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kurtcagle

(1,603 posts)
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 06:37 PM Aug 2020

Why Republicans seems to score better on economic issues than Democrats

I've observed this for decades, and I think it has to do with the way that people react to leaders, specifically how introverts vs. extrovers react.

Republicans, for the most part, are extroverts. They gravitate towards leaders who exude confidence, who brag about their achievements, and who seem to constantly be battling crises, because that is their impression of how a leader should act. One thing you will note us that the typical wealthy republican is almost always in marketing, sales or administration, or are used to working in hierarchies.

They perceive that they are very good with money, because this is one of the hallmarks of a "successful" businessman. In reality they tend not to be deep thinkers, and more to the point they are usually not systemic thinkers. They also see society in terms of "Ive got mine," because otherwise they have to admit they got lucky, and that is not something most want to believe.

Dems tend to skew towards introversion, and are often more likely to be systemic thinkers, analysts, and activists. They value competence, and dislike braggadocio. When they focus on finance, they are usually quite good at it, but they tend to look at finance from a quantitative perspective. When they don't focus on finance, they usually tend to gain mastery within their respective fields, but don't always become wildly "successful" (i.e., rich) simply because it is not what interests them.

Republicans understand that the easiest way of making money is to convince other people to give them money for the least amount of work. They usually look at everything from the perspective of how they can most benefit financially from the current situation, and only secondarily do the look at it (if at all) from the standpoint of whether what they are doing is in fact the right thing to do long term.

Democrats, in general, tend to think much longer term - ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred years down the road. Republicans think about next quarter, maybe next year, but anything beyond that is simply not important, because by then they'll be on to the next scam ... er, leadership position. Republicans are not system thinkers, and what's more, when they look at Democrats, they don't see those Democrats doing anything "big" - they don't meet each crisis head-on, because a typical Democrat is more likely to defuse a situation before it becomes a crisis, but this is invisible to the conservative mindset.

Democrats build foundations. Republicans build walls. Trump is almost the perfect Republican - he has trouble thinking about long term legacies, because he can only see what's immediately ahead of him. He only sees what's in it for himself, which is why he treats the presidency like being a king. His "signature" legacies were in general done by the GOP between 2016 and 2018 - the corporate tax breaks and the stacking of the judiciary, which was basically rubberstamping whoever the Heritage Foundation put in front of him, but its very significant that once the Democrats took over the House, he accomplished nothing else (oh, yeah, he's built 4.5 miles of wall).

I think the thing that Democrats don't understand is that most sales/marketing people don't think in the same way that they do (I count being a CEO as being prinarily a sales role), and even that's changing, as marketing becomes more and more technically focused and data driven.

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Why Republicans seems to score better on economic issues than Democrats (Original Post) kurtcagle Aug 2020 OP
Thanks for 'splaining billh58 Aug 2020 #1
Because they lie about it. Plus... Beartracks Aug 2020 #2
Because they've been lying about it for years. marybourg Aug 2020 #3
Now, put all that on a bumper sticker. House of Roberts Aug 2020 #4
They are liars, cheats, cons, and hypocrites. SamKnause Aug 2020 #5
Because edhopper Aug 2020 #6
It's because Dem presidents always have to spend the first... brush Aug 2020 #7
Management at my workplaces... Buckeye_Democrat Aug 2020 #8
Because money brings power brings winning? ancianita Aug 2020 #9

Beartracks

(12,814 posts)
2. Because they lie about it. Plus...
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 06:55 PM
Aug 2020

... the crises they get credit for (poorly) battling are almost always crises of their own making or made worse by their own policies and priorities, e.g. COVID-19, economic recession.

=========

marybourg

(12,631 posts)
3. Because they've been lying about it for years.
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 07:01 PM
Aug 2020

We haven’t been refuting it enough. So now people with short memories (most people) believe it.

House of Roberts

(5,170 posts)
4. Now, put all that on a bumper sticker.
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 07:08 PM
Aug 2020

Republicans look better because 'borrow and blow' is more fun than 'tax and spend'.

SamKnause

(13,106 posts)
5. They are liars, cheats, cons, and hypocrites.
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 08:06 PM
Aug 2020

They run up the debt and leave the mess to Democratic leaders to solve.

They only talk about debt reduction when the presidency is held by a Democratic president.

They are disgusting tools for the filthy rich, corporations and Wall Street.

They have done zero for the people of America.

edhopper

(33,579 posts)
6. Because
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 08:10 PM
Aug 2020

The media thinks giving tax cuts to the rich and taking away thing from poor people is fiscally responsible.
When in fact the opposite is true.
The economy has done better under Dems than Repuke for a century.

brush

(53,778 posts)
7. It's because Dem presidents always have to spend the first...
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 08:18 PM
Aug 2020

couple of years cleaning up the economic mess left by their repug predecessors (see FDR after Hoover; Clinton after HW Bush; Obama after W Bush and soon Biden after trump who continually brags on the Obama recovery he inherited and has now destroyed).

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,853 posts)
8. Management at my workplaces...
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 08:27 PM
Aug 2020

... have been mostly Republicans. I learned long ago to keep my liberal ideas mostly a secret around them.

I've also had opportunities to get "promoted" into management, but I turned them down because I didn't respect the managers for getting paid more money for far less work!

So I've been kind of a dumb-ass in that regard, financially, but I had a clearer conscience too. At the same time, the whole system just kept annoying me and it still does.

The system is nothing like how my "greatest generation" parents described it. Maybe it was more merit-based when they were young or something? (They're both long-deceased.)

ancianita

(36,055 posts)
9. Because money brings power brings winning?
Sat Aug 22, 2020, 08:30 PM
Aug 2020

And austerity economics forces the money their way so they get the kleptocratic power to keep winning by any means necessary, including guns. Can't take a knife to a gun fight, as Obama once said.

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