Most people in America lean left of center when it comes to political issues: the majority of voters oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicaid, support gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana, think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, believe wealth should be more evenly distributed, and support universal background checks for all firearm purchases.
So how does the GOP keep winning elections when most of the country doesn’t agree with its basic political policies?
The answer is simple.
Fear.
The Republican party wants you to be afraid of everything from undocumented, Central American refugee children to gay marriage to ISIS to ebola.
“This is all the right can come up with as a closing argument in the 2014 midterms,” wrote Joan Walsh for Salon. “They have no policy agenda and demography is against them, but fear will always be with them.”
As Walsh pointed out, regarding ebola, the Right would be responsible for any spread that occurred because of “cuts to the [Centers for Disease Control], the [National Institutes of Health], and medical research generally.”
GOP obstruction is why we don’t have a surgeon general; Republican governors have repeatedly rejected the federal Medicaid expansion and have slashed budgets of public health services.
The Right doesn’t care if voters really understand the issues that affect Americans every day; in fact, they’d probably prefer it that voters don’t. Fear comes from a lack of understanding. It’s the same as kids who are afraid of monsters in their closets. Once they look inside and understand there is nothing scary in it, they aren’t afraid anymore.
As long as the GOP, using Fox News and other conservative mouthpieces, can keep their old, white guy voting base afraid of everything, they are assured to keep their votes.
Watch Ring of Fire Host Mike Papantonio discuss Republican fear mongering with progressive radio host David Pakman on The Big Picture.
