Democrats, Engage Your ‘Amygdalae’
26 October 2007 9:21 am by Taylor Marsh
Democrats, Engage Your ‘Amygdalae’
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Good grief. If this doesn’t say it all.
Democrats are losing the battle for voters’ hearts because the party’s
message lacks emotional appeal, according to a widely circulated critique
of House Democratic communications strategy.… … .. Democratic leadership aides were not impressed, and indicated
that the memo did not have a vast and immediate impact.“Everybody’s a message expert,” said one Democratic leadership
aide. “The fact of the matter is Democrats are working hard to communicate
our accomplishments. There is work to be done and that’s why Democrats
are working together and mounting an aggressive campaign to discuss the real
victories we have won for the American people.” … ..
Talk about lagging behind the reality factor. If only Democrats understood
wingnut radio’s power these types of memos wouldn’t be needed. But they don’t
so they are. How does the Democratic leadership think the immigration legislation
was stopped? Right-wing radio was the engine that drove it off the cliff and
it was done through emotion.
But right when you think someone might get it we land in a ditch.
… ..”I’m not trying to stage a coup,” Helfert said. “I’m
hoping leadership and some of the members will embrace these principles.”His memo is sharply critical of Republican policies but also suggests a
neurological explanation for Republican message success: By using emotional
appeals and warning of dire threats, Republicans can trigger neurons called
“amygdalae” in the temporal lobe, which is the seat of the “fight
or flight” response in the brain.“Almost every Republican message contains a simple and direct moral
imperative, a stark contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, common
sense and fuzzy liberal thinking,” Helfert wrote. “Meanwhile,
we’re trying to ignite passions with analyses of optimum pupil-teacher
ratios.”
“Amygdalae”? How about the outrage button? It’s hilarious
that the guy screaming about emotional messages is talking brain function. Irony
alert.
However, this ties in beautifully with the Democratic parade of big shots this
week who have made appearances on “Hardball” and beyond. I’m all for
it, but they were awful. Rahm Emanuel and David Obey sounded like they were
trying to get their message out of a hermetically sealed bag. Rahm thought he
was being strong, but he sounded like an idiot saying that Democrats were elected
in 2006 for economic reasons too. Rubbish. Democrats were elected to end the
Iraq war. They’re not doing it. Talking about slim majorities is weak-weak-weak.
You get out and do an aggressive campaign asking the people to help you end
the war.
Why aren’t they doing it? Because they’re afraid they’re going to mess up the
‘08 elections?
The current crop of Democrats in DC are detached from reality. Mr. Helfert
is right on the emotion, as I talk about all the time around here, though his
science lesson was absurd, and there is one thing that gets the emotions flowing:
Iraq. This is a poll of Iowa Republicans from my friend Chase Martyn:
Strategic Vision has done a poll of Iowans once a month since then,
and both September’s and October’s numbers confirm that the August
data was not a fluke. Even after Gen. David Petraeus testified before both
houses of Congress, Republican support for withdrawal from Iraq has steadied
and perhaps even grown here in Iowa, to a whopping 54% in October.Majority
of Iowa Republican Caucus Goers Favor Iraq Withdrawal Within 6 Months
See why Ron Paul is popular? See why RedState.com banned him? What would the
nominees be without their war?
It’s not just about votes to pass legislation. It’s about mounting a public
campaign that moves people. Instead, Democrats in Congress want to tout their
accomplishments when for many the only one that matters is getting us out of
Iraq. In lieu of getting out at least show your outrage and ask the people to
stand up and help.
That the leadership doesn’t understand their message is exciting as wet lettuce
is remarkable. That the guy trying to help talks about “amygdalae”
and can’t get excitement for his emotional message explains why Democrats
are in the process of endangering the best chance we’ve ever had to take a bigger congressional majority in 2008,
plus the presidency. It’s the emotions, stupid, and no one is excited about
following Democrats right now because they simply don’t know how to lead.
