Democrats can't keep ignoring the culture war. They should fight it -- and win Will Bunch

[andym]

Democrats can’t keep ignoring the culture war. They should fight it — and win | Will Bunch
by Will Bunch | Columnist
Published Nov 7, 2021
The Philadelphia Inquirer
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/democrats-losing-culture-war-education-20211107.html
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The Democrats need to fight a culture war — more than anything else — over voting rights, to make the argument that the red state wave of Republican voter suppression laws is a profoundly unAmerican activity, and that Democrats are the spiritual heirs to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma-to-Montgomery march, and thus the protectors of an expansive vision for democracy that works for all citizens. To do that, Team Biden needs to make clear — starting with an Oval Office address — that voting rights is his No. 1 priority, and that he will use every tool in his White House bag of tricks to force at least a carve-out of the wretched filibuster to clear the way for game-changing bills like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The Democrats need to fight a culture war over book banning — to stop playing rope-a-dope on the bogus “critical race theory” issue and fight for academic freedom and open expression. They need to put Republicans from Virginia — where Youngkin won with an attack ad on Toni Morrison’s Beloved — to Texas, where American jihadists have targeted some 850 titles in school libraries — on the defensive for the book burning mindset that our antifascist grandfathers fought on the shores of Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge.

The Democrats need to fight a culture war over science — to make their voters as passionate about defending the core values of inquiry and knowledge that led to the COVID-19 vaccine and our understanding of what will be needed to roll back climate change in the same way that the far right and its Facebook-fried (excuse me, Meta-fried) misinformation have fired up the right over pandemic denial and fossil fuel addiction.

The Democrats need to fight a culture war over education — to remind parents that the real fight for the future of our children is not whether we can keep denying critical parts of American history but whether we’re providing any civics education at all to our kids, and whether we can offer our young people access to the kinds of higher education that’s out of reach for far too many. There needs to be a new push to revive free community college, and Biden needs to remember his campaign promise to address student debt in a big way....
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Much more at the link
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Finally, a potentially winning strategy from someone who has the pulse of the nation.
Read the whole editorial: it is quite a good read.

[Walleye]

1. Their culture war is basically hatred and anger. Not our strong points

[andym]

2. It's true that their culture wars are based on anger/hatred. Ours should be on passion/idealism

to fight the good fight for freedom (academic freedom and freedom of speech-- the regressives shouldn't think freedom is their issue alone), justice (learning from history), fairness (voting and civil rights), truth (science), and progress (science).

[AZLD4Candidate]

4. Can't fit that onto a bumper sticker. Their "anger/hatred" can be.

That's the problem.

[Alpeduez21]

7. "Nazis banned books"

that'll fit.

[AZLD4Candidate]

8. Based on their actions and their rhetoric and the fact Americans are gullible

I doubt that would work. These right wingers seem to idolize authoritarians.

But, also expect them to scream "so do leftist communists, and the 'Democrat' Party are all communists and socialists." And Americans will agree.

[Alpeduez21]

9. You're right

they can make a stupid baseless counterpoint guess Dems just should stop trying.

[AZLD4Candidate]

10. I didn't say we should stop trying

But their actions are emotional based. Ours are intellectual based. Emotions are easier. Intelligence takes time and time we don't have anymore.

[Alpeduez21]

11. Invoking Nazism is a pretty emotionally based statement.

I get the emotion intellect conflict. It's why Dems lose. I put up an emotional sound bite. You used intellect to say why it wouldn't work. Perfect summation of failed Dem messaging. Dems are afraid of emotional statements b/c they are not 100% factually correct. While that ideal is nice it doesn't win. Dems need to win to make policy.

[AZLD4Candidate]

12. Also, if we say something that is not 100% factually correct,

the "liberal" media will eat us alive. They, however, can say whatever BS comes to mind will get a tepid fact check, but allowed to continue burping the turds of wisdom.

The deck is stacked against intellectualism completely. Marginalizing Arts and Humanities as meaningless since Bill Bennett's idiotic book A Nation at Risk didn't help as it's become educational policy.

[andym]

14. How about "Democrats: science not rumor"

or "Democrats: science not superstition," or "Democrats: science not hearsay"

[AZLD4Candidate]

15. They will come back with "all science is theory, not proven" or Intelligent Design

or some other malarkey like that.

They have emotion-based canned responses to everything. Look at Ken Hamm as an example.

[andym]

16. "Democrats: Science not nonsense"

might be the strongest and best response, certainly stronger than the rejoinders you mention. It's not to convince the Trumpers, it's to convince or at least influence the pliable bystanders.

[AZLD4Candidate]

17. I can tell you how they will reply: "Democrats are attacking your religion and freedom."

Religious exceptions and they'll quote some part of the Constitution they don't know, understand or even exists.

It's called sophistry and one of the most used tactics they have.

[DanieRains]

3. Republicans Obviously Serve Satan

And no Democrat has the courage to just say it.

How many times would Jesus vote to repeal Obamacare?

The question they will never answer.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

5. This has been obvious for decades, yet Ds have failed to implement

this strategy.

[traitorsgalore]

6. Yep, in VA McCauliffe was afraid to call republicans traitors and insurrectionists

Dems don't need a "culture war", all we need to do is call people what they are. It's called being honest.

[Koch Ebola]

13. There is no culture war.

America has no culture at all. Just ask Spankie Banks