONLY be a bad thing
"death panels" - umbelievable how that one could ever catch on

But . . . these slogans allow the voters to be relieved of any obligation to become knowledgeable.

The gop is EXPERT at these slogans.

neil boorz actually proclaimed that Obama was coming after everyone's 401K. Obama was going to "socialize" all 401Ks and redistribute the money. Call after call expressed fear of this intent.

Let's face it - they are not too bright, they are very fearful (hence their gun obsession), and, and as you say, they are very susceptible to short, "bumper sticker" slogans.

[trumad]

7. I think they're flat out lazy...

They except the first version and that's it. That's why guys like Beck, Limbaugh, and a Network like Fox can flourish. Their listeners and viewers take what they hear and view it as fact--- first time out of the gate. That's all they need---the first version.

The Repub propagandist understand this and know all they have to do is make shit up and the sheep will drink the Kool-Aid.

[DrDan]

10. a clever slogan - they love their clever slogans

All study of an issue is out the window as long as they can attach a clever slogan that encapasulates their position in 3 words or less.

[mwb970]

13. You mean like "Drill, baby, drill"?

That slogan summarizes a complex issue in three 1-or-2-syllable words, two of them the same. This is about the most that republican voters can handle without experiencing cognitive overload.

[DrDan]

15. and the "death tax" - that one is bad on two levels - so the gop has to be correct in their position

[trumad]

19. Death Panels---

Lot's of death which works with their fear tactics.

Keep the sheep afraid and they will be easier to control.

[trumad]

16. I love scratching just below the surface of right wingers

It doesn't take much of a scratch before you know they only have one layer of an opinion.

I can tell those types a mile away. The minute they spout their "slogan" or Fox generated opinions I know that I'm done with the debate.

Why--- because they have nothing but propaganda talking points and as Barbara Bush would say---I don't want to hurt my beautiful mind debating a Moran.

[DrDan]

20. the interesting thing is that you can always determine their RW radio favorites

by their "spouts.

"feminazi" - obviously a rush fan
"fair tax" - neil boorz
"van jones" - beck

[trumad]

22. Exactly

I pick it up rather quickly...

My Mom is a Right Wing kook and I've pretty much given up talking to her about anything.

She'll spout a Fox talking point and I chuckle because I've read about the discredited talking point an hour earlier on DU or some other Progressive blog.

I say no Mom---that's been debunked--- and then she get's that wild crazy look in her eye like I'm the Devil incarnate.

Truth is Kryptonite to the Wingers.

[OHdem10]

12. They will never become a relic of the past as long as the Left

continues to lie down and roll over. "We are not like them".

If one is unwilling to talk to them how can they ever be challenged?

[trumad]

17. You can talk to some...

but most are Jim Jones crazy and can't be swayed.

[Cyrano]

40. Talking to them is like trying to have a conversation with a yak.

They can't be convinced. They need to be politically destroyed. The problem is how to do it.

They control the vast majority of the media. They march in lockstep. And they are fanatical about sticking together to fight the "evil Democrats."

It's been said many times that getting Dems to act together is like "herding cats" and it's true. We'll never destroy their ideology, their tactics and their never-ending lies until we can actually band together and fight them as though they are a threat to a civilized world. Which, in fact, they are.

[BR_Parkway]

18. The "party of personal responsibility" needs both an 'other' to fear

and to blame any of their failures on. They could be doing better in life, love, wealth... if only the government wasn't giving XXX to (insert minority group here)

[emanymton]

21. Knowledge Is Power

.

Regardless of 'them' versus 'us' mentality, the Republicant Party is very good at keeping the people dumb on the facts. The Democratic Party can make great headway by informing the public of the truth.

(As Frank Rich on the Rachel Maddow show talks about (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#35698968) the people are angry. It is up to the Democratic Party to keep the focus of people's anger on the egregious behavior of the Republicant Party.) The angry people who are active will not go for the Republicant Party. Just keep hitting them with the facts.

