716er Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 This is the political party about to take control of Congress. what a mess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHillFan Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 1 hour ago, 716er said: This is the political party about to take control of Congress. what a mess Certainly a mess. The big question - why are they about to take control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiGoose Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 4 minutes ago, JDHillFan said: Certainly a mess. The big question - why are they about to take control? Partisanship, failure of the news industry, and a lack of shared facts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Blitz Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 The fear is real thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHillFan Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 26 minutes ago, ChiGoose said: Partisanship, failure of the news industry, and a lack of shared facts. Can you elaborate on these three reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Deek Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 I missed it. Was this gal in the Beast too? Or was she another friend of a friend of a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiGoose Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 22 minutes ago, JDHillFan said: Can you elaborate on these three reasons? Sure thing. Partisanship: We live in a hyper polarized society built on a two party system. While proper governance requires compromise, our politics incentivize an “Us vs Them” mentality. Even if a bill is incredibly popular with the American public, your incentive is to oppose it if passing it would mean a win for the opposition party. It brings the worst part of politics into the gears of government and grinds everything to a halt, resulting in everyone being mad at the government but the people in charge having no incentive to change their behavior. Failure of the news media: It used to be that we would get news in printed papers, long form magazines, and an hour each evening on the tv from trusted sources. News, by and large, wasn’t an important commodity. It was a small part of the day. Now, we have cable news, 24/7 news cycles, social media, internet news, and an unending stream of information. This incentivizes companies to publish the most salacious or rage-inducing stories. In the contest between emotion and logic, logic doesn’t stand a chance. Since the advent of CNN, our eyeballs have become a commodity and the best way to keep them engaged through the ad break is to make their owner mad. So what was once a small landscape of people providing the news is now a giant mess of sensationalism trying to keep us engaged by manipulating our emotions. Lack of shared facts: Given the decentralization and sensationalization of the news media, we no longer live in a shared reality. We consume the “news” that makes us feel better or smarter or superior. If a news source says something we disagree with or upsets us, we switch to one that will agree with us and comfort us. This has led to the destruction of a shared reality. We cannot agree on facts, we cannot agree on much of anything. We just seek out the news that tells us what we want to hear and dismiss anything else as biased or outright lies. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHillFan Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 7 minutes ago, ChiGoose said: Sure thing. Partisanship: We live in a hyper polarized society built on a two party system. While proper governance requires compromise, our politics incentivize an “Us vs Them” mentality. Even if a bill is incredibly popular with the American public, your incentive is to oppose it if passing it would mean a win for the opposition party. It brings the worst part of politics into the gears of government and grinds everything to a halt, resulting in everyone being mad at the government but the people in charge having no incentive to change their behavior. Failure of the news media: It used to be that we would get news in printed papers, long form magazines, and an hour each evening on the tv from trusted sources. News, by and large, wasn’t an important commodity. It was a small part of the day. Now, we have cable news, 24/7 news cycles, social media, internet news, and an unending stream of information. This incentivizes companies to publish the most salacious or rage-inducing stories. In the contest between emotion and logic, logic doesn’t stand a chance. Since the advent of CNN, our eyeballs have become a commodity and the best way to keep them engaged through the ad break is to make their owner mad. So what was once a small landscape of people providing the news is now a giant mess of sensationalism trying to keep us engaged by manipulating our emotions. Lack of shared facts: Given the decentralization and sensationalization of the news media, we no longer live in a shared reality. We consume the “news” that makes us feel better or smarter or superior. If a news source says something we disagree with or upsets us, we switch to one that will agree with us and comfort us. This has led to the destruction of a shared reality. We cannot agree on facts, we cannot agree on much of anything. We just seek out the news that tells us what we want to hear and dismiss anything else as biased or outright lies. Can’t argue with any of that but I don’t think it answers the original question of why will congress likely switch hands as the OP suggests. Everything you state here could easily apply to democrats maintaining their standing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiGoose Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 1 hour ago, JDHillFan said: Can’t argue with any of that but I don’t think it answers the original question of why will congress likely switch hands as the OP suggests. Everything you state here could easily apply to democrats maintaining their standing. Gas prices are high, inflation is high, there’s a war in Europe, etc… The out-party doesn’t have to have solutions, they just need to point to the problems of the in-party. The average American doesn’t spend a ton of time on understanding politics or the economy. They just look at their paycheck vs the cost of goods and see that one party is in charge. Well, we must need a check on that party to fix things! This is why the GOP doesn’t even need to run on a solution for inflation. They can just say the Dems are in charge and inflation is bad, therefore, you best vote for the GOP. Hardcore Dems blame Putin, hardcore conservatives blame Biden and the average American has no idea but they know things are not great and that one party is in charge, so maybe it’s time for the other party to get a shot. In the end, it’s not the policies that matter, it’s what makes the voters feel good, or what makes them feel less bad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 3 hours ago, ChiGoose said: Partisanship, failure of the news industry, and a lack of shared facts. I'd pry go with the economy, the economy, and pry the economy. Most parties get wiped out midterms after winning the presidential election anyways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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