Republican Campaign: all fear all the time
In
advertising they say, “If you don’t have anything to say about a
product, sing about it.” In this election, Republicans are singing a
song of fear.
The midterms are
approaching, and Republicans have nothing to offer. Well, that’s not
exactly true, they are offering tax cuts to billionaires and giant
corporations, and to the rest of us they offer cuts in the things
government does to make our lives better. But they can’t say that. So
instead they distract, divert, misinform and mostly, mostly try to scare
people. Oh, one more thing: they try to keep “those people” from
voting.
Republicans are
throwing fear around. And distraction. And diversion. And
misinformation. And dirty tricks. Meanwhile, Democrats are typically
throwing all kinds of facts around, often using complicated charts, and
appealing to reason.
In other words, the usual.
Fear
Politico: GOP 2016ers on Ebola: Panic
The Plum Line: Tom Cotton: Terrorists collaborating with Mexican drug cartels to infiltrate Arkansas.
Drudge Report, Tuesday main headline: EBOLA EUROPE OUTBREAK ‘UNAVOIDABLE’
Other Tuesday headlines at Drudge include:
- Experts worry Ebola may spread more easily than assumed…
- American troops in Liberia will come in direct contact with infected…
- HOT HOUSE: NEIGHBORS OF PATIENT CLAIM DISCRIMINATION…
- Vomiting Passenger on Flight from La Guardia to O’Hare Sparks Fear…
- Scare delays flights in Orlando…
- ‘Virus killing robot’ sterilizes hospitals…
- Researcher who discovered bug fears ‘unimaginable tragedy’…
- Norway to get last dose of Ebola cure…
- Reporter ‘Shocked And Horrified At Lack Of Screening’ At Atlanta Airport…
- ‘UMMM': Dem Sen Struggles To Answer Question About Obama’s Response…
- CDC: Doctors, nurses fleeing hospitals…
No Wonder People Are Tuned Out
Tuesday’s Progressive Breakfast points us to a story that refers to a Pew Poll informing us
that only “15% were closely following news about next month’s
congressional elections.” But it’s worse than even that: “25% of adults
65 and older were closely following the midterm elections, compared with
5% of adults ages 18-29.” (You should sign up to get Progressive
Breakfast first thing every morning.)
Plenty are tuning out. So, conservatives are trying to scare their people into showing up at the polls.
Plenty are tuning out. So, conservatives are trying to scare their people into showing up at the polls.
But wait, there’s more. A recent study showed that people who are afraid become more conservative. The study, titled “Fear as a Disposition and an Emotional State: A Genetic and Environmental Approach to Out-Group Political Preferences” was published in the American Journal of Political Science
by Brown University professor of political science Rose McDermott,
along with Peter K. Hatemi of Penn State University, Lindon J. Eaves,
Kenneth S. Kendler, and Michael C. Neale of Virginia Commonwealth
University.
According to a Brown University press release describing the study:
“Fear can play a role in influencing political attitudes on hot-button issues like immigration … individuals who are genetically predisposed to fear tend to have more negative out-group opinions, which play out politically as support for policies like anti-immigration and segregation.”
Another study reported similar findings. “Scientists Are Beginning to Figure Out Why Conservatives Are…Conservative,” at Mother Jones, describes:
“… a paper by John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska and his colleagues, arguing that political conservatives have a “negativity bias,” meaning that they are physiologically more attuned to negative (threatening, disgusting) stimuli in their environments.”
So if Republicans are singing a song of fear, at least we’re starting to understand why.
No comments:
Post a Comment