Dear Democrats: Only 10% of People Even Know What You Are Fighting For

[babylonsister]

Dear Democrats: Only 10% of People Even Know What You Are Fighting For
Even if Democrats can pass their big bill, they won’t be able to sell it.
by Tim Miller
October 12, 2021 5:13 am


Quick: What is in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better,” “Human Infrastructure,” “Reconciliation,” “Unicorn Boner,” “Bed Bath & Beyond” legislation?

Can you tell me?

I’m guessing that you can. Well maybe you don’t know everything that’s in it. But I bet you can name a couple things. Because you, dear reader, are an engaged citizen. You participate in our rollicking national civic dialogue. You subscribe to a few substacks.

But do you understand just how rare you are, person who knows what is in the BBB plan? You are like the recherché and retired Batty the Bat beanie baby or the sweet Nikola Jokic double behind the back dribble TopShot NFT.

Because when CBS News asked the American public how much they know about the “Build Back Better” plan only 10 percent replied “a lot of the specifics.”

10 percent!

And let me tell you a secret: Even that number is wrong, because a bunch of those people were lying.

more...

https://www.thebulwark.com/dear-democrats-the-3-5-trillion-build-back-better-is-a-political-dead-end/

[Kaleva]

1. About 10% of the adult population in this country watches the news.

There were an estimated 253,768,092 adults in the US in 2018. The number of people who watch CBS News, ABC News , NBC news, Fox Prime News, CNN, MSNBC each night is about 25 million.

[Kaleva]

9. DU is my main source of news. Almost 100%.

[progressoid]

13. Not sure watching the news is a good way to find out about Build Back Better.

The media has it's own agenda...$$$

[Trueblue Texan]

15. I learn a lot from Rachel and Lawrence...

They frequently interview lawmakers who are right in the thick of the negotiations. I may not know the exact dates and dollars of the legislation, (since that hasn't been settled anyway) but I feel I have a good understanding of what the legislation will address.

[Kaleva]

22. True but I think it's a good indication of how few pay attention.

On a similiar note, many here talk about how Fox news has brainwashed half the country but if one looks at the networks ratings, only about 1% of adults watch Fox News on most any given evening.

[GoodRaisin]

39. And yet 160 million vote in presidential elections,

a lot of whom have no idea of what they are voting for. They are just there to pull the lever for the “R” or “D”.

[Kaleva]

40. Yes. I suspect most voters don't really know squat about the candidates.

[luv2fly]

2. The Bulwark is a Charlie Sykes Republican rag n/t

[babylonsister]

14. Do you think they're lying? nt

[PatrickforB]

26. Nope.

There are a LOT of Trumpies who believe in pedophile pizza trafficking and ivermectin, but at the same time can, if asked, give you a detailed, and very specific player by player analysis of their favorite sports teams, including the projected chances to win each upcoming game in the schedule.

Still others, your 'independent' voters - the people who claim to vote for the candidate, not the party, can tell you all about each contestant on their favorite reality show, but cannot pick out most countries on a map, and may not even know who their US Senators and Representative are, or how many justices are on the Supreme Court. Some might not even know who the VP is, let alone who their local elected officials are.

As engaged as we are here, I sometimes wonder if we deserve to keep this republic with so much stupidity on the part of the American people.

[betsuni]

34. Great comment. I can't do what they do, remember specific details about anything.

I'm more stupid than they in that way, yet ... it's a different kind of stupid. Americans have lost common sense. So many people still say their votes don't count, after decades of extremely close elections. That's stupid.

[PatrickforB]

41. I'll sure agree with that about the close elections

[luv2fly]

36. I think none of us know

Which doesn't change the fact that it's a right wing rag.

[ramen]

29. I don't like the source much, but it does seem like we have a

real problem in messaging around BBB. I would love for all people to better understand what this is about and why it matters to them as individuals as well as why it matters foe the nation.

[DeeDeeNY]

3. Most also don't realize it's 3.5 billion spread over 10 years

And what a small fraction of the overall budget that is.

[PoliticAverse]

5. The thing is, when asked if they support the $3.5 trillion bill the majority of people

apparently say yes.

This is partly a problem of passing everything in a single 600+ page bill (due to the need to do so via reconcillation).

[betsuni]

6. "Democrats need to recognize that time is short" "Democrats aren't capable" they're

"playing into Republican's hands."

[NurseJackie]

8. I know, right?

[betsuni]

12. "Right-wing source" is over-used, but if the shoe fits.

Why is this posted here?

[plimsoll]

25. More to the point

why haven't we flagged it as right wing noise?

[betsuni]

28. Has been an attempt. But not successful.

[NurseJackie]

7. Yet another "incompetent Democrats" story, eh?

Total crap. If it hasn't happened already, I expect it won't be long before Tim Miller is working for Politico.

