The Conservatives I see on TV really do not understand what they are up against.
The television medium has reduced the ancient dramatic art form into a ridiculous melodrama where the only essential roles are hero, villain, and victim. This model has been so prevalent that once the victim is defined the other roles are instantly derived.
Before the visiting conservative even turns on their microphone, the liberal host has already set the topic & defined the victim. We can rail against the "victim hood" mentality, but not understanding the dynamics off TV is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. We cannot redefine the television model, instead we have to deal with the existing rules. A conservative can lower expectations & try to please that minority portion of the audience that is already conservative… but if we want to WIN the exchange then we have to "Flip the Victim."
Rule One: Never blame the victim, nor imply they deserve the consequences in any way. To do this is to don the Black Hat. Instead, just shoot me – you are no friend of mine!
Rule Two: Start with "I feel your pain" and move to either say there is an additional victim or the initial victim has a different villain. If you fail on this, you lose. Be aware: in your first remarks you have three sentences – at most! Everything the conservative says must be short and pithy. Just see the full Gibson/Palin interview to see what happens when a conservative attempts to give more than a three sentence answer to any one question.
Example:
Host: (Consider Mr. Victim, who deserves more tax money)
Conservative: The Government has let Mr. Victim down. Its wrong that Mr. Victim is in this situation, and 50 years & billions of dollars only made things worse.
Liberal: (Worse? What? Liar!)
Conservative: Insanity is doing the same thing while expecting different results.
Liberal: (You insensitive monster!)
Conservative: Fifty years & billions of dollars – but taking more from working seniors' retirement accounts won't solve the problem.
Liberal: (How can you deny…)
Conservative: Liberals keep expanding the government at Grandma's expense, but things are not getting better. Don’t you have any other ideas to help Mr. Victim -- Grandma wants to retire, leave the poor woman alone!
Liberal: (Corporate taxes…)
Conservative: Corporations make jobs, and we do not need higher prices but even worse, Grandma's retirement is in corporate 401Ks. How many more years will you force Grandma to work before you figure out your fantasy of big government solutions was nothing more than wishful thinking?
Host: (What is your solution?)
Conservative: Government service is terrible, government quality is an oxymoron, and most tax dollars are simply wasted. Instead , the government is most effective when it sets up potential tax breaks to encourage people & corporations to voluntarily do the right things. Let's be smart -- honey still works better than the big ugly stick of big clumsy government.
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