> Brian wrote: > Man...the democrats must REALLY be idiots cuz they just keep getting > trounced by these dumb republicans. So the republicans are dumb, the > democrats are even dumber.....what's a smart person to do? >
That's an often heard but specious argument because it assumes that the voters are educated about the problems, the policy choices, and are choosing the best solutions. Or it assumes that all of the votes are idiots and all it takes is a smart person to manipulate them. Of course the truth is nowhere near there. Why people vote and who they vote for is a complicated phenomena: 1.) You've got your emotionally invested voters. They've aligned their self worth with a party and consider that party part of their identity so ding to the party is a ding to them personally. These are your rabid Limbaugh/Franken listeners. I'd put their numbers at about 50% or voters. 2.) Next, you've got your single issue voters. Whether it's abortion, gun control, labor, religion, etc. they vote on one issue. I'd say they're about 30% of voters. 3.) You've your basic suburban swing voters: the "soccer moms" or "NASCAR dads". They're about 18%. 4.) Finally you've got your policy/political package voters. These voters consider their personal situations, the policy landscape, and the political landscape making a decision for each election on how the completed gov't would look and act. These people will often vote different parties and have no allegiance to any party. They're the final 2% To win elections as a major party you usually need to get the swing 18% which is why you need millions and why candidates NEVER set metrics for policy. Which is why the policy ALWAYS fails. The calculus for the last presidential election split right down the middle so each party knew it needed a secret weapon to win. Repubs appealed to single issue voters and Dems to youth. The problem wasn't so much one of smarts but one of what secret weapons were available in key swing states. Which is another way of saying the party with the largest opportunity to pander usually wins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:167578 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
