Fact Check: Gingrich’s Obama Food Stamp Claim Was False

[woo me with science]

25. I don't think this is politically helpful, and this is why:

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2012, 10:29 AM - Edit history (1)

You're not going to gain points from struggling Americans by trying to argue that things aren't as bad for them as someone else says they are, even if that "someone" is Gingrich.

That is a tone deaf political argument in this economy. People have lost their life savings and their middle class standard of living, and they are struggling to maintain food and shelter for their children. They look around them and see a broken, corrupt system; disappearing jobs; and an elite at the top who are taking everything. They are frankly sick of hearing their distress and the scope of the problem denied or minimized in any way by politicians. You will turn them off with this argument, even if it is technically true. They are still suffering and angry about what is happening to their country and their lives, and they will not be encouraged to trust you to fix these problems if the argument they hear from you is that the other guy is lying when he says how bad things are.

What people want to hear is an acknowledgement of the depth of the distress, paired with concrete, bold, and decisive actions showing that you, more than the other guy, are deadly serious about FIXING what is wrong in a fundamental, systemic way, and punishing the thieves who did this to all of us.