How did the Democrats, with the WH Senate and Congress, lose the frame?

[tekisui]

Why are we talking about the conservatives in the minority? Why are we focused on their protests? How did we lose the frame?

Every story about angry idiot conservatives is time not spent destroying the predatory insurance companies. This should be an easy frame to present. Unless you are on Medicare, Medicaid or in the VA system, your ONLY option is to give money to corporations who value profit over your life. This is a no-brainer. What the hell happened.

We should be debating the most efficient way to expand Medicare to all ages, not the level of anger the minority is feeling.

[DURHAM D]

1. No national leadership. nt

[Parker CA]

2. The media made that decision.

[tekisui]

4. You mean to tell me that the Democrats don't know how to work the

media? If they steal the airwaves with a sensational story, steal it back.

[Parker CA]

15. I'm of the opinion that if the media wants an angle, they will run that angle regardless of what

"sensational story" the Dems put out there.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

10. THE PROPAGANDISTS ARE STRONG AND ORGANIZED

[Parker CA]

16. $$ is a strong motivator. And yes, you're correct, they're very organized when perpetuating lies.

[timeforpeace]

3. Well said.

[DJ13]

5. Why are we talking about the conservatives in the minority?

Because they may represent a minority of the country, but their pro-business beliefs are the majority viewpoint within Congress itself.

Our party runs on progressive policies, but once they've conned us into voting for them they vote alongside their true ideological brethren, the conservatives on most issues.

[orwell]

6. Becuase the Dems don't resort...

...to outright lies that are reinforced 24/7 by a complicit media.

Because they are trying to change entrenched systems that benefit some very large corporations.

Because about thirty percent of the population are hard core Obama hating right wing nutjobs who will believe anything anti-democratic party and who are angry enough to show up and scream about it.

Because people are inherently afraid of change, whether the vote for it or not.

[sabrina 1]

12. No matter how small the changes might be, the battle

to preserve the profits for the Healthcare industry were going to be fierce. Dems should have gone all the way for Single Payer once the achieved the majority and won the WH. When will there be a better time to get what every other civilized country has if not now?

If you're going to fight for something, why compromise? Make the fight worthwhile.

Dems and Repubs alike are funded by the Healthcare Industry and the people do not have the money to buy them with.

I think we are being conned again and another golden opportunity (for the people) is about to slip away.

The 'tea-baggers' 'birthers', the 'angry' protestors etc. are all just a distraction. And, they are helping to get Dems off the hook regarding real 'change'.

Kucinich is right and the rest of this month ought to be spent letting Congress know we want a Single Payer System now. It's WAY past time. People ARE dying and if that doesn't make this an emergency, then we are lost.

[orwell]

23. The Dems couldn't have gotten Single Payer through...

...their own party. It was a loser from the start. The Obama Administration correctly understood this.

Their best shot toward single payer would be to expand Medicare to those 55 and older, a proposal that even some Cons said they would endorse. That could have begun a broader move toward single payer over the next 20 years.

Politics is the art of what's possible, not the art of what's empirically better. There are too many vested interests at the table with huge economic stakes for rapid change, no matter what single payer advocates may hope for.

I too favor single payer, but I am realistic enough to realize it would never see the light of day as a wholesale change in one bill. I don't think that it was ever a plausible bargaining chip.

[Xicano]

7. Democrats & Republican = Opposite Sides of the Same Coin

The name of the coin = "Corporate Interests."

[spanone]

8. why, oh why?

i'm beginning to think that whoever runs the country has nothing to do with either political party

[Karmadillo]

9. Many Dem$ appear to like the predatory in$urance companie$. I imagine they're very happy to lo$e

any frame that might hurt the one$ who've bought them.

[bevoette]

11. by underestimating the depths their opponents will sink to...

they were not prepared for this type of assault. who could have prepared for this level of ridiculousness, right??

well...they should've known better

i suspect they are regrouping, and we will see a change this month

[gratefultobelib]

13. Your post gives me hope. Thanks!

[tekisui]

14. I hope you are right.

How could they not see this coming, is my question. They better be prepared for this type of assault on EVERY piece of legislation or point of their agenda.

[asdjrocky]

17. They didn't "lose the frame."

It's going where they knew all along it would go and the bill will end up as a gift to pharma and insurance companies.