As long as the Republicant Party keeps telling lies about the liberals and progressives, the liberals and progressive will insist in telling the truth about the Republicant Party.

Having said this, it is important though to keep in mind, it comes down to the Democratic Party's actions and behaviors. The people of USA voted _for_ Democratic members of Congress and a Democratic President to GOVERN. Govern and the people will support the leadership. Do nothing and the Democratic Party deserves nothing but the people's scorn.

~@:o?
.

[ThomWV]

24. Huh?

[Bluenorthwest]

23. It used to be that was just the Republicans. Sadly, that is not

the case any longer. The entire DNC leadership is anti gay, opposed to equality, many opposed to gay people having any form of family rights at all. Time Kaine is against civil unions. They stand on stages with hate preachers who speak of how 'those people' are 'attacking' their families. One of Barack Obama's campaign surrogates is infamous for stating on television that gay people are 'trying to kill our children.'
Do you suggest that such tactics and rhetoric are not lies? That they are not attempts to blame others for their own failings? When any number of heterosexual politicians have adulterous affairs, does any one, Democrat or Republican, come at them with all the 'defense' of marriage bullshit, do they get framed as attacking all families? No.
Do you suggest that when Democrats hold bigoted views and promote discriminatory policy, that somehow that is fine, or mitigated by the 'faith' of the bigots?
It is great to call out Republicans, but once our side has taken up bigotry, slander, and divisive anti minority rhetoric, to call them out for that is simple hypocrisy.
Too bad it is that way, but according to Obama, he's a Christian and that means he has to be a bigot. God is in the mix, he shouts, one man, one woman, same spew Johhny Edwards used until he got called out for what he is. Same spew Palin uses. Snazzy company. Good people on the President's side of this issue. Hate mongers and adulterers. He should have a smoke and a drink and think about it.

[Cyrano]

28. Many "so-called" Democrats are from conservative districts.

The basic truth is that these people possess no values or principles. They have but one goal: to get reelected.

They will say and do whatever is necessary and will go to any lengths to ensure their own personal political survival. To me, people such as these are the scum of the earth. (Perhaps I've just described 98% of all politicians.)

Nonetheless, party titles, in many cases, are meaningless. The opinions in the district a politician represents is everything. People like Blanche Lincoln and Kent Conrad are perfect examples of this particular type of hypocrite.

[Bluenorthwest]

36. Did you read what I posted?

Was I speaking of Blanche and Kent, or of Obama and Biden and Kaine? You claim Republicans alone use fear and bigotry and division, but to repeat, Obama used preachers on the trail that said 'gay people are trying to kill our children'. Not Blanche, not Kent. And he continues to oppose equal rights. Not Blance, not Kent. He says he is against some minorities on orders from God. Whatever. Blanche! Kent! Not the subject at hand, but whatever.

[Cyrano]

41. Yes, I read what you posted.

To quote Claude Rains in "Casablanca," "There's gambling going on here. I'm shocked. Shocked."

And to paraphrase that: Obama is a politician. I'm shocked, shocked.

There are a thousand things I wish Obama had done and would do. But changing the ways of politics, and especially Washington D.C., is like trying to turn around a battleship in a bathtub.

I too would like to see Obama dump the crap that all politicians use, but it ain't gonna' happen. The unfortunate reality is that in order to get elected, you've got to be willing to compromise your beliefs.

I find it hard to recall a 20th or 21st century politician who wasn't willing to sell their soul to gain and hold onto power. It was only a matter of price.

[lunatica]

25. They create and maintain wedge issues

Things that people will simply not ever agree on, such as abortion. They can and do use that issue every single election. Reagan happily created the 'welfare queens'. Then there's the 'gay agenda', illegal aliens and 'they're gonna take your gun away'. Right now they're trying out slogan fodder words like lazy hobos and non-christian and other labeling code words.

