I was alerted to this tweet by liberal accounts attacking it:
And I remembered seeing this one: (different account):
Then I thought about: sports. Very quickly: what causes a team’s attendance and interest to grow? Which teams are the most popular teams? (Dallas Cowboys excepted)
Yep..people love winners and success. No one buys a jersey of a minor league reserve player.
People gravitate toward success (or apparent success), wealth, power, prestige. Yes ..among men the losers are lonely.
and..
What does this have to do with politics?
I honestly believe that politicians really get support by marketing..getting you to WANT to join their team, so to speak. I feel it is emotional.
Republicans: support the wealthy; support macho men and attractive women (as the ideal); support achievement..join them and BE A WINNER…and if you haven’t “won” as yet, well, the American Dream is that you someday will. That’s what immigrants come here for!
Democrats: voting rights for felons. Fight to raise the minimum wage! (psst: people don’t want to make the minimum wage). Fight for the rights of those lampooned or rejected by society (e. g. transgender rights). Fight against “toxic masculinity” (gee, which sports personalities are most revered?) Fight for benefits for the poor (uh, who wants to be poor?)
Unless we run a candidate with a magnetic personality (Bill Clinton, Barack Obama), no one wants to join us..not for emotional reasons.
Oh sure..there is reality:
That’s right: the vast majority of us will never be elite, at anything, no matter how hard we try. Great at sports and willing to sacrifice? You MIGHT make it as a D-3 athlete ..a tiny percentage might make it to D-1, an even smaller might make it to a developmental or minor league..but that is about it.
Smarter than average and willing to sacrifice: maybe get that PE, CPA, become a non-R1 professor, maybe pass the bar or the medical examination but being elite is not in your future.
You are far more likely to need charity or public aid, or to work for minimum wage (for a while) than you are to become a multi-millionaire or to even pull down 250K a year. Statistics are clear on that, and Democratic POLICIES (yes, even those of Elizabeth Warren) are far more practical than “American Dream, bootstraps” policies.
But who in the world wants to hear that?
National elections will always be an uphill battle for us Democrats and somehow, our candidates need to create the aura of “success”. Merely being successful (e. g. Elizabeth Warren is wildly successful) isn’t enough.
Being able to convince others that they can be “winners” by aligning with you might…in some circumstances.
Clearly, we do not “get” the people of the United States.
Life of an old goat 