Reply #5: There is something about the American Psyche

[demwing]

that loves a fighter. We see ourselves as scrappy and not about to be pushed around. We laugh when Will Ferrell mocks a George Bush debate moment, fumbling for an answer, eventually being left with nothing to say except for "Don't Mess With Texas!" but many Americans actually do feel just that way about our country - "Don't mess with Texas" becomes "Don't mess with America (because we'll kick your ass and take your oil)." We are steeped in Old West mentality. Our heroes have ever been soldiers and cowboys - men with more balls than brains, who settle their differences with a shotgun and a shot glass.

Right or wrong, Americans love a fighter. Fighters need a cause for which to fight, and a fighter needs to be willing to risk it all for a chance to win. Fighters don't always have to be winners (though it helps), they just have to be willing to fight for what they believe in, even in the face of overwhelming odds. No one even cares what you believe it, you just need the courage of your convictions

Republicans have successfully tapped into this imagery. Democrats have not.

Democrats are more civilized, and are willing to talk it out and compromise for the long term good. THIS is why, in my opinion, Democrats have been struck with the image of being weak, even though we know the opposite to be true. Democrats are just as patriotic - maybe more so, than Republicans. We just don't have the courage of our convictions.

For example - do you think anyone would have cared if Bill Clinton had sex with Monica Lewinsky if he had just stood up and said "This is NONE of your damned business, this is between me and my wife, and you all can go to hell!" ? I don't.

What hurt Clinton was his attempt to hide behind words. Fighters don't hide behind words.

What is hurting Obama right now is not his Democratic or Progressive policies. It is his seeming unwillingness to fight back in a manner in which the people, right or wrong, can understand.

Those who say that Obama is just being pragmatic in his bi-partisanship don't understand the real pragmatism that is being missed - we know the rules of the game, we know how the judges will score, and yet we continue to pretend that none of it matters. The vast majority don't WANT bi-partisanship- WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE PARTIES.

American's want someone who (right or wrong) will stand up for what they believe, someone who won't get pushed around, someone who won't get fooled again. Someone who is ready to risk it all for the chance of winning.

Right or wrong.