How and Why do RW Extremists win?

[ck4829]

It looks as though victories in recent years have been handed to the Reactionary Right.

Whenever Extremist RW'ers win, it is a cause for concern.

We need to look at their tactics and beat them by making their plans unusable by them.

Here are the 'cards' that the RW pulls out and uses to win, and let's try to find out what we can do to stop it.

Moral Values - The Moral Values Card. Tried and true. If we're going to put a stop to the 'christian' Right wing of the Far Right, burning this card is the way to victory. You can tell they use this card when they talk about banning Abortion or turning back GLBT rights. To win, we have to force the RW'er to debate on REAL Issues.
Examples - "I'll ban abortion", "God this", "Jesus that", getting an endorsement from a 'christian' Right leader, etc.

Moral Panic - "Something evil is afoot", this is the Moral Panic Card. Satanism in the late 80's, Bill Clinton in the 90's, etc. The Red Scare could also count as this. This usually comes in the form of Propaganda. So to beat this, we have to catapult the propaganda back at them.
Examples - The Red Scare, "Bill Clinton (Insert phrase about how our moral values are under attack here)", "Liberals are removing God from the Public Schools", etc.

Infiltration - Do you know a RW'er who is afraid of Immigrants "carrying diseases" into the US? How about a RW'er who believes that Al Qaeda has taken over the media? If so, then you are dealing with someone who has been dealt the Infiltration Card. These people usually aren't moderate, they are rabid RW'ers, some going to the point of racism and/or religious bigotry. I honestly don't think there is much we can do for this, except debunk what they say. Once they think that all this "Infiltration" is happening, it usually is a lost cause to try and show the truth to a person who has bought it.
Examples - "Mexicans (Insert blame here)", "Those Muslims and the Liberals are allies", etc.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Fear, hatred, and stupidity

basically sum up what you have quite eloquently stated.

[liberal N proud]

3. Fear - Hate that was bread by the neo-cons who knew just how stupid

the ameiriKan public was.

[napi21]

11. Yes, BUT I think it's more how they spread their message

than what the message is. They realized they have a perfect method of disseminating information and handing out weekly task lists! They use their Churches! That gives them WEEKLY MEETUPS! By being a Church congregation, they already have a condenses of opinion, which of course is strengthened by the minister. Each Church hands out lists of talking points, and duties for the week, like who to call, what to say, arguments to support "our" side! They do this EVERY WEEK!

How good would WE be at getting things done the way WE'D like if we could convince thousands of Dems to attend weekly meetups and have them all happily accept their assignments without dissent?

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Because if you're not with us you're against us.

As long as they can spew little nuggets of victimhood that people connect with, they've got their army and every one else is the enemy.

[blm]

4. Because they cleverly bought control of broadcast media in the 80s and 90s

And THAT is the ONLY reason the GOP has so much unchecked power today.

[Burning Water]

5. And of course,

election fraud. Until this problem is straightened out, we don't really even know if theRW won, do we?

If it is straightened out, and they are still winning, we'll have to look at all those cards to see where we're going wrong. If they're not winning, well, then there's no problem.

[BOSSHOG]

6. Because their base is ignorant

and easily manipulated. That's how they win in a nutshell. Lucky for them there are so many ignorant Americans.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. "Al Qaeda has taken over the media?"

Don't be silly. Everybody knows the Jews own the media.

Whoops. I forgot. The RW loves the Jews. This week.

[bobthedrummer]

8. Because they are fascist criminals and evil pragmatists.

[RufusEarl]

9. Well, don't forget the ole relaible.

God, Guns & Gays. If we were only fighting them with logic, i beleive it would be fairly easy to beat them this coming election cycle. But add E-voting to the mix, and it's going to be pretty damn hard to win even in what's called blue states.

E-voting IMHO is what's going to distory this country, and i don't see the DNC or any of our Dem leaders addressing this problem. I don't understand it, the Dems in charge seem oblivous to this problem?

[LeftHander]

10. We haven't fought them with real weapons yet...

Love, truth and a vision for the future that no one can deny.

[TahitiNut]

12. Amurikans confuse "extreme" with "assertive" and "dedicated."

It's why the Democrats lose. Just look at the tone of the attacks: "flip-flop" and "wishy-washy." The Repukelickers know that the average Amurikan doesn't know shit about the particulars and doesn't give a rat's ass about differences painted over with broad brushes.

At the same time, so-called "Democrats" spend more time firing their political guns toward their left - calling assertive liberals "embarassing" and "extreme" and "out of the mainstream" and every other kind of marginalization imaginable. The Repukelickers NEVER (!!!) attack right-wing extremists! Never! They keep their guns aimed to the left.

The best thing the Democratic Party could do is obliterate any 'moderate' DINO as soon as he or she aimed to their left - or gave aid and comfort to the Repukelickers. Political treason should be punishable by political death.

[Vogon_Glory]

13. They're Organized, They've Got A Message, They Vote

The reason that the reactionaries have been on a winning roll for the last decade and more is because they're well-organized, they've got a message and a very effective (if lying and despicable) propaganda machine, and they vote.

A lot of us had high hopes that Howard Dean's Slackers' Rebellion voter registration drive would boost enough voter numbers to send Team Shrub home in 2005. Did the newly-registered little dears bother to vote? No, they lived up to their original billing. They sat on their little post-adolescent tail bones all the way through Election Day.

The reactionaries did not roll to victory overnight; they'd been working at what happened in 2000 and again in 2002 and again in 2004 for a very long time. If we expect to break Republican Party/"conservative" control of Congress, the White House, and all too many state governments, we are going to have to get organized and motivated and stay organized and motivated for a very long haul.