So if we’re so smart, why are Republicans winning all the battles?

[Cyrano]

IMO, most Republican politicians and voters aren’t all that intelligent. But so what?

Their leaders have far more street smarts than we have. They are totally focused on their goals. Their fanaticism is absolute. They have absolutely no qualms about using any and all means to crush us. And all of that puts us at a tremendous disadvantage.

Whether the issue is religion, elections, wealth distribution, race, immigration, medical care, or just simple human decency, they always manage to crush us, crush our agenda, and crush everything we believe in and stand for.

All this reminds me of the old saying, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” The reality is that being smart and being rich are mutually exclusive. Being intelligent, and succeeding in ramming through a political agenda, are also mutually exclusive. And that means that really stupid people can triumph.

So what are we “geniuses” supposed to do to about this? If I had the answer, I would not hold it back. But the one thing I’m sure of is that we Democrats must become more aggressive, ruthless and clever than we ever thought we’d have to be.

If not, we’re finished.

So go ahead and keep caving into our “more clever enemies.” The reality is that they are nothing more than know-nothing barbarians who believe that reason and logic are illusions. And they're a lot better at fighting today's "war" than we are.

But if we ever get our brains in gear, we are destined to overcome ignorance.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. They don't consider compromise to be a virtue.

And when it comes to compromise with evil such as theirs, we shouldn't either.

[scheming daemons]

2. People on the right think they lost the debt deal battle

It's all a matter of perspective.

[bvar22]

31. ? Grover Norquist LOVED it.

Called it a Republican "Precedent Setting" Victory.

Grover Norquist: Debt Ceiling Deal A Big Victory for Republicans



Solidarity!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[MineralMan]

3. Possibly because we're so busy fighting among ourselves that

we forget to fight against the right. Or so it sometimes seems to me.

[JoePhilly]

7. +1

[boston bean]

18. fighting our own parties rightward slant is fighting republican policy. nt

[MineralMan]

19. I see...

:shrug:

[demosincebirth]

24. Good example -- DU.

[MineralMan]

32. Yup. More's the pity.

[dtexdem]

4. Well, for one thing, I ain't rich either.

I guess I'll just have to stick to being smart. ;-)

[blm]

5. Because their fascist cronies spent the 80s and 90s buying control of broadcast media

so actual information would NEVER be a problem for the global fascist agenda of NWO.

The global fascists were smart.....their target audience is the notverysmartatall voter.

[hifiguy]

17. Ding, ding, ding.

We have a winner.

Control of the sources of information is EVERYTHING and the corporatists control all the major media. Game over.

[drm604]

6. They're not winning all the battles.

We won the last Presidential election.

Look at what's been happening in Wisconsin, and Ohio.

They win by preying on fear, narrow-mindedness and ignorance, but they've taken it to far. They're now catering to the most narrow-minded and ignorant. The apathetic among us are waking up because of it.

[Ikonoklast]

8. They aren't.

They are on the run, this is the last gasp of a failed ideology that the demographic shift in voters will soon put an end to.

The old white racists are dying off, and not being replaced. And Big Money is losing their grip on the foot soldiers they need to push their agenda at the local level.

Look at the latest Teabagger rallies...after getting fooled badly by those they helped elect, no one attends anymore.

This is why there is a full-on assault by the Right in this country, their time is quickly running out and they know it.

I see this as their Battle of The Bulge moment, the last offensive, the all-or-none effort soon to stall as it runs out of fuel.



We will win.

[Cyrano]

47. Perhaps. But we are up against

people who have no problem stealing elections through voter suppression, uncounted or miscounted votes, and "lost ballots."

Further, many key states have Republican governors and, since the 2010 census, they have been redistricting their states to favor Republican candidates at the federal, state and local levels (it's called gerrymandering).

We can only win when Democratic votes are so overwhelming that an election can't be stolen without the peasants waking up and revolting.

[arbusto_baboso]

9. Because they will do literally ANYTHING to win.

Whereas our side tends to have some scruples. That makes it tougher to fight them.

[Peacetrain]

10. Exactly how we got Reagan.. we we so damn self righteous

that they slipped right past us.. And what I mean by self righteous.. is that we thought everyone agreed with us.. Well if they did..they did not turn out to vote.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AlinPA]

12. They are organized. They own the media. They have more money. They are more zealous and they vote.

[Solomon]

13. Because we always convince

ourselves that we're losing even when we're winning.

They do just the opposite.

The lack of patience and foresight on the left truly disgusts me.

It makes me laugh how people here whine and moan about betrayal, when we turn on our own at the drop of a dime.

[ixion]

14. because the Dems play softball while the GOP plays hardball

which means the Dems always lose.

[JoePhilly]

15. Becuase they will take the tinest voctory and cheer it like a super bowl win ... while ...

we take any victory, ignore what gains we made, and endlessly complain about what we didn't get.

Part of this, I think is that the GOP is a rather homogeneous group (I bet half of them hate that term, but I digress). Mainly white, male driven, older. So their internal disagreements are relatively small.

The Democratic party is more diverse, more ethnic groups, more influential women, wider economic spectrum, wider educational backgrounds, so on.

As a result, at any point in time, some part of the Democratic party is pissed off. We struggle to prioritize because we are more diverse. Which means we don't have a narrow set of messages. We have too many constituencies for that.

So one of the key ways the GOP "wins", is that they can quickly join together. We are unable / unwilling to do that.

