Why don't progressives try to win over voters by appealing to people's emotions?

[Hardkill]

What if progressives including Sanders, Warren, AOC, Jayapal, and what have you tried to win over their voters by presenting their policies and platform as moderate, in accordance with American traditions, and emotionally compelling?

For example, what if they talk about how universal healthcare or single-payer is a "God-given right" and that according to Proverbs God said that 11:24 "One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty"?

Or let's say that they talk about how having a healthcare system in our country that would provide decent healthcare to every single citizen actually leads to true Freedom, which is one of the main core values that virtually every American cherishes and takes pride in. Such a healthcare system would grant every American freedom from "job-lock," freedom from the monopoly of the corrupt healthcare cartel in the US, freedom from corporate/private tyranny, freedom to care for one's family and loved ones, freedom to become a productive hard working member of our society, freedom to follow one's dreams and passions, freedom to participate in community and religious services, etc. How about that?

Why don't they try much harder to emphasize how money in politics from all of the megadonors in America, especially those from right, are just as much of a threat to our country's democracy and civil rights as the MAGA Republicans are? Haven't they even thought about making really bold fearmongering statements about corporation and rich people such as "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I run a corporation, and I'm here to help." or "A Billionaire is about as dangerous as a power hungry dictator or a raging psychopath" or "Monsters really do exist. These abominations run many Fortune 500 companies and they may look totally human and they may present themselves as brilliant, persuasive, well-respected, civil, high class individuals, but the chilling reality is that they are actually green vampires who survive entirely on the money and souls of their victims"?

Now, I don't really believe that about CEOs, but why not make statements like that as populist talking points used to emotionally connect with most everyday voters who are severely uninformed, not very bright, and already believe in all kinds of myths and lores that have no intellectual basis to them?

Edited September 20, 2023 by Hardkill

[Leo Gura]

Anand Giardardas has advocated for this strategy. There's wisdom to it. But it could also come off too phony if you aren't careful.

The biggest problem is that it would be hard to coordinate this as a Progressives message. Progressives are like herding cats.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

38 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Anand Giardardas has advocated for this strategy. There's wisdom to it. But it could also come off too phony if you aren't careful.

Oh yeah! I actually watched him in an interview with Pod Save America. As a matter of fact, I got the idea of messaging universal healthcare to Americans as something like "Freedomcare" from him when he talked about that in that interview. 

Well, we all know that practically all politicians are phonies anyways. Besides, if we had an incredibly charismatic Obama-like liberal/progressive candidate run on that kind of messaging strategy, then I think that progressives would have a really great chance of  persuading most people to strongly favor their progressive policies.

48 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The biggest problem is that it would be hard to coordinate this as a Progressives message. Progressives are like herding cats.

Yes, many of them do have that herd mentality, but they can't be too stupid to not realize that their messaging strategies are not working as well as the those of the moderate/establishment Democrats and the Republicans. As James Carville has said before "We’ve got to do whatever it takes to get more political power and that means we’ve got to win some elections. Just win some goddamn elections. This is not a time to complain. It’s a time to act. So let’s talk about real things, in real language, to real people. And if we do that, we can still save the country."

[Leo Gura]

@Hardkill What herding cats means is that they don't herd. Rather than coordinating, Progressives prefer to whine, blame each other, and do their own thing.

In order for your idea to have any impact you'd have to get hundreds of Progressives to agree to use the same talking points. So that's the obstacle there.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

@Hardkill What herding cats means is that they don't herd. Rather than coordinating, Progressives prefer to whine, blame each other, and do their own thing.

In order for your idea to have any impact you'd have to get hundreds of Progressives to agree to use the same talking points. So that's the obstacle there.

Ohh.....I thought you meant that they have that kind of obstinate stage Green mob mentality attitude.

Well, that's sounds a lot like what been happening lately with the Republican party. There's been a growing amount of intra party fighting within their party, especially ever since Trump left office. 

In any case, even if progressives don't herd as much as most other people, they has to be a way that all of the progressives, liberals, and moderates, and a small amount of conservatives in this country can all effectively unite as one. The greatest figures in US history who were undoubtedly progressives for their time, including Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, MLK, Obama, Sanders etc. were able to form overwhelmingly powerful, cohesive coalitions that lead them all to the historic victories they achieved. Not only that, but they all were able to make major political realignments that would dominant for decades.

Why do you think the Republican party became the dominant political party from the mid 1800s all the way to the end of the 1920s? It was because of how appealing the Republican party was as the liberal/left-wing activist party with Abraham Lincoln and the abolition movement. Why was progressivism so popular amongst the American people during the early 1900s? It was because of the populist movement, William Jennings Bryan, Teddy Roosevelt, Eugene Debs, and others like them around the turn of the 20th century. Why do you think that modern liberalism was the dominant political order during the mid 1900s decades? It was because of FDR and the tremendous pressure by the labor movement during the New deal era. Therefore, I would think that the progressives of our time should be able to do the same.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Hardkill

[hyruga]

You should not use religious verses as it may ignite another round of terrorism or war. Also, there are systems in place probably to stop you from using too many verses.

I am not from America so pls take my comments with a pinch of salt.

[itsadistraction]

@Hardkill what you are saying is a little contradictory. You want progressives to use outdated methods like appealing to religion. But Progressives do win, about half the time. You are assuming the most progressives aren't also corrupted by lobbying. (Maybe Sanders and AOC aren't?). 

Also, as Leo has pointed out before, the US Military, however corrupt, keeps more corrupt powers around the world at bay. I assume this partly comes at the cost to benefits for US citizens like healthcare and other social services?.

Furthermore, as Leo has mentioned, change in all countries will occur but not always at the speed progressives want.

@Hardkill  maybe you should think about running for office if you think your ideas would work. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by itsadistraction