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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat Republican attacks on Nancy Pelosi are really about
What Republican attacks on Nancy Pelosi are really about
By Paul Waldman
August 10 at 12:19 PM
Just as they have for the past 15 years, Republicans are running ads around the country trying to convince voters that Pelosi is reason enough not to vote for any Democrat, so horrifyingly evil is she. But when you ask them what exactly their problem with Pelosi is, they end up saying ridiculous things like this:
When Nancy Pelosi becomes a central part of the discussion in any race, that is something were winning on because were not just talking about her, were talking about her policies, Hunt said. [ ]
But Republicans say that, in the eyes of voters, Pelosis name is shorthand for extreme liberal policies even those she does not personally support.
Can we stop treating this lie seriously once and for all? We all know whats really going on. The Republican attack on Pelosi is about conservative identity politics, full stop. Its partly the same kind of ugly misogyny that has driven conservatives for years, and that comes out whenever the prospect of a woman yielding genuine power rears its head. Women who display ambition are judged harshly, particularly by conservatives; its no accident that Bernie Sanders, whose policy ideas are much more opposed to conservatism than Pelosis, inspires nothing like the venomous loathing on the right that Pelosi and Hillary Clinton do.
...
Unfortunately, many reporters fall into the trap of believing the ludicrous claim that the attacks on Pelosi are at bottom disputes about whether there should be more tax cuts or what kind of health care system we should have, just as they believe that if the GOP is airing a thousand ads attacking Pelosi, then it must be working. Yet, theres no evidence for that either. If you ask for such evidence, the answer that youll get is, Well dont you remember that race that the Democrat lost after Republicans ran all those ads featuring his picture alongside Pelosis?
Yes, we do. But there have also been plenty of races in which identical ads were aired, and the Democrat ended up winning.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/08/10/what-republican-attacks-on-nancy-pelosi-are-really-about/?utm_term=.f3974d1abf1c
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)dont agree.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)Which is why attacking women like Pelosi and Clinton can work.
unblock
(52,257 posts)marylandblue
(12,344 posts)unblock
(52,257 posts)Republicans really haven't evolved much....
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)unblock
(52,257 posts)It was billed as an external threat, and that was the public discourse. But underneath it all was bigotry -- the idea of helping the poor, the minorities -- that was the real objection to communism.
Me.
(35,454 posts)"Can we stop treating this lie seriously once and for all"
Sick of it.
+1
mcar
(42,334 posts)Me.
(35,454 posts)mcar
(42,334 posts)mcar
(42,334 posts)Shame on any Democrat who falls for this.
...Why does the former constitute evidence, but the latter doesnt? When Republicans air ads criticizing Pelosi in a House race and lose, for some reason we dont see stories headlined, Attacks on Pelosi Fall Flat. Those races and there are lots of them are just assumed to have turned on some other issue. But if the Republican happens to win, then the assumption is that the ads were devastatingly effective, and Pelosi was the reason the Democratic candidate lost.
Oh, but arent her approval ratings terrible? Indeed they are, almost entirely because she is universally reviled by Republicans, who watch Fox News and listen to conservative talk radio, where they imbibe a constant stream of attacks against her. But what you may not know is that the most unpopular congressional leader in America is not Pelosi but Mitch McConnell. How many Republican Senate candidates have been quizzed aggressively about whether theyll support McConnell to lead their caucus and whether voters will reject them if they do?
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)mcar
(42,334 posts)saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)are the faces on their direct mail, donation begging propaganda. They need "hate" from the right to fund more "hate" from the right wing nutters.
TheBlackAdder
(28,209 posts).
It could be the most honorable person on the planet, when the time comes, the GOP would demonize them.
.
elleng
(130,978 posts)The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)The others are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Maxine Waters. Note how many of these are white men. I think what is ultimately behind the RW hate is that these four are strong voices. They are "uppity" and don't "know their place."
mcar
(42,334 posts)We're supposed to replace our strong woman leader with some random white man.