Scary words are not why Democrats lost

[ck4829]

This is a rebuttal to:
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=19683236

I'm sorry, rebuttal too big and scary? "Here is why I disagree"'

Still too big and scary? I'm sorry, "WRONG, FAKE NEWS"

For example, MSNBC and CNN talk incessantly about "misogyny". WTF is misogyny? I guarantee you, if you stand in front of WalMart and ask 100 people to define the word, they will have no idea what you are talking about but we Democrats all over misogyny -- and no one understands what we are talking about.

You can say the same thing about "woke" or "deep state". There's no way you are going to that same place and ask one hundred people to define "woke" or "deep state" and get a solid consistent definition between the lot of them, a good portion will not even know what you are talking about. Republicans ran on words they themselves can't even define.

And I still don't know what "cis gendered" is . . . when I hear anyone talking about "cis gender," I just shake my head, tune out, and think "Well, shit, we lost that argument."

I'm pretty sure I've heard the word "transgender" come out of my television more times in the past few months by Republicans than in the past couple of years by anyone and everyone else else. Mindlessly drumming up fear by chanting "transgender" did not stop Republicans so I truly doubt that "cisgender" hurt us.

Democrats speak like college professors and lawyers, not like real people.

...

I'm not going to lobotomize myself or participate in Orwellian newspeak, I'm not sure what led to this mess, but this, this will not lead to winning in any form. If anything, it is surrender.

In the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), by George Orwell, Newspeak is the fictional language of Oceania, a totalitarian superstate. To meet the ideological requirements of Ingsoc (English Socialism) in Oceania, the Party created Newspeak, which is a controlled language of simplified grammar and limited vocabulary designed to limit a person's ability for critical thinking. The Newspeak language thus limits the person's ability to articulate and communicate abstract concepts, such as personal identity, self-expression, and free will, which are thoughtcrimes, acts of personal independence that contradict the ideological orthodoxy of Ingsoc collectivism.

In the appendix to the novel, "The Principles of Newspeak", Orwell explains that Newspeak follows most rules of English grammar, yet is a language characterised by a continually diminishing vocabulary; complete thoughts are reduced to simple terms of simplistic meaning. The political contractions of Newspeak — Ingsoc (English Socialism), Minitrue (Ministry of Truth), Miniplenty (Ministry of Plenty) — are similar to Nazi and Soviet contractions in the 20th century, such as Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei), politburo (Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), Comintern (Communist International), kolkhoz (collective farm), and Komsomol (communist youth union). Newspeak contractions usually are syllabic abbreviations meant to conceal the speaker's ideology from the speaker and the listener.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak

Here's the ELI5. Dumbing yourself down is participating in the fascism.

My parting words for this... Just like I'm not going to abandon the GLBTQ, immigrants, or Muslim-Americans, I'm not going to abandon my vocabulary. If you think so strongly on this, find me and lobotomize me. Okay?

[markercirca]

1. I hate this talk

Democrats need to double, triple down on their policies. Shit, run Harris/Walz again in 2028.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Thank you!!

[cachukis]

3. Persactly.

[peachpit24]

4. Everyone

Has access to Google. If I don't understand a word or don't know who a person is, I look it up. For some that's too much work. Republicans have done a good job of keeping a lot of their voters uneducated. Since when has it been wrong to use big words? These aren't 10 year olds.

[dutch777]

5. While 'woke' or Gaza lost us some votes I think what we didn't get done in Joe's 4 years may be more the issue

Before I start down this road, I know the Repugs in Congress and Trump sniping from the sidelines may have made most of this impossible. BUT, with that the case, at least we could have run on those obstructionist facts and defused the strength of the Trump argument in many areas. Given the time she had and the history I fault Kamala's campaign much less than Hilary's. Boundless positivity, few gaffes and an energetic ground game were well executed. We couldn't have asked for many more key endorsements although I do fault many endorsers for coming thru way too late given how many early votes were cast.

The perception of poorly controlled immigration could have been better addressed in Joe's term. Don't have to build a wall, just stand tall on enforcing the laws on the books, make a show of it and when a bi-partisan immigration bill is halted by Repugs, call them on it. Loudly. Often. Address the nation on TV. Repeatedly. Kamala went to our neighbors and asked for help but maybe some very public arm twisting was needed. While we know we actually need immigration to provide labor for agriculture and other industries, we looked just too laissez faire about it and didn't make our case publicly enough.

That inflation was laid at the Dems feet is not entirely in error. The stimulus bills passed during the pandemic and under Trump were overly broad and poorly targeted, Yes, I know it was a crisis and things had to be done in haste. That does not mean you just let that lie there for four years and not at least propose corrections and make an acknowledgement that national debt at $35 trillion is an issue. Folks see the big corporations as greedy and helping drive inflation and there was ample time to make this an issue. If as much time and public statements were focused on this as student aid relief we could have made big points and defused the Repugs case.

One could go on and on with missed opportunities but the bottom line for me is that when you have the bully pulpit use it to set up for the next election. To expect any campaign. let alone Kamala's late start from a dead stop to overcome issues clearly foremost in the public's mind, we expect the impossible.