Why aren’t we reaching beyond our damnable 50% barrier? Because we’ve reached the limit of the people who think like we do, who are swayed by what sways us.
We have to go for the emotional appeal now. It seems pandering and ridiculous for Republicans to go through their same old flag waving routine, again.
Have we missed the fact that for so many, it’s worked? Again?
The really disaffected Republican voters. Not the ones who whisper to Obama. But the ones on a tier below that. I think of them as the Republican Oppressed.
In many Republican circles, one is the Alpha Dog… or one is nothing. From a community to a workplace to the family, this is simply how they arrange themselves. That leaves a lot of people doing all the grunt work, with little appreciation.
Deep in their hearts, they do think racism is wrong, that women are smart, that their physical problem or sexual orientation shouldn’t make them feel less than human. Yet they are stuck in a deep red sea, unable to openly retaliate, dependent on people they secretly resent for treating them this way.
They aren’t going to talk on the phone. They aren’t going to speak in the street. One would have to reach them with a line in a speech.
Reach these people, the Republican Oppressed, by telling them:
You are not nothing. You matter.
They could nurture in their hearts a way of striking back. A way no one need know about. Alone in the ballot box, it could be their secret.
You are not nothing. You matter.
They would feel an extraordinary psychological pull towards a party who would actually understand them in this new way.
You are not nothing. You matter.
I think they would vote for someone, anyone, who would tell them that.
Because no one ever has.