The Voices of the Voters
We are all trying to understand why more than half of our fellow countrymen voted for another four years for President Obama. The explanations I hear refer to general trends: you can't beat Santa Claus, there were get-out-the-vote glitches, etc.. But the votes were cast one at a time. We don't have 62 million Sandra Flukes and Obamaphone ladies ... do we?
Here is what I've heard from individuals. To me it ranges from head-poundingly stupid to misinformed. None of it could have been fixed by better Republican messaging, I fear.
From a community college student: I was afraid Romney would cut off student loans.
From a 60-year-old woman (with two grown children) who recently lost her savings in a short, disastrous second marriage and now collects disability for physical and emotional problems: I was afraid Romney would cut my disability and Medicaid.
From a radio show caller, who described himself as part of a couple earning $400,000/year: I am proof not all Obama voters wanted free stuff. Obama has been a good president. Obamacare is a good, necessary, and fiscally prudent law. We absolutely needed to stop those freeloaders without insurance from draining the healthcare system.
From a middle-aged housewife: They are all liars, I don't like any of them. My very smart friend thinks Obama is great.
From a young professional woman: Romney and Ryan want to force their religious beliefs regarding abortion on everyone.
From a bright 30-year-old: I have been fortunate in my life, and I think we should share with the less fortunate.
What have you heard? Did any of it make sense?
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Comments:
Nov '10
Re: The Voices of the Voters
I think this could be a very useful exercise, if enough of us participated. And I don't really think that none of it could have been fixed by better messaging. I really think we need to know where our message is failing in order to attract more voters.
So I will begin:
From a highly educated (MBA and Master's of Library Science) woman in her late 40s, divorced from a guy with employment and substance abuse issues, raising two small children: I don't believe that Mitt Romney cares one little bit about people like me.
Edited on November 14, 2012 at 7:41pmNov '10
Re: The Voices of the Voters
From the mid-20s, Ivy League educated engineer daughter of a Republican friend:
"Romney is just sleazy."
Edited on November 14, 2012 at 7:41pmNov '12
Re: The Voices of the Voters
What I heard generally revolved around crippling and indiscriminate attacks on Medicaid or attacks on women's wombs. The latter can aptly be described as hysterical.
Sep '12
Re: The Voices of the Voters
The environment. The rich should pay their fair share. Conservatives are too extreme (but no explanation in what way.) Conservatives want to do away with government.
Jan '12
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Young students: "Mitch/ Romney/ McCain" will lower or get rid of student loans.
Female acquaintances: Romney is sleazy. Romney would get rid of health care, women's rights, etc.
Female Catholic (blue/purple state) relatives: Romney doesn't care about the poor. Romney would end funding for Planned Parenthood. Obama has helped healthcare, esp. for women, immensely - more birth control leads to lower abortion rates.
Male Engineer, relative from Ohio: I'm a numbers guy - I've done the math; it only makes sense to keep going forward.
Edited on November 14, 2012 at 9:53pmSep '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Most of these seem to revolve around distaste for or fear of Romney.It was Obama´s entire strategy to trash Romney and he could do it because the media were with him.There is nothing Republicans can do to counter the effects of the liberal media on people who see/hear nothing else.
Aug '10
Re: The Voices of the Voters
There are a lot of geniuses in this country, that's for sure.
Mar '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
I still find it amazing that nominally intelligent people could believe the ludicrous things they claim to believe about Romney.
We all know that the tampon-banning rumor was a joke, and laugh at those who were taken in by it. Here's the problem: to those people, it wasn't an obviously silly thing, it was all too plausible and fit into their worldview.
How can you oppose people who are so aggressively ignorant?
Sep '12
Re: The Voices of the Voters
I think we can improve our message though. For example, we can be the party of sensible environmentalism. We already are, but a lot of people don't understand that. We need to be the party of legal immigration, a guest worker program, etc. We have not made the point enough that we are the party of the middle class, not the rich, who vote in greater numbers for the left. And I have heard I don't know how many lefties claim that conservatives hate government. No--just want to keep it in it's place. I think of our party as the party of good sense, but we don't always come across that way and we need to.
Mar '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Never have the worldviews of Americans been so wildly and fundamentally divergent, and the Obama voters I know would have voted for him if he had slaughtered his dog on live television, and eaten it raw.
The gap is too large. We can only separate Red from Blue at this point.
Dec '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
From an undergraduate at a good Canadian university (he supported Obama, but obviously he couldn't vote for him): "Obama is actually more center-right. I don't believe all this stuff about him being a Marxist."
(When I heard Obama referred to as center-right, my head nearly exploded. If true, maybe we should have him join us on Ricochet.)
Edited on November 14, 2012 at 10:24pmAug '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Today's media is a megaphone and 90% of it is sold out to liberal viewpoints. It doesn't matter how logical our points were or how well they were presented. In the end they were drowned out by the constant messaging from the left.
Mar '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
From a female schoolteacher: "Romney is like a robot, an empty shell. He has no ideas, values, or opinions of his own; they change depending on which way the wind is blowing." She voted for Bush in 2004.
From a retired female schoolteacher: "I could never vote for anyone who is so stupid he thinks you should be able to roll down the windows in an airplane" (her son works in the Obama administration).
From an 18 year old college student: "Romney would not release his tax returns."
Dec '10
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Mostly I've heard, "Can you believe that [guy] got reelected!?"
Sometimes with more numerous and more colorful curse words sprinkled in for good measure, but always a variation on that theme.
My distrust of humanity has been confirmed in spades.
[edited for Code of Conduct]
Edited on November 15, 2012 at 3:25pmJan '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Get used to this phrase, folks: Don't sell, make people want to buy.
We had two products for sale last week:
1) A product that offered a responsible, albeit difficult, way to live that would produce long-term gains, liberty and prosperity;
2) A product that promised to help you avoid a devastating and swift kick in the genitalia and, by the way, would like seriously end up giving you the same result or better than Product #1!!!!!111
When that's all you've got too choose from, and you can only choose one, Product #2 usually sells a bit better.
Mar '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Matthew K. Tabor: Get used to this phrase, folks:Don't sell, make people want to buy.
We had two products for sale last week:
1) A product that offered a responsible, albeit difficult, way to live that would produce long-term gains, liberty and prosperity;
2) A product that promised to help you avoid a devastating and swift kick in the genitalia and, by the way, would like seriously end up giving you the same result or better than Product #1!!!!!111
When that's all you've got too choose from, and you can only choose one, Product #2 usually sells a bit better. · in 1 minute
It's hard to sell spinach when the competition is offering free ice cream.
Mar '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
From a very rich oil guy from Denver: Our best years were when Clinton was in the White House.
May '10
Re: The Voices of the Voters
I talked to a lady the Sunday before the election, and her main issues were (1) support for Planned Parenthood; and (2) some Senate candidate who said that rape was God's will. Seriously. I detailed the interaction at Tribble News, in "The Last Undecided Voter in America?".
Aug '12
Re: The Voices of the Voters
Well, I suspect these are anomolies, but:
I think running Ron Paul over in the Primaries came back to bite Republicans. Person voted for Gary Johnson.
and
I don't like either party, but I really care about the environment. Person voted Green. And then voted independent down-ticket out of dislike for the parties themselves.
My facebook feed had more of the war-on-women and Republicans are ignorant-anti-science stuff in it.
Jun '11
Re: The Voices of the Voters
BTConservative:
Male Engineer, relative from Ohio:I'm a numbers guy - I've done the math; it only makes sense to keep going forward. · 50 minutes ago
Edited 49 minutes ago
Holy crow I hope he's not an aerospace engineer. Would not want to get in that plane.