I have eyes, I have ears, I can read and I can reason. What else are we to believe but that we've been being lied to all along? They don't care about us, they don't have to.

[nashville_brook]

25. so well put.

[scarletwoman]

18. Because for the Dems to actually have an effective frame for this issue, they would have to

make it clear that it's the Insurance Companies and Big Pharma the entire For-Profit "Healthcare" Industry that are the true enemies, and that they (the Dems) are working on behalf the People to end the corporate stranglehold on healthcare that's been ripping the People off for all these years.

But the Dems can't do this because it's clearly not the truth. The Dems are far more beholden to the For-Profit Healthcare Industry than they are to We the People.

It is this fact, and this fact alone, that leaves the Dems incapable of mounting any kind of strong, effective counter-argument to the right wing crazies. If the DC Dem leadership actually worked for US, they wouldn't have this problem.

When you're incapable of pointing to the real enemy, you cannot possibly rally people to your side.

sw

[Cleita]

19. They didn't lose it. They deliberately flushed it down the toilet for

personal gain. We have a very corrupt group of commerce trolls running many parts of our government. I hope Obama gives up this partisanship BS and starts governing like the true leader that I know he can be according to the spirit of our Constitution and how our government is supposed to run.

[dbonds]

20. What makes you think this isn't the frame the dem's want?

This is sure showing the crazies on the right for what they are. Maybe there are some that will look at that and start thinking independently. Those on the left want even more of a public option than we are getting, so better to focus on the crazies and maybe knock of few of them loose.

[dysfunctional press]

21. the corporate interests control the media, and therefore- the message.

[kentuck]

22. Because we are counting "D's" and "R's"....

You have to count the corporate sympathizers in the Congress vs those that support the common good? Then you com up with different numbers.

[nashville_brook]

24. we lost the frame b/c the people with the microphone are running for (political) cover.

how many dems were out on the sunday shows today really socking it to Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin? anyone?

seems like the only rational voices are on Bill Moyers, Rachel and KO. and even then it's activist groups, not Democratic leaders who are out in front of the meme-making.

[Tesha]

26. Because of the presence of the Blue Dogs, it is impossible for the Democrats to stand for democratic

values because the Blue Dogs don't: they stand for Republican values.

As a result Democrats have no coherent message and will *ALWAYS* lose
the Propaganda War to the Republicans, who stay on message come Hell
or high water. By comparison, any time we try to get a message out, the
Blue Dogs will torpedo it.

Tesha

[BuyingThyme]

27. Our "leaders" are Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid.

They won't lift a finger to prosecute murder and torture. Why the hell would you expect them to advocate for health care?

[mascarax]

28. Yes, why are we focusing on 20-29%?

Including wing nuts & those people who can never make up their damn minds...about anything...the ones I stand behind in line as they agonize over vanilla or chocolate...yes, I digress.

OK, same question though. Since 71% want health care reform. Which to me is different from "health INSURANCE reform" (sorry, have seen Frank Luntz too often to not note the terminology change).

Dems have WH, House & Senate. And here we are. Talking their talking points. As usual.
Stop with this bipartisan nonsense. It's just a smokescreen for keeping the corporations in charge.

[leftofthedial]

29. WORST CASE--the WH and all but a handful of congressional members are OWNED

by the corporations who want us enslaved.

BEST CASE--Obama is a lousy leader.

[Brigid]

30. Because they do not shout as loud as the idiots.

That means they don't get the attention from the MSM. Don't you know anything? :sarcasm:

[Greyhound]

31. Because our political process is a facade.

The People no longer have any representation. Americans have been dumbed down and are completely controlled by media, and who owns the media?

There was a class war waged and we lost. Virtually every aspect of our nation is controlled by a few corporations, corporations that are controlled by a single class made up of a few families. They know each other and work with each other to ensure they maintain that control.

The "debate" over health care, education, trade, economic policy, etc., is merely an illusion, the decisions were made long ago by parasites most people have never heard of, though a few of the names are familiar.

Pick an issue and look at how it was/is being handled. Actual solutions are never discussed and the debate is over which method will be used to maintain the status quo with the greatest profit for which group.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

32. They ddn't lose it they sold it.

[RagAss]

33. No Leadership...it's pitiful.