Originally Posted by pocketkangaroo

The Republican Party is really good at marketing, plain and simple. While you may not agree with their views, they know how suck people in. They have an army of sorts behind them that will do and say whatever they are told (ditto heads, etc).

They've fed on "patriotism" and "religion" to build a huge base. They've told these people that those issues are more important than anything else. Not to mention, they have an incredible set of mouthpieces to get the message out. Take the Richard Clarke incident a few years ago where he basically showed everyone how clueless Bush was. Every single conservative talk show and blog read from the same exact talking points in hours. It's a great force in getting a message out to their supporters who in turn will repeat those talking points like sheep. You can find a few on this board who will post a talking point. You ask them to elaborate on it and they disappear from the thread (or until they are told how to answer the question by a blog/talk show).

But Democrats aren't much better. They've convinced people that they actually care about "the people". That they can save everyone's problems from the big bad wolf that's called life. They are different though, as they tend to be more independent but passionate. Someone used to say "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line".

In the end, both sides convince a segment of the population to vote for them who really shouldn't. Truth is both sides suck. Both sides don't give a shit about you. They would gut us alive for an extra vote. But there will always be people willing to believe that these guys are somehow in their corner.