Alan West interview

[woodsmoke]

Ok this one will probably get me banned but it is just a STUNNING thing.

Frank Luntz the polster was doing a "July 4th Roundtable" discussion wherein he got politicians come in to talk to a group of people that were half Democrats and half Republican.

Luntz uses a "live" metering system where they just turn a dial as to whether they liked what was being said or not and the data is provided in a graph real time.

The results were just stunning.

Alan West spoke and was asked questions.

(A)
A guy asked him about something and "Democracy" and West just basically reminded the guy that he(West) has multiple degrees in political theory, etc. in addition to being the first black Colonel in the Army and a black republican congressman, and that basically,.....the guy didn't know that the U.S. is not a "democracy" it is a Constitutional Republic.....

And the Dems approval of him plummeted,......when all he did was give a correct response as to what the U.S. is.

(B)

Discussing him and his history, both parties were high, but then he started talking about the two basic outlooks about "government" in the U.S. and that one outlook is

i) equality of outcome (Dems)
ii) equality of opportunity (Repubs) and

the Dems opinion of him advocating outcome of opportunity and not everybody will be rich...... PLUMMETED....

(C) His basic story.....

both started out high

but.....then he started discussing how he went back to his old neighborhood and that it was a "shell" of it's previous self and that the whole time it had been under the control of a Democrats....

and....Dem support plummeted.

(now that is to be expected except..... ok when a FACT is indicated the response, one would think, would be at least "neutral"....

(D)

Toward the end of the interview when he was talking about how "the amount of money a person has can go up or down, and that is just the way it is but one can always work to get it back, as opposed to the amount of money being kept "level" by the government and

again..........the dems support plummeted.

(E) when he talked about a "dependancy" society as opposed to an "opportunity" society..

support for him by the Dems plummeted.

just stunning results..

woodsmoke

[claydoh]

This is the social/casual thread, so this topic is quite appropriate here, unless there is bloodshed of course

I see this whole setting as you described as THE problem we have in this country. The half Red/half Blue setup is guaranteed to be filled with at least slightly partisan participants at best. The results you see are quite predictable. I would go out on a limb here and say that these incredibly predictable reactions are purely to garner votes for Mr. West.

I tire greatly of bi-partisan politics, gerrymandering,and smokescreen issues distracting us from the blatant corruption we have in our government and the real problems we may have to face.

I am non-partisan, or maybe even UN-partisan. I see no way for those like me who think that the 2 parties we have are the root cause of all the problems we face can have any force or voice at the moment. The original Tea Party movement was quietly over run by the right, and the Occupy movement seems to be going down a similar path.

[vw72]

It would have been much more interesting if instead of 1/2 republicans and democrats that it was 100% independants. It is highly assumed that the majority of those identifying themself with a particular party will vote for the candidate of that party. However, neither party has a majority, so it is how the independants vote that decide elections.

As pro-business as congress is, it is sad that they don't operate more business like. Most businesses, if employees can't get along, the boss fires both of them. Well, the people are supposed to be the boss, but instead of insisting on elective officials that can work together to solve real problems, we allow the current broken system to continue. It is too bad, that as a people, we are more interested in what was the cause of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes relationship than what is causing the decline in our own country.

[woodsmoke]

we are more interested in what was the cause of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes relationship than what is causing the decline in our own country.

Well said vw72!

woodsmoke

[erchie]

Colin Powell became Colonel Colin Powell on February 1, 1976, six days before Allen West had his 15th birthday. So how could Allen West have been the "first" black colonel in the US Army? I wonder how many more African American colonels were appointed to that rank before Colin Powell received his promotion?

[HalationEffect]

I wonder if I'm the only person who mis-read the title of this thread, and thought that it was Adam West who was interviewed. Imagine my disappointment to discover it was some boring politician and not Batman.

[bsniadajewski]

.....the guy didn't know that the U.S. is not a "democracy" it is a Constitutional Republic.....

There's nothing saying the US isn't a democracy and a constitutional republic.


democracy n. government by the people, usually through elected representatives. (Websters Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1989).

So, IMHO. BOTH are right on that account.

[woodsmoke]

Halation effect.



bsniadajewski

good point!

woodsmoke