The barbarians win with mindless, overwhelming force. We however, scramble about in smaller groups focused on our narrow agendas because every thing each group wants must be PRIORITY one. And when everything is PRIORITY ONE ... then nothing is.

[Lex]

16. "being smart and being rich are mutually exclusive"

So there are never any smart people who are rich?

[Cyrano]

20. What in the world does this piece of trivia that you picked out of

my OP have to do with anything that has meaning, importance, or in any way relates to what is being discussed here???

[Lex]

45. You wrote it, but it has no meaning, importance or isn't relevant to the discussion.

Okay.

[Donnachaidh]

21. Did you forget the long-range ALEC planning?

Corporate and republican groups have been working for approximately 3 DECADES to pull off everything that is coming to fruition NOW.

MSM has been hijacked, primarily because of the de-regulation and gutting of monopoly laws. This Coup has been a long time coming.

What we need now is courageous Democrats to step up and start screaming about ALEC, and outing this vicious group at every possible instance. But aside from Dennis or Bernie -- there is no one who will do so. And even some in the Democratic party look to denigrate Dennis every chance they get.

:shrug:

[FrenchieCat]

22. We may be smarter than a 5th grader......

On the one hand, we have a President who is being rational
in irrational times, and Democratic activists who are even more
timid at fighting anyone other than our own leader who ironically
is criticized for his timidity....

You can't make this shit up.

[Initech]

28. I like what Tommy Lee Jones said in Men In Black:

"A person is smart, people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

He is right.

[GeorgeGist]

23. Money is the bottom line.

[Cyrano]

25. Power is the bottom line. Money just buys it.

[ladjf]

26. Our political system currently gives advantages to the more

unscrupulous. nt

[Initech]

27. Like Joseph Stalin said -

"Those who cast the vote decide nothing, thode who count the vote decide everything."

See as was evidenced with this bullshit happening in Wisconsin, we are the vote casters. They, the big wealthy business interests like the horrid Koch brothers, are the vote counters. They are the ones who decide who wins elections. Until we turn the tables on them and start holding them accountable, we're fucked.

[blkmusclmachine]

29. Democrats were co-opted by the Third Way/DLC and "New" DEM's:

Which are all rightwing in economics and slightly less conservative on social issues. "Opposition" is illusory. Follow the money. One Party.

[bvar22]

35. Because:

We Reformed The Democratic Party
the Old Fashioned Way!

We BOUGHT it!
Hahahahahahaha!



The DLC New Team

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[woo me with science]

42. This is the correct answer.

This administration is moving steadily toward the corporate goals they support. They just happen to share many of those goals with Republicans.

[Fumesucker]

30. Mostly because a significant chunk of the players on our side agree with the other side..

On many issues..

And even those players on our side who don't largely agree with the other side despise those who would be their strongest natural supporters and hasten to always show them they worthless while simultaneously trying to court those who are clueless enough to be "undecided" in such a screwed up situation as exists in this nation at this time.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[0rganism]

34. "The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it." - Muad'dib

Republicans and Democrats both have this power, but now Republicans are choosing to exercise it.

[OHdem10]

36. Republicans are winning because they believe in WINNING.

Confrontation is their tool.

Democrats do not fight.

Just yesterday, and unidentified Senator, went flying
to the Media with baited breath: Obama should not
come out with a big plan and get in a fight with Republicans
(More complete coverage of this was on Rachel Maddow Show).

I will bet the other Democratic Senators were hiding
under their desks. Sarcastic.

They would rather lose than fight.

[Faux pas]

37. Not all geniuses have 5 ton balls of steel or even a sense of morality.

That's too bad.

[Davis_X_Machina]

38. Because 'no' is easier to say than 'yes'.

Because doing stuff is harder than stopping stuff.

Because the people who are most likely to vote -- 60+ -- are least likely to want to see any change in the status quo. (Outright bribes like Medicare part D excepted.)

Because playing to the worst in people is easier than playing to the best in people.
Because when aggregated, people are basically bastards.

[Faux pas]

39. Not all geniuses have 5 ton balls of steel or

even a sense of morality. That's too bad.

[Cairycat]

40. Because they appeal to peoples' basest instincts

Like selfishness and fear of the "other". It's certainly true that the Rethugs grabbed control of the media and Dems have been co-opted by DLC, Third Way types - but I think the root of it is that Republicans appeal to all that is not good in the human spirit.

When my son was not too old, 8 maybe, he asked, as I finished up a fine, impassioned rant about how the Democrats were superior, he asked, "Mom, why would anybody be a Republican?" My answer was that they are all greedy, bigots, or both. Oversimplified by true by and large.

[jeff47]

41. We're smart on policy. We're dumb on politics.

Well, "we're" not. Our politicians are.

[lpbk2713]

43. They have the MSM on their side.

The MSM knows that if there is no controversy that they don't sell newsrags or air time.
Therefore the MSM keeps the fire kindled whenever it looks like it might be dying down.
It's really that simple. This is why we had to endure an asshole like Sarah Failin for so long.

[Gemini Cat]

44. We don't fight fire with fire.

We're too damned nice and nice rarely wins. Sometimes we are so worried about 'sinking to their level' we don't notice that they have already buried us.
Politics is a dirty business. If they are so concerned about getting dirty, maybe they should get out.

[robdogbucky]

46. Money, Media and Many, Many Sheep n/t

[Kablooie]

48. Probably because we aren't so smart either.