It's now clear that an important part of the Administration's campaign in the homestretch of these midterm elections is to attempt to shame those who aren't planning to participate into voting for the administration.
Here's the latest example, fromthe President's Rolling Stone interview:
The idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible...It has been hard, and we've got some lumps to show for it. But if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place.
This--and similar statements from the VP--have been kicked around here and elsewhere and vetted for their truthfulness. But I'm not concerned about their truthfulness. I'm concerned about their political effectiveness.
Can the passage from Obama that I just quoted convince anyone who wouldn't otherwise vote for the Democrats to vote for the Democrats?
'Cause that's what matters.
The people in question needn't be the progressives the president is attacking. They could be centrists who wouldn't otherwise vote or who are thinking about voting Republican.
But I just don't see anyone who's currently not planning to vote for Democrats decide to vote Democratic because of statements like this.
So consider this diary a challenge: if you can locate anyone who responds positively to this message who is not already voting for the Democrats this fall, please tell me about this person in the comments.
UPDATE: There's been an effort to change the subject of this diary by focusing on its title. I used the phrase "hippie punching" to describe a strategy that's usually described as "hippie punching." It proved to be a distraction. So I changed the title. With any luck we can now focus on what this diary is actually about. I'll also note that not a single comment has so far described an actual voter moved to vote Democratic by this strategy.