Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Who Are They Talking To?

In the face of massive grassroots outrage against the liberals attempt to take control of Americans' health care, leftists are trying to smear opponents of their plans as a small band of extremists, or paid by lobbyists, or paid by Republicans, or something. They have not offered a shred of evidence to support this claim.

Claims that the protests are organized by the Republican party are especially comical to anyone who has been involved in the Republican party organization, who know that the Republican party organization is not capable of organizing a car wash in less than six months.

But the more interesting question is who this argument is being directed at. Who are they talking to?

Certainly not conservatives, who know it's not true. Not liberals, who hardly need any justification to hate conservatives. Moderates? Perhaps, but it's not clear that this would help convince them to support their plans.

No, the real target of this argument is democrat members of Congress. If their constituents are as outraged as the town meetings suggest, voting for a government takeover of health care would mean sure defeat come 2010.

So far, it doesn't appear that the lies are working.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What evidence exists that citizens are "outraged at the town meetings." Aside from 10 second TV news clips, there are no public opinion polls that reveal an equivalent level of outrage.

Gallup notes:

"The latest measure reviewed here suggests that a sizable group of Americans are still open to persuasion on the issue. Both sides of the issue are working diligently to promote their side of the debate, including a new "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check" initiative by the White House. It is possible that the interaction between representatives and their constituents over the next several weeks -- coupled with the intense media focus on healthcare reform -- may further affect public opinion either for or against healthcare legislation as Congress returns to Washington in September." (http://www.gallup.com/poll/122234/Constituents-Divided-Highly-Partisan-Healthcare-Reform.aspx)

Once again, "a sizable group of Americans are still open to persuasion on the issue."

Neither Gallup, nor any other established polling organization makes claims of “massive grassroots outrage.”