No, really, Republicans are getting weirder

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 525 points –
washingtonpost.com

The GOP needs to convince voters that Donald Trump and JD Vance are regular guys, and, manifestly, they are not.

It would be strange for Democrats to attack the Republican presidential ticket for being “weird” if it weren’t true. But those men are getting weirder by the day.

Former president Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), is off to a wobbly start. A Harris 2024 campaign email sent on Friday was headlined, “JD Vance Is a Creep (Who Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide).” The statement continued, “JD Vance is weird. Voters know it – Vance is the most unpopular VP pick in decades.”

It was bad enough when footage resurfaced of a 2021 interview in which Vance called Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.” Things got worse last week when Vance offered a non-apology, blaming “people” for “focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said.”

Uh, okay, but that doesn’t help at all. The substance — which Vance said he stands by — is asserting that adults without children do not deserve an equal say  in the nation’s affairs. Another unearthed clip of Vance showed him arguing that parents, when they vote, should be able to cast an extra ballot for each child in their family who is under voting age. He didn’t take that back, either, going only so far as to claim it was a “thought experiment” and not a firm policy position.

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I think this is why the Republicans seem weirdly upset by this line of attack. Call them fascists, they don't bat an eye. It's too complicated for their base to comprehend anyway, even if the would have had a problem with it. But call them out for being weird, and suddenly their base might stop for a moment and actually think: "Yeah, writing about fucking a sofa in your memoirs is a bit odd, isn't it?"

Exactly. For the longest time Democrats have suffered from the "bumper sticker gap." Liberal and leftist positions are generally more complex, nuanced and tend to require a broader intellectual background than conservative positions. This means they aren't easily captured by sound bites, and that makes it much easier for conservatives to capture and control media narratives.

"Republicans are weird" closes that gap, and carries a whole lot of deeper context in the form of the obvious response - "why are Republicans weird?" Suddenly there's an inroad to engage with deeper policy conversations. And better yet, Republicans can't engage with the topic at all without having the same conversation - "we aren't weird because..."

writing about fucking a sofa in your memoirs is a bit odd, isn't it?"

You're aware this never happened right?

The AP couldn't prove he didn't fuck a couch. So you sound a little too confident to me.

Yes it's so funny that it's fully worth sinking to their level to make so shit up and then never shut up about it ever /s

Damn dude, touch grass.

Yeah I've never been outside before because I think the left should be better than this shit. I probably have never seen a woman naked too or something right

The right should be better than this shit, too, but here we are. Until the truth matters to them again, you have to attack them in ways that will actually work.

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This joke is the best thing to happen to Ohio in decades. Might get us another Democrat in the senate

...how do you figure that?

He’s increasingly unpopular here

I'm not sure how much of that is the joke or how much Lemmy gives us a glimpse of Ohioans' attitudes. I visited Ohio recently and I came away thinking "good God this is basically Northern Florida!"

Edit: oh maybe you meant in Ohio by "here". If so, I'm wondering if you're in a city in Ohio.

I work in a factory in rural Ohio. I’ve been an Ohioan for most of my life. Yeah it’s basically Florida, but as it stands Senator Vance is being seen as increasingly clown shoes. I don’t think he’s going to shift Ohioan values, I think he’s going to be unable to maintain the enthusiasm necessary to hold his seat. Ohio is north Florida, except we were a swing state longer.

Thanks for your perspective here. I hope what you're seeing reflects the rest of the rural parts of the state!

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Correction: He didn't write about it in his book, but why if he has never made sweet love to a couch, has he not come forward to deny these sofa-fucking allegations?

Curious...

You must be joking but I'll say it: it's too stupid to address

Ah shoot, you're right, I didn't fact check properly.

Still a massive weirdo though.

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