I have grown more and more convinced that that "electability" emphasis on "swing voters" is simply another Republican Noise Machine myth that the nation has swallowed, but that keeps Democrats from winning elections. The overwhelming majority of the electorate does not view politics on the linear left-right model that is so dominant in our national discourse. In what is unquestionably my favorite quote ever from the Rockridge Institute:
There are clear distinctions between the Nurturant Parent (NP) family and the Strict Father (SF) family. The logic of the models are contradictory, but we all have both models present in the synapses of our brains--either actively or passively.(...)
What determines how we vote is which model is active and dominant for understanding politics at that time.(...)
Our goal is to activate the progressive model in the non-aligned voters. Activation is done through language--by using a consistent language that reflects and activates progressive values. The same language that rallies a base activates the same worldview for those in the middle.
Conservatives have already figured this out. What they have learned about winning elections is that they have to activate the Strict Father model in more than half of the electorate. Fear is a good way to trigger the strict father model, making it active in our minds, because fear reinforces the basic ideas that the world is a dangerous place and that strict discipline is therefore needed for safety.(...)
There is a myth that voters are lined up in a left-to-right line, and that to gain the support of swing voters, you must move to the center. When progressives move to the right, they lose in two ways, setting up a self-defeating double-whammy:
1) Moving to the right alienates your progressive base.
2) It actually helps conservatives because it activates their model in swing voters.
Notice that conservatives do not gain more voters by moving to the Left. What they do is stick to their strict ideology to activate their model in swing voters by being clear and consistent in policies and messages framed in terms of conservative values.
By believing that we need to move to some mythical middle, we end up aiding and abetting Republicans by failing to articulate our own ideas an serving as accomplices in the articulation of their ideas. Thus, by chasing after swing voters, we actually help people think like conservatives. Considering this, I can only think of chasing after "swing voters," as a Republican Noise Machine lie designed to convince Democrats to run self-defeating campaigns and choose self-defeating candidates in primaries because they are supposedly "electable" centrists.
This is yet another reason why Howard Dean is such a strong choice for DNC chair. Even apart from his position as the patron saint of the new Democratic grassroots, he accepts the work of Lakoff and the Rockridge Institute on how to win elections rather than the Republican Noise Machine lie about "swing voters." In fact, since Dean is inaccurately viewed as a flaming liberal, his election as the new DNC is a perfect embodiment of how to win elections according to the Rockridge model. If nothing else, it sends a message loud and clear that Democrats may have lost in 2004, but we are not afraid of our beliefs, and we have no intention to run away from them. I have seen editorial after editorial written by baffled Republicans who question how the Democrats would not back down and "move to the center" after losing in 2004. Why on earth would Democrats elect liberal Dean rather than kissing Bush's ring? Well, here is a message for Republicans that they better start getting used to: there will be no more free rides in elections where we move to the center and aid Republican victories by failing to articulate our own agenda. We have lost our voice for too long, but at least now we have finally gone to the Doctor to find it.