[HereSince1628]

26. Yes, you are describing the general black and white thinking of conservatives

Conservatism has been studied by sociologists and psychologists and a metanalysis of that work was published

Within the 80 or so studies they included in their metanalysis (analysis that analyzes previous studies) they found 8 elements that account for much of the variability in motivation to conservative social behavior. I've put in parentheses correlates that you'll recognize from the last few years.

(1) mental rigidity and closed-mindedness; (Stop THEM, just say no to all 'democrat'legislation, Tax cuts are the answer to EVERY problem)

(2) lowered self-esteem; (Stop THEM, they come in and take all the good jobs, fill our hospital beds, etc.)

(3) fear, anger, and aggression; (Attack THEM, Iraq didn't attack the WTC, someone MUST be punished! We must look strong to the rest of the world.)

(4) pessimism, disgust, and contempt; (Stop feeding THEM, they are like stray dogs, it will only make them dependent

(5) loss prevention; (Stop THEM, if they do X it will be the end of America, there will be death panels determining your healthcare)

(6) fear of death; (fear THEM, they are going to come into your house and kill you, get an assault rifle)

(7) fear of social and economic deprivation (fear Them, they are after your--profits, job, doctor, etc)

(8) fear of threats to the stability of the social system. (fear Them, they are going to destroy marriage)


That work stirred up a hornets nest during W's first term.

If you google the title: Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition
You will come up with the original article and the line of studies that have followed.

[raccoon]

29. This deserves its own thread. nt

[HereSince1628]

33. I posted on it back in early 2005, here are my surviving notes on Jost's work

The stuff in Jost et al. should be known by people who argue/deal with conservatives, it makes understanding where they are coming from and anticipating what they'll advocate much easier...

The paper is titled “Political conservatism as motivated social cognition” (Psychological Bulletin vol 129, pp 339-375).

Here are my notes on it... obviously the authors haven't approved my interpretation and I accept that my own limitations may result in something of a biased summary of their paper.

(Things that appear in parentheses are notes to myself intended to help me understand the paper)

The authors,Jost et al,reviewed the work of 19 authors (historians, journalists, and political scientists) concerning the ideology of conservatism. From the review, Jost et al derived two features that represent persistent features of conservatism regardless of its geopolitical, or temporal context. They used these to describe the core dimensions that characterize conservative principles:

1. Opposition to change (privileges status quo or urges return to idealized old state)
2. Acceptance of inequality (legitimizes asymmetries of wealth and status).

Other dimensions of conservatism are context dependent and are considered peripheral dimensions. Because of the influence of historic circumstance, at any given time what is considered conservative may not be deemed so at another time. It seems at times some of these may play more significant roles than at other times.

(The theoretical principles at work here seems to be that peripheral aspects of political conservatism reflect responses to problems that create a psychological need to manage personal or social variables that distress an individuals’ relationships with core dimensions. Such need(s) motivates conservative individuals toward social attitudes whose predictable manifestation characterize day-to-day political conservatism.)

Various theories postulate explanatory correlations between social-psychological variables and conservatism. Consequently, the paper presents an interesting summary of behavioral and attitudinal orientation that characterize the peripheral dimensions of conservatism. It should be noted that Jost et al don’t fully discriminate right wing from conservative politics.).

Personality Theories–
-Authoritarianism (exploits status inequalities for decision/rule making, and includes acquiescence to authority)
-Dogmatism (opposes new explanation/interpretive models, promotes reliance on tried solutions)
-Intolerance to Ambiguity (emphasizes boundaries/distinctions ,
literal interpretation of rules. This makes conservatives vulnerable to Manicheism–the division of reality into absolute good and absolute evil.)

