Why is the American left not as effective as the European left?

[Savannahmann]

86. I would agree, and take it further

Let's look at Gun Control issues for a moment. Initial polling after Sandy Hook showed that roughly speaking 90% of the people supported the idea of Universal Background Checks.

The Right killed us on the issue so now it barely rates an asterisk on polling of important issues. The reason, they started to mis-quote the Federalist papers. They created doom and gloom scenarios of people being unable to inherit grand dad's rifle that was manufactured before serial numbers were required. They pointed out that this would not have prevented Adam Lanza's mother from buying guns, nor from him taking them and using it to kill her and then go to the school.

We did zero research. We didn't bother to answer any of that. All we did was smile smugly and sneer and say 90% baby, what more do you want?

We didn't do the homework. We didn't point out that they were misquoting or taking things out of context from the Federalist Papers. We didn't go back to Columbine and point out that they would have been noticed if the purchase of weapons had been done by a background check. We didn't do anything but smile and grin and cheer that we had 90% of the people behind us.

Then we blew it. While I personally support the idea of banning guns, I know that a majority of people do not. I know I am in the minority. But we saw the tide and decided now was the time. We tried to attach gun control to the universal background check, and got our asses kicked. The people saw it as an effort to go for the brass ring, and the support evaporated like a shallow puddle on a hot dry day.

We should have gone for what the people wanted, and we should have answered the arguments of the Right. Instead, we coasted, and got our asses kicked. We need to start doing the homework, we need to come up with cogent arguments not pithy talking points. We need to familiarize ourselves with the issues. European Leftists can do all of that. They can quote the great speeches in history, they can quote the information from the tops of their heads.

In short, they work for it, we don't. You are right in one thing, we wait around and assume that people are going to come join us. We do nothing about convincing them. If they disagree with us, we denounce and denigrate them, we don't debate and destroy them.

When you do that, you look like a bully who doesn't want this person to talk, and people get curious. It is a well known adage that the things that make you the most angry, are the things that are true. By not taking the Right seriously, and not engaging them in debate and discussion, we let them make the points, while we roll our eyes and call them stupid.

This is why we lost Gun Control, why we're losing support on Global Climate Change.

We have to defeat them in the arena of debate, and not just once. Time and time again. There is no such thing as a decisive victory in a debate of ideals. When we don't do that, when we let them make their points unanswered, and unchallenged, we lose the argument by default.