General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What I really expected from Obama-- [View all]AdHocSolver
(2,561 posts)If they cannot understand the policies and how it affects them, then the voters will try to determine whose side the politician is on by looking at that politician's stated values.
The wealthy elite one percent used the mantra that "Democrats will raise your taxes" to convince people that Democrats were not on their side, and Republicans promised no tax increases. Of course, it worked because Republicans have been proclaiming for years that all taxes are evil. This is a value statement, not a policy statement.
The 2010 election results suggests that what a politician says is as important, if not more important, than declared policies.
Obama overdid the "reaching across the aisle" theme. He actually helped Republicans appear "reasonable", which gave them credibility and confused voters about whose side he was on. Many of the people he added to his administration added to the confusion about "whose side he was on", and had a negative effect on the voting in 2010.