Democrats Running In Tight Races As Republicans Employ More Bigotry
While recent surveys indicate tight races for many politicians, lack of trust in polls is palpable. Meanwhile, political hate continues unabated
In Texas, polling shows the Texas Governor’s race to be much closer than many anticipated. In one of the most watched elections in the country, Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke is showing promise as early voting began on October 24. However, polling site Five-Thirty-Eight has Governor Greg Abbott leading O’Rourke by 9 points based on an average of polls they have listed. Those polls range from a 3-point to a 13-point advantage for Gov. Abbott.
But the surveys from Univision/the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas and Beacon Research registered an Abbott lead of 4-points and 2-points respectively. Those and many others fall within the margin of error creating what constitutes a statistical tie. No, I don’t think we should trust the polls. The broad range of numbers mentioned here is telling without delving much deeper than that.
Polls are largely based on who you ask using numbers that represent about 1,000 people (in most cases) and it’s become increasingly difficult to judge elections or the proverbial “kitchen table issues” accurately. Polls have consistently missed the mark by massive margins since about 2012. The elections of 2016 and 2020 were the most notable in recent years.
The Democratic Party is struggling to appease everyone under their so-called “big tent” largely because of this. They are, in my opinion, far too reliant on old methods that are inaccurate in acquiring accurate voter data. For the liberal coalition in the U.S., the focus is often shifted away from broader issues that affect the majority of voters.
The search for “the Latino vote” is a perfect example.
Then there are the Republicans. They have it easy because they only have to appeal to their base and the bigotry that is more broadly accepted by conservatives. They petition a single demographic and welcome anyone else who falls in line with their political hatred of people who aren’t white and Christian. Solely focusing on white men, their strategies are not just simple, but shallow.
Rather than explain the nuances of an issue, they sloganeer like a broken record like many previous autocratic dictatorships have. And it works.
Exploiting people’s ingrained homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny - alongside xenophobia, racism, and bigotry - is easy to do. Most of their fears are based on ignorance of the issues at hand. Issues that are being exploited by extremists, racists, and hatemongers once relegated to the fringes of society. Political conservatives in the U.S. see how well it’s working to keep people angry and have adopted much of the rhetoric and language of more fascist ideologues.
Outrage Culture
In today’s world, outrage is trendy. Some outrage may be justified, but most cases aren’t. With so many things under attack by the Republican Party, including the right to vote, the right to privacy, and the right to access the same resources afforded to white people along with many other basic human rights, it’s no wonder why people are already angry. But anger and outrage with the overtly racist Stephen Miller ad, for example, distract voters from the issues.
Bigots will vote out of white fear of being replaced no matter what you do.
It’s become too easy to distract people away from the attacks on civil liberties. Republicans have mastered this art. Currently, they have shifted attention away from many of their more polarizing ideas (abortion, cutting social security and Medicare, bigotry, etc.) by driving false narratives about the economy, crime, and immigration. Conservatives have been so successful that even liberal voters have also moved away from equally critical issues.
Poll after poll shows Democrats' top issues, like their Republican and Independent counterparts, are crime and the economy. The fact that talk of violent crime is based mostly on copaganda and not actually happening - like they say it is - doesn’t seem to matter. Same with the economy. That the current times are tough is inarguable. But Republicans are hammering the Democratic Party in messaging. No one is talking about the trillions in tax cuts for the rich by the last guy.
No one is talking about how the money spent during the pandemic was partly spent by former President Donald Trump. Democrats aren’t talking about how the people in Trump’s orbit greatly benefitted financially from COVID spending. President Joe Biden gave police billions (and crime is supposedly on the rise alongside murders by police) and it doesn’t even get a mention. Bail reform has led to less crime. Yes, it’s true. Yet, even that is not a blip on major media’s radar.
Because no one challenges Republicans, they’re winning by continuing to scream Democrats want to defund the police; that President Biden alone created this economic situation - not the combination of factors related to COVID; that the outrageous pandemic spending was all on Biden’s watch; that crime is on the rise due to bail reform - when the opposite is true; that the border is open - when it is clearly not.
The pushback against misinformation is virtually nonexistent.
As Governor Abbott and his challenger, Beto O’Rourke, hammer each other with ads on TV and on social media - as all other politicians continue to do leading up to election day - one has to wonder if anyone will ever directly call out these blatant lies. When I say anyone, I mean anyone other than independent journalists who consistently do so. Because it feels like one is listening.
And it’s clear legacy media won’t talk about any of it.