Worth a Thousand Words
Aaron Miller ·
January 27, 2012 at 4:23am
Deep, thorough arguments are great. But Republicans would benefit enormously from publicizing simple graphics like this one every chance they get.
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Apr '11
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Oh yeah and don't forget our credit down-grade and doubling the number of war theaters.
Jul '11
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Amen Aaron. I'm tired of nuanced arguments. I think it is time to launch a blitz against government and this President dispassionate, factual graphs like this. Thanks for sharing!
Jul '11
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Sweet, this should be a campaign ad.
Aug '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
I like it! Where is Ross Perot when you need him?
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
This is just the kind of thing I've been looking for! Thanks Aaron.
Jun '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
The number of (non-military) federal government employees is up. So he's got that going for him.
Sep '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
That chart is racist.
Nov '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Bumper sticker.
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Wow. Just wow.
(It would be good to have a source reference.)
(I'm wondering why the Debt per Person and Americans in Poverty entries aren't percentages. I would think that would be more meaningful.)
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
(You could probably also add personal bankruptcies and foreclosures.)
Dec '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Here's the counter punch. Don't have beverage in your mouth when you read it.
People actually believe this tripe. Reading the comments that accompanied it on facebook made me violate the CoC in my heart.
Edited on January 27, 2012 at 5:33amJun '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Aaron: What's the source. Did you create this?
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Yes - thorough arguments are great. The graph issues an implicit argument: "Economic conditions are deteriorating in many ways during Obama's presidency, therefore Obama is responsible." Of course, the correlation provides more than enough justification for being suspicious of his administration. But, as has been said before, causal inferences from correlative premises can be tricky. Though such illustrations are useful, I don't like calling them conclusive since they do not demonstrate the causality between declining economic times and Obama's administration, they only suggest it.
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
I don't know the source. A friend reposted it from someone else on Facebook.
It might be more effective without a source. Liberals don't trust conservative sources, and swing voters don't trust anybody (or rely on local newscasters, usually NBC or ABC affiliates).
One of the nice qualities of this particular chart is that it mixes undebatable numbers (gas prices) with the subjective estimates (ex: unemployment).
They don't need to be. Politics turns on perception.
The best figures are the ones that don't have to be proven. Direct attention to problems people can see with their own eyes — inflation (rising gas prices, grocery prices), high unemployment, a flailing housing market, etc.
Facts and arguments are more important when addressing Party voters. My guess is swing voters tend to be the people who pay barely attention to politics, don't reserach anything and are swayed heavily by feelings. We all know such people. They must be grabbed with images, speeches, optimism and charisma.
For almost any audience, comprehensive arguments should be left for print. Televised arguments should be short, simple and straightforward.
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
King Prawn, a liberal friend of mine posted this:
There seems to be a lot of these floating around at the moment. This is why debate between liberals and conservatives is usually pointless. If we can't agree on the facts, then we can't discuss what conclusions to draw from them. The best way to turn liberals is to plant questions in their minds and let them figure it out on their own.
Fortunately, I'm encountering more and more liberals who think Ron Paul might be the man to support their libertine lifestyles.
Apr '11
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
not nearly simple enough. Ricochet members, though highly intelligent, constantly overestimate the ability of these articles, comments, PowerLine prize videos, and graphics like this to persuade any independent voters to turn against Obama.
I've gotten into the habit of imagining I'm a typical undecided voter when looking at anything touted as "This is perfect! Just what we need!" My BLINK reaction to the graphic was "Ugh! a thousand numbers. too much work to try to figure it out".
You guys have got to figure out how to get out of this echo chamber, preaching to the choir habit and really figure out truly simple effective slogans and graphics.
May '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Aaron Miller:
They don't need to be. Politics turns on perception.
The best figures are the ones that don't have to be proven. Direct attention to problems people can see with their own eyes — inflation (rising gas prices, grocery prices), high unemployment, a flailing housing market, etc.
Facts and arguments are more important when addressing Party voters. My guess is swing voters tend to be the people who pay barely attention to politics, don't reserach anything and are swayed heavily by feelings. We all know such people. They must be grabbed with images, speeches, optimism and charisma.
If changing the opinion of the electorate, composed largely of easily duped voters, is your objective, then I suppose this is all true. Not an unimportant task, but an unfortunate one nevertheless.
Sep '10
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
Look at that O'Donnell ad a different way: if he is referring to the 1972 Clean Water Act (which was signed by a Republican), that is the most recent thing on there. So what exactly have his wonderful, morally superior liberals achieved these past 40 years?
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
I wish I had a source for all the information.
Can someone tell me if both these claims can be true:
1. The claim that 1.1 million more people are unemployed than on inauguration day, and
2. The claim that Obama created 3 million jobs.
If so, what's the real story here? Did 4.1 million additional people enter the labor force? Is that what is driving both these numbers?
Mar '11
Re: Worth a Thousand Words
You need to modify the graph. Every other single % is an increase were housing is a decrease. You need to format the graph so when people look at the %13 they no it is a decrease. Either put a negative on it or even better change the color of the arrow from all the other ones so it stands out. I would do both.
Also this would be great for a billboard. I will help fund a super pac in a second to put something like this on a billboard along the I-4 corridor.