I am a big fan of the show Survivor. I have watched it since it's beginning. I have always found it an interesting study of the psychology of team building and success. Step over the orange roughie for more.
One thing I have noticed on almost every season is that the team who from the beginning sought out a leader and became a cohesive unit lasts the longest. The teams that work together from the beginning and support the leadership of the tribe tend to make it to the merge as a more complete tribe. Many times the younger people get on the same tribe and they seem to think they do not need a leader and it is every person for themselves. They tend to lose the challenges and end up losing their tribe members one after another. The object of the game is to survive 39 days and it seems that the team with the strongest leadership and alliances end up with their members making it to the end.
Watching the midterms this year was like watching two tribes trying to make it to the end. On the one hand you had the Republicans. They had a negative message, true but they all stuck to it. Yes they had a very old white guy leadership but the all stuck to that too. They stuck to their issues, defund or abolish Obamacare, get the TPP, get the pipline. They spread their fear-mongering far and wide screaming we would all die from Ebola and that Isis was knocking at our door. They stuck to the same lies and the same anti-Obama cry that they have been yelling for six years. They worked in many states for voter suppression laws that barred people from voting. They worked as a team all over the country. They were cohesive and they won with their non-issues.
Team Red won.
Team Blue lost.
Now let's look at the Democrats or Team Blue.
First, they distanced themselves from their leader. The President. The reason that many of them got into office on his shirttail. The total disrespect many of them showed alienated many voters who still like Obama. So, they became leaderless. What did this do?
By denying their leader they lost their cohesiveness. Each one went their own way. Anarchy! Each one was so afraid to proudly speak of the things that the Democrats and President Obama have accomplished over the last six years. Obamacare which has insured so much of the country with lower premiums, those who had preexisting conditions, insurance for the poor that cannot afford insurance is the first thing. The pulling our economy from ruin was a miracle, especially when you see the economies of most of Europe. Job creation has gone through the roof even though they are not necessarily the best jobs, they are jobs. Banks survived, corporations survived that caused the economic crash. The stock market has hit all time highs. We are pulling out of Afghanistan and we had pulled out of Iraq. Ebola is not spreading in this country and Isis is being held at bay in Iraq and Syria. Fox News and the Republicans try to put the worst spins on all these things and cook up conspiracy theories right and left. Their untruths do not wipe out what he has accomplished.
Did our candidates stand up proudly and trumpet out the positives that have happened? Heck no! They ran the other direction. Their campaigns became either Republican lite or no message at all. Take Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky. She said she was for guns and coal. Hey where is the difference between her and Mitch McConnell? So people voted for the devil they know. Same with Mary Landrieau. She is backing the Keystone XL Pipeline with every fiber of her being. She did not learn a thing and will probably lose because she has no message that gives the people hope.
Mark Udall's message became offensive because he focused only on abortion for most of his campaign. Many people may be progressive and still not want abortion shoved in their face. He needed to trumpet his fight for the environment, especially in Colorado. He should have told of his fight for privacy for the people and for transparency in government. Those things got lost in his message about abortion. And, where were those that want to fight for immigration? Where was the message about equality in the workplace? The rise in the minimum wage? It seemed like President Obama was the only one willing to speak of these things. These were the things we wanted to hear about. We wanted our team to be President Obama's team.
So no leadership, no cohesiveness, no message. We lost. Big time. Are you guys willing to listen now?
The Republicans didn't win because their message was good or because people were impressed with their incredibly poor performance in the Senate and Congress, they won because Democrats and Independents decided no one was worth voting for.
Sun Nov 16, 2014 at 4:03 PM PT: Comments added to include voter suppression