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Chapter 6


I’d like to relate some ideas and terms from Chapter 6 to the difficulties that the democratic party encounters in winning elections.

This post will be biased because I am a democrat myself, but I think it is important to analyze and understand shortcomings to be better.

Identifying the ultimate purpose / purposes:
While I think the republican party has a simple set of arguments that rarely change, the democratic party actively changes their case in ways that may not be best for argumentation. I think that this could confuse the audiences to whom they make their case. For example, identifying strong support of LGBTQ rights in front of a rural audience is probably not a great way of arguing to those people. It’s not that the issue isn’t relevant at all, in fact, the grander audience is receptive of those arguments. However, one could easily say that rural votes weigh significantly more than those of people in suburban and urban areas. By doing a poor job of identifying relevant purposes of their case to rural audiences, democrats often fall short.

Presumptions:
In the same rural audiences, democrats also have problems assessing presumptions. Safe presumptions could be that rural audiences are less educated, they are more religious, they are comprised of mostly white people, they are slightly older, and republican politics are the status quo. These presumptions would be accurate based on census data alone. For democrats to make an argument in this realm implies a sort of catch-22. In many ways they are making their case to people who are by default opposed to their core values. Pandering to these audiences might be effective, but it would also demonstrate inconsistency to the wider public.

Even when making their strongest argument in the rural sphere, democrats are likely to have difficulty. For example, republicans can easily outline their goals of decreasing taxes and decreasing government. Sure, those things sound good in a face-value sort of way but usually republicans are talking about tax breaks for the richest and cutting valuable state programs. However, when a democrat comes to deconstruct and rebut these arguments, the burden of proof involves a more difficult set of explanations. To successfully argue, democrats must demonstrate why republicans will not help the audience members, and they must give an alternative. Both of these processes are harder and more nuanced. There is a high possibility that the audience will be lost in the explanation.



Democrats could probably help improve their standing amongst rural audiences by illustrating broad narratives about their goals.

For example, I know from experience that my grandmother’s family (a farming family), loves the idea of the cowboy who fights for what is right - usually against the rich. Essentially, they like the Robin Hood-style character who takes from the rich and gives to the hard-working poor. Democrats should make use of this comparison when making a case for rural people. Donald Trump may have charisma, but he was born into riches and not self-made. A democrat could easily paint themselves as the Robin Hood in this scenario. They are working to take back what rightfully belongs to the hard-working people.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 15, 2018 at 9:53 AM

    I liked the way you stuck with connecting the course concepts to both your beliefs and the beliefs of those around you, good work. Especially in today's world, as young, socially involved adults, there are many conversations we are having that bring in our political views and understandings of "conservative" or "liberal" views. Our own experiences with the meaning of these words can effect how we are formulating and having conversations about political events and policies today. For instance, I come from a small home town with a majority of the population identifying as part of a conservative or republican movement. This has given me a unique perspective on political issues at the University of Minnesota, as a majority of this campus is thought of identifying as mostly liberal. The preconceived ideas of our experiences changes how we think about the social issues that we face while on campus. Understanding that other students, faculty, members of the UofM community all come from different experiences, home towns, religions, and backgrounds allows us to understand how there are so many opinions that can be formed on certain topics, and that there may not always be a 100% right assumption, but that each individual brings in their own valuable voice to every argument.

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