Comments on: Larry M. Bartels, Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age http://stevereads.com/weblog/2008/04/26/larry-m-bartels-unequal-democracy-the-political-economy-of-the-new-gilded-age/ Books and policy from an endlessly curious perspective Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:29:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1-beta By: mrz http://stevereads.com/weblog/2008/04/26/larry-m-bartels-unequal-democracy-the-political-economy-of-the-new-gilded-age/comment-page-1/#comment-5835 mrz Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:10:28 +0000 http://stevereads.com/weblog/?p=4114#comment-5835 <p>Well, duh!</p> <blockquote>No matter how you frame it, for instance, Americans have overwhelmingly supported ending the estate tax since the 1930’s, even though it demonstrably only affects the wealthiest 1% or 2% of the population. And this inconsistency doesn’t go away with education: virtually every way you cut the data, clear majorities support doing away with the tax on inherited estates.</blockquote> <p>See this is the funny thing. In the 30's and before, people framed this issue as helping the poor. The Republicans have managed to flip this around through a few interesting tactics: 1. It's poor's own fault that they are poor 2. If for some crazy reason it isn't, it's a private charity's job to handle them 3. If the government can tax rich people then they can tax everybody and nobody likes taxes right? So we must delegitimize things like the inheritance tax, even if it applies to almost no-one except people who benefit the most from the government in the first place. This last one, I think also taps into the idea that people either think they are that wealthy or that they picture themselves so someday. In reality, very few people get to be BIll Gates or Warren Buffet.</p> <p>To me, this is where the Democrats seem to have a problem. There was a lot of unrest about working conditions in the majority of the population up to the 1930's. So it was easy to frame these issues in a way that made sense to everybody. Somewhere along the way, they lost control of the message. They don't have the right marketers for their message or something.</p> <p>It's like the Republicans hired the right guys there for a while and the Democrats keep playing from the same old tired play book. So we basically have to let the country go completely to crap before they finally get elected again. So what's the deal? Why are they having such a hard time with this? Has the Republican marketing machine become so successful that people are buying into things that are really against their long term interest?</p> <p>Or is that really all it is? That the Republicans are coming in, selling to people's short term interest. Stroking their hair and saying everything is OK and then selling them that junker of a used car, making them think they wanted it...no, NEEDED it all along?</p> <p>Do the Democrats just need to work on an effin' elevator pitch already?</p> Well, duh!

No matter how you frame it, for instance, Americans have overwhelmingly supported ending the estate tax since the 1930’s, even though it demonstrably only affects the wealthiest 1% or 2% of the population. And this inconsistency doesn’t go away with education: virtually every way you cut the data, clear majorities support doing away with the tax on inherited estates.

See this is the funny thing. In the 30′s and before, people framed this issue as helping the poor. The Republicans have managed to flip this around through a few interesting tactics: 1. It’s poor’s own fault that they are poor 2. If for some crazy reason it isn’t, it’s a private charity’s job to handle them 3. If the government can tax rich people then they can tax everybody and nobody likes taxes right? So we must delegitimize things like the inheritance tax, even if it applies to almost no-one except people who benefit the most from the government in the first place. This last one, I think also taps into the idea that people either think they are that wealthy or that they picture themselves so someday. In reality, very few people get to be BIll Gates or Warren Buffet.

To me, this is where the Democrats seem to have a problem. There was a lot of unrest about working conditions in the majority of the population up to the 1930′s. So it was easy to frame these issues in a way that made sense to everybody. Somewhere along the way, they lost control of the message. They don’t have the right marketers for their message or something.

It’s like the Republicans hired the right guys there for a while and the Democrats keep playing from the same old tired play book. So we basically have to let the country go completely to crap before they finally get elected again. So what’s the deal? Why are they having such a hard time with this? Has the Republican marketing machine become so successful that people are buying into things that are really against their long term interest?

Or is that really all it is? That the Republicans are coming in, selling to people’s short term interest. Stroking their hair and saying everything is OK and then selling them that junker of a used car, making them think they wanted it…no, NEEDED it all along?

Do the Democrats just need to work on an effin’ elevator pitch already?

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