What I have noticed is that the Democrats seem to think that a detailed explanation of the concept will surely carry the day, while the Republicans have relied on creating vivid imagery. As an example, counseling a patient and their family regarding end of life care, something the Republicans once backed, requires you to review your own philosophical/spiritual and ethical principles. Death panels, however conjure up photographs we have seen from Nazi Germany. How many people can say that they are not truly moved by viewing Michelangelo’s Pieta, to the extent that they forget that the information presented is incorrect [Mary appears to be younger than Jesus]. Fox “News” especially, relies on the visceral, primal reactions of their viewers, like walking into a cathedral with the stations of the cross graphically illustrated in the series of stained glass windows. Literacy becomes unnecessary. It matters less that the artist has taken license with the the concepts portrayed. The Democrats are doomed as long as they try to point out and explain these anomalies. They need to find someone to paint their own broad brush images. The part of the electorate they are fighting over may not have the finely nuanced background necessary to weigh and consider their “rational explanations” based on philosophical principles,etc. They are counting how many words it takes to make a good sound bite. They should be counting how many words it takes to make a vivid picture.

I might add that I am a life long registered Republican. I am tired of the Homer Simpson answers my Congressmen are offering, however, and if they want me to vote Republican in the 2010 and 2012 elections, they are going to have to provide me with explanations of what makes their platform better, without resorting to the histrionics of death panels. I want to compare both parties’ position papers in an apples to apples manner.

Maybe it has something to do with the belief — right or wrong — that republicans have morals and values while democrats would sell their own mothers to have their way. Not saying either is accurate, but The Dems made lots of promises that they should have known they couldn’t keep. Now it time to face the music. No doubt we’ll see the same thing if the republicans gain a majority in one of the houses.

Yes, I would agree that the perception of “mother selling” has been highly promoted on talk media…

I am an old school, pre-religion Republican. Back in the day, all this social conservative stuff had nothing to do with politics. Republicans were fiscal and military conservatives. Religion was a private affair. Separation of church and state – stuff like that. For lack of a better term, I think of them as Peggy Noonan Republicans, for although she represents the Reagan era, when social conservatives crept in, she appeals to what is left of the “old school”. The new recruits resonate more with the social/religious overtones found on Fox, and with the Fox presentation style, so I think of them as the Gretchen Carlson Republicans. SO yes, the Gretchen Republicans view politics as a legitimate venue for socially conservative morals and values as prescribed by their specific religious associations. From sitting in a nest of liberals at work, I can tell you they have their own list of abominations perpetrated by the conservative camp, and are in wonderment that there is any claim to a moral highground by the opposing camp. From my perspective, neither side has a headlock on morality or values. However Zogby has provided us with a quote from an article in which he discussed the fact that people will say that they approve of the description of various parts of the elephant – until you call it an elephant. The implied question is where has the Democratic party gone wrong. This was the issue I was discussing.

The Democratic spokespersons spend most of their time trying to contain the huge amount of toxic waste which emanates from the mouths of America’s popular talking heads. Otherwise good Republican Congressmen must also watch where they step, since they are also fair game. I am not saying that I agree with any particular issue on the lips of any particular Democratic spokesperson. I am just describing what is happening. As long as they are playing into the hands of the ones who control the message, they are doomed. Each has their own interpretation, and will talk their way through all their various bullet points. The Republican message, as painted by the Fox “News” people, is strong, visceral, uncomplicated – and since it lacks all the various iterations of the Democrats, it allows the viewer to assume that the speaker agrees with them! Think Marshall McLuhun. The Fox message, in its conceptual simplicity, is plastic, malleable, more available to be interpreted as in agreement with personal core feelings.

What has really boggled my mind is that I have assumed most of New York, Hollywood, etc. is liberal and why the Democrats have not turned to screenwriters to coach them on how to put together a more dynamic storyboard. Have no doubt that most of our very favorite popular movies have a political agenda, and we sit on the edge of our seats drinking in the visually delivered message on a very gut level. Yet the Democrats are still going around in verbal circles like demented squirrels.

And Kevin, I agree that the Democrats made an egregious tactical error in making specific campaign promises. One should stick to promising to “defend the American way of life”, or some other generality.

Kevin, I am so dense. I have been writing on an abstract level. You are referring to what’s his name from Nebraska. But see, we Republicans have no one to blame but ourselves. Down to the wire, when it was obvious that the Democrats were going to push this through, it could have been a Republican who clinched that deal. But no, we thought we could have it all and shut the game down by hiding the bat and ball. That actually blew up in our faces.

Speaking of parts of the elephant. I read where the Senate version will make it easier for black-lung widows to receive their benefits. When Fox News was scaring the elderly, I wonder if they pointed that out? You know my bias on health. We would be living an upper middle class life right now, if this had been law 10 years ago.

Make no mistake, the Democrats were on top of their game in the early 20th century, appealing to this same group of people, pulling in voters from shop floors, etc. I am old enough to remember the Democrats accusing the Republicans of being the intellectual elite [think William F. Buckley].

I have written about the college sport of spider fights. Cheap fun. Find a big spider and throw it into anothers web. Sit around drink beer and watch the fights. We do that here at the state capital, from our fly on the wall perspective. This session should be interesting. Since there are so few Republicans, the most they can do is throw in procedural roadblocks and bog down the process of law making. Remember, most of our Democrats here are closet Republicans, including the Governor. At work, we enjoy our perch, just as in the old spider fight days.

SO, even though I am but a small person in an insignificant job, I feel I have some experience in this. I am remembering how I was stunned by the crystalline purity of the cinematography in I, Robot. Each background was a beautiful photographic rendering of the powerful linear images from the storyboards. Subtle but riveting, they made the backdrop at Obama’s acceptance speech look amateurish. If the general public can pick up on the visual references on a conscience level, the usefulness of the iconography is weakened. And although I have not seen it, I understand there is a significant philosophical/political undercurrent to the Avatar movie, and yet people from the entire political spectrum are going to see it, irrespective of their stated political positions. So Hollywood!! Where is your spider?? The Democrats are floundering in a sea of words. Now is not the time to parse the issues of the outliers, but to focus on the relevance of the party platform on family, country, etc. Black, white, east Indian, Latin – everyone wants to come home at night to their version of Mayberry, where Aunt Bea isn’t worried that her benefits will be cut off, and Barney doesn’t have to worry about downsizing and having his bullet repossessed. I would like to go to the fridge, get a beer and know that you are about to send in the best spider. In the process, we Americans will benefit from the outcome.