I just put this in another thread. Looked like it belonged here.
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/..._id=1000653667
Quote:
a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found that 42% of those surveyed thought the former Iraqi leader was involved in the attacks on New York City and Washington.
In response to another question, 32% said they thought Saddam had personally planned them.
The same poll in June showed that 56% of all Republicans said they thought Saddam was involved with the 9/11 attacks. In the latest poll that number actually climbs, to 62%.
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So 32% of the country thinks Saddam personally planned the 9/11 attacks. 62% of of Republicans think so. This is a poll from the beginning of October. There are several others with the same type of numbers.
So basically no matter how you slice it, large chunks of Americans are really ignorant of facts. In this poll, the majority of Republicans are just plain dead wrong about a pretty basic fact. Why. Who the F knows. I guess that most Americans would rather drink a bud and watch WWF. I obviously don't know. Poll after poll show that the higher the education level, the more you support Kerry. Obviously broad generalizations always have exceptions.
The fact people say it is "morals" that matter is not right either. I don't think it is the philosophical pursuit of "morals", like Emmanuel Kant. It is if you get a redneck and ask him about queers, he is going to say he don't like that kind. If that is morals, then fine. I personally think that it is more about appealing to the average uninformed simpleton.
So while the President claims a mandate. I personally still believe it is more a mandate of the ignorance of Americans. The first lesson to be learned by the democrats is to just shut up. Don't put forth a smart intellectual who will wisely lead the country. Put forth a guy that a redneck would rather have a beer with. Hide he has a brain if you need to.
The 2nd lesson, character smears and attack ads work. So don't try to run a noble campaign on the issues. Tear the other guy down.
3rd lesson, don't say things to complicated. One thing I learned was Leo Strauss was right. The people are sheeple and love to unite against an enemy. If one doesn't exist, create on. So on this election, Democrats should have harped on attacking terrorists more and attacking those who attack our troops in Iraq. Do talk about stuff like healthcare. Sure, have some plans and put them up on a website for the smart people. But generally stay nice and simple.
4th lesson. Hire better marketing and marketing psychologists. My wife is an MBA. She looked at both the Kerry web site and the Bush web site and thought the Bush site was great. Heck it had a whole paper up there about making america safer. She didn't read it, but thought he had a plan. There was lots of slick marketing done. Marketing is not about describing the taste of mountain dew. It is about creating an image of mountain dew drinkers as cool and hip.
But these are not changes in platform.. They are changes in presentation. Because when 32% of the country believe that Saddam personally planned 9/11, then 32% of the country is not going to care enough to look at the issues.
Give credit where credit is due. The Republicans and their minions did a great job of tearing Kerry down. They repeat over and over, "I voted for the bill before I voted against it". Kerry never once retorts back, "Why did you threaten to veto the bill to supply our troops with armor". Everyone knows Kerry is a flip flopper and a traitor. The Democrats never got a consistent message, Bush is big spender, big government, wants to invade your rights, in bed with big business, and makes bad decisions.