Good thinking, Republicans. You might want to try to run on an issue in
the fall, rather than just trashing Pelosi. Those who haven’t heard of
her don’t care, and those who have heard of her are either wondering
how throwing eggs at her will get them a job or why you are picking on
the Italian grandmother who smiles nervously when she is on camera.
This is why I occasionally use Republican relatives and friends as testers. So I can ask them if they’ve heard Talking Point X, to see if it’s filtered down to the level where people who aren’t jacked into the Matrix have gotten it shoveled at them. My mother, for example, had no idea there was a war on Christmas until I told her about it. Because she has a LIFE.
I’ve found it a fairly effective arguing tactic when faced with a genuine wingnut spewing death panel babykiller seekrit muslim nonsense is to just look absolutely incredulous and pretend not to understand a word he’s shouting. It not only makes the crazy sound more and more crazy, but it really does highlight just how specialized and rarefied right-wing mythology has become, and how inaccessible it is to most non-political people.
I mean, you don’t get to the Tea Party stage of your lunacy just by reading some literature. You have to be in it deep. You’ve got to want it bad and work for it, and in a time when our economy is actively melting down and most of us are scrambling to either get out of debt or stay out of debt or send kids to school or keep the lights on, we do not have time for the kind of intricate thought patterns that would convince someone Nancy Pelosi really does have it out for him.
He may not like her in some vague way, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to look at some spittle-flecked screamer and go, “Dude, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a lawn to mow, so …”
A.