Seriously, WTF has happened to our country?

[jtuck004]

14. Note: They didn't just come out. They were exorted to come out by organizers who

were part of a deliberate campaign, and they were a part of those targeted.

(Just btw, it was announced (here, on the front page in the past day or so, iirc) that they are going to enlarge their effort.)

Not magic. Work. Home meetings, DVDs. Doughnuts. Contact. Simple messages of hate spread with effective organizing at a local level. They added to that with a lot of $ and effort into media, social campaigns, etc., though they were very effective without those They didn't ignore the top, but they sure didn't mount very effective campaigns, missed many opportunities to capitalize, etc. And lost the top. Twice.

But the core was getting like-minded haters to run for offices that were up for grabs because people had other things to concern themselves with. And they won enough of those to have an impact, and to have an impact on future elections.

Their opposition worked more from the top outward. Twice, successfully. Which has worked out quite well for a number of people, as long as they weren't in the bottom fifth or so of the population economically (their numbers have increased and they have pretty much been screwed for years). Didn't completely ignore that segment, but didn't work it like the haters, and still don't (think they took food stamps away from people making $100K a year?). This was partly because that wasn't who they were courting, and partly because of those unique variables in the country and its mood that change from time to time.

However, while those two groups will probably continue doing what they are doing, because of their conditions over the past few years that bottom fifth to about a third of the country might be ripe for a populist organizing. Could be a break away from the other two, or...? That could put that top down strategy over the top, or in the tank for a few years, as well as combat the hate-organizers. Which depends on their condition, I think, but most especially the quality of the organizers.

We will see what happens going forward.