How to Talk to a Republican #1

Sorry it's been so long between postings. Between a new job and life in general, not much time to devote. I want to change that.

Leading up to the next general election, we're once again faced with a dilemma. Democrats represent Americans' values by a large percentage but we seem to lose the values debate. We tend to be excited by ideals, by big-picture concepts. Unfortunately, a large number of the electorate isn't turned on by anything any more intellectual than the color commentary for Wrestlemania. Our challenge is to ensure that Joe Sixpack, Republican and Lee Greenwood patriot, learns what he needs to know in order to vote his own best interest.

If you've followed the news, you'll realize that a vast majority of the Republicans' positions have been proven wrong, not ideologically but by experiences in other countries. This series is designed to help express that incorrectness, to show what doesn't work and explain it in easy language and simple numbers.

Health care is a great one. We can talk about the need for single-payer health care, the Republicans talk about rationing. Now where's the truth, Joe? How much do you pay for health insurance, not just how much you pay but how much your company pays as well. We in the US pay the most for health care of any other country in the world. And what do you get for your money? Are we the best? We're 23rd in the world, behind even Cuba. In terms of life expectancy, Costa Rica at 39th beats us - we're 40th. And in the US, you'll wait longer to see an oncologist after having been diagnosed with cancer than you'll wait for elective surgery in Canada.

I used this on a Drudge-reading GOPer a few days ago and you could almost hear gears grinding in his head. Drudge didn't tell me this, the thought goes, he tells me we're number one....

Talk to them simply. Some may even understand.