In typical Democratic fashion, the Democrats tried to show that they were on the side of the little guy. There were countless comments about the struggles of "blue-collar workers" and mention after mention of specific lower-paying jobs -factory workers, nurses, firefighters, teachers. The theory seems that if they just mention them time after time while the Republicans didn't, people would believe they cared about the folks while Republicans didn't. They attempted to further ingrain this by saying as often as possible that Republicans wanted to give tax cuts to the rich and big business.
The Republicans had a problem. Republicans seem to be largely inept when it comes to communicating and how to shape a message. They rarely tried to speak to these people, for whatever reason. Finally, they realized they needed to do a better job. So what did they do?They used Sarah Palin. They had her openly identify herself as one of these type people, calling herself a "hockey mom". While the Democrats tried to paint the Republicans as out of touch and elitist, the Republicans tried to do the same thing, using Palin to present themselves as regular, hard-working people while the Democrats were big spenders and big taxers who didn't care about small-town America. Republicans continually tried to paint this picture. Palin talked about the "average Joe's" and " Joe six-pack". They tried to use Obama's connections to Hollywierd and his statements about rural America. After Republicans made modest gains among small-town independents and locked up their base, Democrats fought back by trying to paint Palin as too much of a regular person, stupid, effectively, and extremist. They also tried to catch John McCain on how many homes he owned. If they hadn't already embarrassed themselves enough by employing such language as "hockey mom" "Joe six-pack", Republicans used stooped to a new-low. They began talking constantly about "Joe the Plumber" and to a lesser extent, "Tito the Construction Worker". They weren't ashamed either. Some Republicans continued to try and label Obama as a Muslim or not a U.S. citizen. Democrats talked about the fact that John McCain wasn't tech savvy or that Sarah Palin didn't believe in evolution.
Ultimately, the Democrats were able to fool America better, making Americans believe that Republicans only cared about the rich. Interestingly enough, they made it a negative to be elitist or rich. But they also made it a negative to be too normal, stupid, in essence, like Palin. Most politicians know that the America people really aren't that bright most of the time. They don't pay attention that closely to the news. They don't know the context of the stories. That's why the founding fathers created the electoral college - because they didn't trust the people to be the ultimate decision-makers. Politicians say things like "Are you better off than you were four years ago?", which of course is fallacious because that implies that the president has a great degree of influence over the economy and that economic conditions remain constant, as if the economy one president inherits is the same as another. However, it would appear to be a simple and logical question to the average person. These are the type of things they do. Both sides use the same tactics. It is just a matter of how well they use them. Every few years the tastes of the America people change and the other party is voted in power. Politicians craft the campaign. They know which stories they can get the media to hype. They are well-aware of how the American public thinks. This election, they were particularly well-aware. And those Americans that aren't stupid realized it. It doesn't feel to good to us to know when we are being talked down to. I'm better than "Joe-the-Plummer" nonsense and my vote isn't going to be bought by mentioning my job (and perceived struggles) often. I don't expect this pander to end anytime soon, it's what the American people know and neither party seems to want to change that.
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