Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

JHB

(37,387 posts)
3. Started long before the teabaggers...
Wed Jan 23, 2019, 08:22 AM
Jan 2019

Conservatives, including every "NeverTrumper" who made a career of Republican messaging or conservative media, have spent some 40 years building that base, the one that's so hypervigilant for "betrayal" and primed to punish any backsliders.


They scare-mongered and scandal-mongered and played to all the bigotries and pet peeves, and called it "playing hardball". They wanted to get conservative Republicans elected, and there was no part of that job that involved "dialing it back." They painted Democrats as supervillains: utterly-corrupt, moral degenerates out to destroy the nation and all that's good and holy to get their voters all hot-blooded and into the voting booth.

But the drawback is: When you paint the story that way, it's supposed to end with you bringing the bad guys to justice. They rot in jail, or better yet get hanged or fried. Blow up the Death Star. Drop the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The Enemy surrenders unconditionally and their symbols get blown up.

Your audience wants this:

But they never get it.


When you tell that story for decades, continually amping it up despite its blatant falsehood, you create an expectation that you can never really deliver on. You can justify decades of investigations and re-investigations and re-re-re-re-re-re-re-investigations, but that's not going to hold up in court. So you put yourself into the position of portraying the other side as unbearably evil and an active threat, and then don't do anything about it. The base still has their hot buttons pushed, still believes every word of it, they just start thinking you're ineffectual at best, or more likely are part of the problem.

Conservatives have purposely whipped up this extremist frenzy to give them the margin of victory. They've been punishing any Republican who didn't fall in line since the 70s when they started ousting Rockefeller Republicans.

Just because the foam is whipped up to new levels of frothiness doesn't mean we should lose sight of the fact that they've been whipping it up for so long that what counts as "whipped up" keeps getting redefined.

The entire Republican party is headed over a cliff. imo saidsimplesimon Jan 2019 #1
I hope that you are right. It has been a disaster dating from Nixon's criminal enterprise. olegramps Jan 2019 #10
How can I help push Dave in VA Jan 2019 #15
Dave, saidsimplesimon Jan 2019 #33
Let's hope so. PatrickforO Jan 2019 #20
How long? DownriverDem Jan 2019 #23
I've been saying that ever since they nominated AWOL Bush Yeehah Jan 2019 #27
Hannity, Fox, Limbaugh control the Republican Party and Trump sharedvalues Jan 2019 #2
Hannity's head is so far up Trump's ass that he can feel the next Big Mac being digested! Initech Jan 2019 #29
Started long before the teabaggers... JHB Jan 2019 #3
Incredibly well said. That's it in a nutshell. n/t Whiskeytide Jan 2019 #4
underpants Jan 2019 #6
it's starting to really hamstring Republicans. cab67 Jan 2019 #9
Traditional political science theory and conventional wisdom... Whiskeytide Jan 2019 #13
Well, because tRump faced no negative consequence for his rabid, extreme rightism. Texin Jan 2019 #17
I certainly forgot to include... Whiskeytide Jan 2019 #22
I don't disagree. cab67 Jan 2019 #26
that is why they have resorted to cheating scarytomcat Jan 2019 #14
Excellent commentary. olegramps Jan 2019 #11
+1 and +1 to the OP. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Jan 2019 #12
+1 2naSalit Jan 2019 #16
Yes. Since the 1970s. They've been building this since the Powell Memo came out. calimary Jan 2019 #18
needs to be read and understood by all Hermit-The-Prog Jan 2019 #21
Indeed, Powell provided the blueprint, Buchanan was the architect. ooky Jan 2019 #25
Great post. What concerns me is that there are fewer and fewer ... Whiskeytide Jan 2019 #28
well done! Hermit-The-Prog Jan 2019 #19
splendid analysis. Rabrrrrrr Jan 2019 #24
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Jan 2019 #30
The really sad added point to what you posted here calimary Jan 2019 #32
The politics of elimination The Wizard Jan 2019 #5
This is why we MUST hold the line on Trump's shutdown Moostache Jan 2019 #7
For the "perception is reality" crowd the MAGA hat is a nightmare underpants Jan 2019 #8
Republicans show up to vote...and they vote Republican. Honeycombe8 Jan 2019 #31
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»I think, I have identifie...»Reply #3