[jaxexpat]

32. You gotta give old Tim credit, though.

He managed to make a story barely underlain with misrepresented facts and laced throughout with cheap, stereotypical shots at Democrats seem reasonable and even a little chique. What a clever Tim. What we walk away with is "Democrats need to get the message out". What we subliminally imbue is "Democrats hopelessly misunderstand their own bill".

The truth is that every bill (and the conversation around the bill) the Democrats put forward is perused just enough to find toeholds for someone's mistrust which become headlines the next cycle. That every bill Democrats put forth is desperately important and chocked full of beneficial outcomes is TOTALLY lost by the time the media (with the help of elected GOP minions) has constructed a sinister and incompetent reality around it.

I was talking to a fellow yesterday who I've known for about 15 years to be apolitical by nature. He shocked me when he bragged a little about how useful he has found his healthcare insurance through the ACA. The thing about it is, he was reticent to speak of it as if he didn't want everybody to know he thought something from a Democrat, something so roundly derided by the "common knowledge", was performing as promised. I was surprised he even used the term "ACA" in a public venue. There's an essential insecurity lurking at the heart of Democratic coexistence with MAGAists, preventing them celebrating the rare fruits of good sense. Closeted Democrats. Who knew?

[Omnipresent]

10. Republicans always have a playbook...

Could we do the same instead of thinking or already concluding that we are losing the Congress in 13 months?
I mean, really!

[padah513]

11. Why do these people think we're stupid?

After four years of trump, and all this crap the pugs are trying to pull today, we can't afford to be. Our eyes are open wide and we see everything. The BBB plan won't fail, just be a little smaller, and once it succeeds we need to get out the vote and pull off a 2018 in 2022.

[pazzyanne]

18. + 1 nt

[Pepsidog]

16. Same thing with the ACA and everything else we do.

[Champp]

17. Thank you, BabylonSister

[Hulk]

19. This is the problem...

The DNC and others on the progressive side are terrible at messaging.

The Democratic congressmen and women who appear on the media platforms are "played". Instead of skipping the stupid questions cnn and chuckie throw at them to "sensationalize" the TEN YEAR price tag...they need to go off script and explain it's OVER TEN YEARS, and it's paid for through higher taxes on the corporations and WEALTHY...not 95 % of you.

The need to hammer exactly what is in it...a list of 20 most important points.

They sit on their hands...and play defense and get played by the powers.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

21. NBC CBS ABC are not friends of taxes for the rich (them and friends), or democracy, lately.

It is democracy that will take away the trillions in tax cuts delivered by fascists, taking away the fascists means tears for them.

[wnylib]

23. I agree. Messaging is our weakest point.

We have great ideas and policies, great leaders to develop them and carry through. But we don't get message bytes out very well to our own or to the general public.

[LymphocyteLover]

27. Yes. There are a few on our side who can message-- Bernie Sanders and AOC are best

Jayapal is good too. Mostly the progressives, because they understand the stakes here.

[Midnight Writer]

20. Local TV and radio are running ads 'round the clock against the bill.

The ads are very misleading. I know that, but most folks don't.

Add that to the 24/7 hate radio, the 24/7 FOX, OAN, Newsmax, and Sinclair broadcast stations.

I haven't seen any ads in support of the bill.

[XanaDUer2]

24. I see zero commercials from Dems about it

WHY THE FUCK NOT?

[betsuni]

30. Because that takes a lot of money and when Democrats have fundraisers

they're accused of being corrupt and beholden to the "donor class"? They don't have unlimited funds like Republicans do.

[XanaDUer2]

37. Then we're screwed nt

[Farmer-Rick]

31. We'll to be honest most GOPers

Didn't know what was in the tax give away to the rich that the psycho Trump dumped out.

It's not like Trump humpers pay any attention to reality. They should go back to not getting vaccinated and dying from Covid-19.

[doc03]

33. This BBB plan started out at $6 trillion and now we can't even get half

that. It may pass for $2 trillion in the end. If it gets through it will be viewed as a major loss for Democrats.
I have learned nothing about it from the news media. What little I know I have read here on DU. Instead
trying to sell the plan on its merits it has been on how much to spend. I live in Ohio 7 miles from WV where we
get our local news mainly from the WV media. The Republicans have been running ads in WV calling it socialism,
claiming it will raise drug prices and energy prices and raise taxes. Telling us to call Joe Manchin and tell him not to vote for it.
What have I heard from Democrats, crickets. All I have seen of our Congressional leaders has been them arguing
about the dollar figure and nothing about the plan itself. We can blame the media but the Democratic party has to
share the blame for their poor messaging. While Democrats have been bickering over how much to spend the Republicans
have been busy defining the plan as Socialism.

[leftstreet]

38. +1

Same here in my location

[Tribetime]

35. Thank you they need to hammer this through 2022