The American people are only as stupid as we’re letting them be

[mtnsnake]

Jimmy Carter & Patrick Fitzgerald have made me realize it’s time to take a new approach, and if you can bear with me, I’ll explain how I think we should go about it later in this post.

Carter & Fitzgerald have done more to save this country in the shortest period of time than what every politician in Washington has done in the last 5 years, and that includes our own Democrats.

Fitzgerald was magnificent last week. Powerful, truthful, and out for justice for all.

In the last 24 hours, Carter has been an outspoken ray of goodness amidst a storm of ugliness that's been brewing over this country for 5 years. He's gotten more airtime in the last day than any other Democrat I can think of in recent times.

These two guys have a lot in common. Both of them are simply out for the common good of us all. They have few self-serving agendas. Both of them are about as UNDIVISIVE as it gets. Truthfulness, honor, dignity, & compassion are characteristics these two men share.

There's something else, though, something just as important that they've both displayed....something that I think is so important that we can't win without it. When they speak, they are both crystal clear, understandable, eloquent, & their message is a simple one. They do something that our Democratic leaders haven't yet learned how to do. They explain how things work and they keep it simple. For example, Carter doesn’t just tell you that certain people are ruining the environment; he explains HOW. That is so important. When you understand how something works, it makes you feel like you can relate, and you want to join in.

One of my main pet peeves since I've joined this forum is that our Democratic spokespeople simply don't get the message across in terms that will sink into the minds of ordinary people. They don't explain things properly like Carter & Fitzgerald do, and they don't aim their message at EVERYONE. They also don't provide real-life examples like Carter & Fitzgerald do to get their message across. They're either too cerebral when they speak, or they only criticize the other side without really touching on the values that all good Americans, both Democrats & Republicans, share. Like Carter, and Fitzgerald, they should speak to our country as one entity, not as a divided group of voters.

Yes, our Democratic leaders need to take a page out of Carter's & Fitzgerald's book. If they start getting in front of the camera and talking to all Americans in simple, precise, sentences about the things we all want out of life, the American people will listen and they'll figure it out on their own.

We need to start talking to the American people like Carter & Fitzgerald do...as Americans, not just as Democrats or Republicans, not just as religious zealots or atheists, not just as right wingers or left wingers, not just as pro-war or anti-war, not just as pro-abortion or pro-life. If we can start doing this before the Republicans do, we'll have a tremendous chance of prevailing. If we can approach Americans by touching upon the values that we all have in common, we will win over the peoples‘ hearts.

Yes, I'm starting to think that the American people are only as stupid as we're letting them be.

[noahmijo]

1. Check out my previous post for response

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5246089&mesg_id=5246289
Democratic Underground - yea that I agree with Kerry suffered from too much "smartspeak"

[The Doctor.]

2. Yes, that is one of the keys to influence...

Clear, concise communication.

I too have noticed there is little of that coming from Democrats.
The Republicans, on the other hand, have been very clear and concise and found an audience in 'limited attention span' America.

Hell, if you lie concisely enough, anything sounds like a good idea.

[Doctor_J]

3. Unfortunately, we only get 1/1000th of the air time that GOP gets

When you have Tweety, FauxNews, Scarborough, Paula, and the 1000 or so radio wingers bombarding the populace with lies EVERY DAY, an hour of truth and honesty from Jimmy Carter gets lost pretty fast. We will never win the herats and minds of the decent-but-ignorant people in the US until someone puts an end to the media monopoly enjoyed by the lie-and-hate mongers.

[mtowngman]

4. All good in theory,but...

it's difficult to compete with the other side's message when the corporate media is clearly on their side. I absolutely agree that voters need to be reached at a level they understand, but it's frustrating when a significant number of Joe and Jane Sixpacks that I know don't know the meaning of the word genocide, but can tell you how many worms Tiffany ate on "Fear Factor" the other night because that's what they're told is important.