Existential Needs Theories–
-Closure (provides release from anxiety of ambiguity, promotes adoption of available solutions above wrestling with uncertainty and confusion )
-Regulatory focus (emphasizes stability , promotes cravings for security)
-Terror management/Fear of Death (promotes and protects systems that provide avenues of death denial/transcendence)

Ideological Rationalization–
-Social dominance (promotes legitimizing myths (such as divinely chosen people) that support personal or group hegemony and enables/endorses identification and punishment of deviants/minorities)
-System justification (resolves conflicts about personal status/treatment by rationalization of the system’s worth, promotes defense of the system against threats even at high social or personal cost–as required for justifying death in war)

The authors evaluated 88 published studies (some of these are European so the paper is not only about conservatism in the US) to determine if correlations between political conservatism and expectations derived from the theories...they found the following correlations:

death anxiety (r =.50)
system stability (r = .47) (not surprising since opposition to change is a core dimension)
dogmatism/intolerance to ambiguity ( r =.34)
openness to experience (r=-.32)
uncertainty tolerance (r=-.27)
needs for order/structure/closure (r=.26)
integrative complexity (r=-.20)
fear of threat and/or loss (r=.18)
self-esteem (r=-.09)

(Consequently, these correlates represent how political conservatives orient to some social/psychological variables that had been previously successfully used to characterize the peripheral dimensions of conservatism. Comparison of political liberals and political conservatives along these same variables was hampered by the lack of available studies of political liberalism. Conservatism and its radical rightwing spin-offs seem to have been much more interesting to academics than liberalism.)

[trumad]

30. great post

[bluethruandthru]

32. +1000 n/t

[DisgustedInMN]

34. Perhaps some people vote for Repubs..

... for the reasons you stated, but broadbrush generalizations have to the tendency to be overly simplistic and wrong. MANY people also vote for Republicans because they have been lied to, condescended to by, and ignored by Democrats. As long as bigshots in the Democratic Party, follow Republican Light policies, it will remain so. Personally, I have not ever, nor do I foresee myself in the future, voting for any Republican. However, what I do refuse to do EVER AGAIN, is vote or support ANY candidate that isn't a SOLID Progressive, for any office. I WILL NOT hold my nose and vote for a candidate that stinks, no matter what party (s)he CLAIMS to belong to. There are other options, going third party or writing in a Progressive Democrat or not voting at all. I prefer the second option.

[Cyrano]

43. As much as I agree with what you've said, I have a disease called pragmatism.

Reality keeps intruding on all of our dreams. I've had to hold my nose and vote in the past, and I'll no doubt have to do it again at some point in the future.

All too often, the person I'd like to see elected can't win for a variety of reasons. So I end up voting for the Dem who can win because he or she is not a Republican. It sucks, I hate it, and I hate the sewer into which our politics has fallen.

Nonetheless, I'll do whatever is necessary to prevent any Republican from being elected.

[DisgustedInMN]

50. That's clearly your choice to make...

... for yourself, I cannot however, with a clear conscience, continue the charade. I did it for the very last time for Obama, it won't happen again.

[truedelphi]

53. What a great response. It won't bring you hugs from the

"A politician, no matter how sold out, has to have a "D" after his name" crowd of cheerleaders here on DU.

But I at least salute you.

And offer a Friday afternoon :hug:

[DisgustedInMN]

60. Having crossed swords with...

.. more than one of those and have found them to be pretty much a waste of time. They share a common trait with hardcore Bush supporters, cognitive dissonance. The fact that they have managed to dig the Democratic Party into a very deep hole, when it was posed to hold the reins for at least a decade, doesn't even register, so they keep on digging.

[Orsino]

35. A suite of causes: laziness, ignorance, entitlement, bigotry and fear.

The GOP always offers a simple--and incorrect--answer to even the most complex questions. "Give us what we want," they promise, "and you will never have to think again."

[DCKit]

37. It worked for the Nazis. n/t

[WinkyDink]

39. Greed, fear, phony "Christianity", ignorance of most everything. End of story.

[Zoeisright]

42. Basically, Repukes are stupid and bigoted.

There's no point in discussing anything with them because they don't have the faintest concept of logical reasoning.

