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That Reagan’s message found such a receptive audience spoke not only to his skills as a communicator

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IndianaJones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:18 AM
Original message
That Reagan’s message found such a receptive audience spoke not only to his skills as a communicator
it also spoke to the failures of liberal government, during a period of economic stagnation, to give middle-class voters any sense that it was fighting for them.

Obama
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Sulawesi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:22 AM
Response to Original message
1. And we lost election after election as a result...
...and now we have the chance to grab the mantle of optimism and inclusiveness, and put the stamp of our agenda on it. Or, we can divide and conquer...

I support Obama for this reason, among others...
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Chicken George Donating Member (109 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:31 AM
Response to Reply #1
6. Well some of us dreaded Liberals
will gladly "lose" (see stolen) elections instead of bending over and accept the inclusiveness of "compassionate conservatives." See how that worked the last 7 plus years not to mention the 12 year Raygun/BUSH disaster.
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Sulawesi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 03:48 PM
Response to Reply #6
10. What if you could get more people to line up with your liberal agenda?
If you like that idea, come to our side.
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Chicken George Donating Member (109 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:25 AM
Response to Original message
2. Raygun communicator/bullshitter
Obama communicator/bullshitter. Yeah like peas in a pod. Is Obama pandering to the Raygun/BUSH "democrats?" (Notice the small d.)
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Fire Walk With Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:26 AM
Response to Original message
3. Appealing to greed, selfishness, nationalism/isolationism, prejudice, and anger is easy.
Solving those very problems isn't.
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redqueen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:31 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. Thank you!
I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who perceived that *that* is actually what Reagan appealled to... not hope, but bigotry, selfishness and greed.
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Fire Walk With Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:35 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. There are actually some interesting insights about this in the director's commentary
to the film "I (heart) Huckabee's".

Yep, he appealed to personal convenience. And pretended that there were no consequences (are they really doubling the minimum credit card debt?)
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shain from kane Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:29 AM
Response to Original message
4. I seem to remember Paul Volcker of the Federal Reserve letting the interest
Edited on Thu Jan-17-08 10:31 AM by shain from kane
rate float, and Reagan blaming Jimmy Carter's administration for the effects of that action that got him elected. He may have been battling stagnation, but what do Reagan's high deficits and rising national debt do to an economy?
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ladjf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:36 AM
Response to Original message
8. Reagan told Americans what they wanted to hear. They loved
it and elected him. It didn't matter that what he was preaching was total bullshit. He was using the same mind control technique that preachers have been using for centuries.
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Auntie Bush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 04:17 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. Like Obama's?
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RaleighNCDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 10:41 AM
Response to Original message
9. That statement speaks to two sides of the same coin.
Reagan was touted as the great communicator - when actually, he was just an actor. Carter, OTOH, was no actor, and he spoke uncomfortable truths - such as "we are suffering a national malaise". With most people not knowing what "malaise" even means, they took that as a criticism, and compared that to Reagan's scripted lies of hope.

As Obama said, the liberal government "failed to communicate" - the fight was there, but the PR wasn't. That's not a boost for conservatism or a slam on liberals. It is an accurate assessment of why Carter lost and Reagan won.

It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
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IndianaJones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 04:11 PM
Response to Original message
11. kick for the failures of liberal government. nt.
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Radical Activist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 04:20 PM
Response to Original message
13. Why do you think Reagan won two elections?
Be careful because any suggestion you make that Reagan had public support and wasn't satan will result in you being called a conservative.
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IndianaJones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 04:30 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. I just like to highlight the failures of liberal government. nt.
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Radical Activist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-17-08 04:36 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. Why don't you quote where Obama says he agrees with Reagan about that.
Edited on Thu Jan-17-08 04:37 PM by Radical Activist
Go ahead and quote the part where Obama himself talks about the failures of liberal government. Go ahead...I'll wait right here while you find that quote...
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