Why weren't WE the ones screaming about election/voter fraud & being for plumbers/middle class?

[kerry-is-my-prez]

It is so galling to me that the Repubs sucessfully turned two things that should really be Dem issues into theirs. We should be trouncing them on those issues.

I think a lot of the fault is really with the Dem Party not getting the message out there sucessfully. The Repubs know all about psychology and how to get a mesage out there - they go so far that it could really be called propaganda.

The Dems do have a think tank run by George Lakoff - but we just don't seem to listen to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff

http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml

They have gotten away with the labeling the Dem Party "elitists" and "not being for the regular Joes" and only caring about giving everyone's money to the poor.

I live in a Repub area and continually hear middle-class people talking about how the country is going to go "socialist" if the Dems get in charge.

The Repubs took a huge group of people and fooled them into thinking that the Repubs are benefitting THEM and the Dems just want to take everything away from them and giving it to the poor.

We really need to get smarter about the way we handle our message.

[eleny]

1. We're always for the plumbers and the middle class

McCain is getting so much attention about this because everyone is so damned shocked.

In the end, nobody but the uber wealthy can count on him. That's why Obama's numbers are so high in the area of the economy. There is no "huge group" that really believes McCain is for them.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

3. That's why this thing is so damn galling to me. We need to use George Lakeoff.

We should own this message and be trouncing the Repus with it.

[AndyTiedye]

2. We Were, But Nobody Would Listen To US

[kerry-is-my-prez]

6. We didn't get our message out correctly. We need our own Luntz's.

n/t

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. The DLC directed the party away from the working class in favor of the corporate class...

They are the ones who said the "new" democratic party should disavow its historical working-class, unionized supporters and instead align the party with the interests of corporations and financiers.

[Quantess]

5. The McCain campaign steals all our ideas---even "CHANGE".

They've got nothing.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

8. They keep on winning with spinning something out of nothing.

Hopefully this is going to change this time around.

[pam4water]

7. Ummm... because none of use own a cable channel?

I blame CNN and Lou Dobbs for a lot of this. I know Fox Noise started it (at he behest of the conservatives), but CNN did not have to pick it up. Dobbs has started reading stuff off the Heritage Society Page verbatim.

[iceman66]

10. Dobbs has been just awful.

He calls himself an "independent" but lately he has been shilling for McCain harder than Hannity!

[pam4water]

15. He was veering towards sanity for a while. I had my hopes up, then balm.

He went off the rails. He doesn't even make sense some of the time.

[iceman66]

9. A huge part of the problem is the media

"Acorn" has gotten MUCH more coverage in the last 3 weeks than Diebold has in the last 6 years, even though it is essentially a non-story (voter registration fraud does not result in fradulent votes and thus has no impact on election results).

The media also is largely responsible for making a celebrity out of Joe the Plumber, and has given an inordinate amount of coverage to McCain's ridiculous allegations of "socialism".

If you actually look at what Obama is saying, you'll see that he is running the most middle-class oriented campaign in recent memory, and that is why he has been so successful despite the media smokescreen.

[MagickMuffin]

11. Barack Obama MENTIONS the Middle Class @ EVERY RALLY

ALL during the primaries, ALL during the General Election.


Where have you been?.?.?


As for the Corpomedia they don't pay attention to the candidates speeches unless there is something they can try to make scandalous. Chris MAtthews admitted on air he doesn't pay attention to Obama's speeches at his rallies.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

13. Obama has been much better w/using that message than Kerry was.

Let's hope the Dems get more savvy with how important the "message" is.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

14. Somehow it doesn't get out to the media as much - I guess the symbol of "Joe the Plumber" works.

It's a stupid gimmick that most intelligent people won't fall for - but apparently there are a lot of "merkins" out there who are ripe for the picking.

[mtnsnake]

12. They're so desperate that they're using Dem talking points as their own

in a last-ditch feeble effort to take our own talking points away from us. Nobody is buying their bullshit this time, at least not so far, but we can't let them continue with their outrageous lies about this much longer.

[K Gardner]

16. I have NO idea what you are talking about. The Rep. have NOT "successfully" owned

those two issues. "Joe the Plumber" is NOT a success on the campaign trail. If you hadn't noticed, the "middle class" is voting DEMOCRATIC in large numbers.

we really need to get smarter about the way we PERCEIVE our message. sheesh.

[seabeyond]

17. "galling to me that the Repubs sucessfully" ... suCCessFUlly? for real

it appears to be failing. the more attacks the more his number goes down

[No Elephants]

18. I don't know if I want Dems planting plumbers at McCain rallies. Sam/Joe was a plant.