[Tigermoose]

44. Republicans are to blame!

(irony alert, irony alert!)

[Cyrano]

45. Actually, we are to blame for letting them get away with the

past 30 years of lies, greed, hatred and pure evil they have turned loose on this country.

It seems to me that the majority of Americans are sane, but we must have been in a coma to let this happen to us. Damned if I can explain it.

[krabigirl]

46. People who vote for them are either very wealthy or super "Christian(tm)"

[anonymous171]

47. So? All this means is that dems need to pick an "other" and blame them for everything.

Bankers are always a good target imo.

[Echo In Light]

48. The appeal lies in the dominant corp/consumer culture's collective belief system

And b/c so many are so busy w/the various tenets and distractions of that system, it makes buying the typical RW/corporate rhetoric that much easier...based on familiarity, and the sense of anti-conspiracy theory, if you follow i.e. "they can't ALL be lying! so it must be true."

[Vidar]

49. K&R.

[Patiod]

51. Well, there are also the "I got mine" Republicans

People born into good families, provided good educations, worked hard, done well, and don't understand how everyone in America, no matter what their background, education, health or abilities, can't do just as well.

I have friends in this category, who say that "no one ever helped them - why do others have a hand out? Well, if you know them, no one ever helped them except their parents, a really good public school, a good college, and an inheritance.

I also have a brother who can't imagine how a solid family, good high school, and good college didn't get him everything he ever wanted, so he blames immigrants, blames women, blames everyone. Now he's a "tea party" enthusiast. Ugh.

[northofdenali]

52. Repuke = fear.

Fear. Fear. Fear.

Which is why most fundies are repukes.
Which is why most homophobes are repukes.
Which is why most anti-choicers are repukes.
Which is why most anti-women are repukes.

I, too, can no longer speak with or deal with these bastards. I refuse to upset myself that way. They are the reason we are constantly at war, that most of our tax money goes to the boondoggle called the Department of (Off)Defense, that religious whackjobs are running our schools and local governments, that women and homosexuals live in fear, that children are taught eveolution as a "theory", that having a miscarriage is a crime. I've cut off about 70% of my family because they are repukes and disgust me.

[nxylas]

54. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for them to become a relic

As long as there are stupid, fearful people in the world, there will always be a party ready to cater to them.

[ElboRuum]

56. I've heard this expressed a million different ways, but it is not even that complex.

Republican voters hate mental exercise, believe that everything is zero sum, and respond only to group identification. They just want to belong to a group they perceive as winners, and others, by process of elimination, must be losers, never mind the fact that their voting patterns are against their own interest, and are therefore a lose-lose situation. To suss out this very important truth would require them to look at the facts objectively, put aside their rah-rah proclivities, put two and two together, and realize that the people they vote for are just using them and want nothing much more to do with them or their issues after they get elected. This will, of course, never happen because the few ergs of brainpower this would require would probably cause them to pass out from exhaustion.

[anonymous171]

58. Most things in politics and power are zero sum. In a way, republicans are much smarter than liberals

At least they know what kind of game American politics is.

[ElboRuum]

61. Only if you're playing...

Republican voters don't understand that they are sitting in the bleachers, not standing on the field. Whether "their side" wins or loses, they lose regardless. They don't seem to get that politics is a means to an end, not the end in and of itself.

Of course, again, requires thought. Not likely to be realized.

As to the way that Republicans are "smarter" than liberals. Liberals could easily rely upon scare tactics and fear to get elected. So I guess "smarter" in the sense that they have no line they won't cross? Sociopathy as intelligence... never heard that one before.

[moondust]

57. The Republican death cult is on a slow motion suicide mission.

They're trying to blow up HCR and the Obama admin and the Democrats in general. But some of their dupes are starting to wake up to the smell of death about them.

"A relic of a dark past" indeed.

:evilgrin:

[Mithreal]

59. Only one piece of the puzzle.