From TPM Reader TM ...

From where I'm placed, I have to say that I agree with TPM Reader CS about how our side is losing the message war, and TPM as well. Even if the lies are not believed by a majority, they are believed by a significant number, and those people are well represented in Ohio, based on my experiences canvassing for healthcare reform in the last couple of weeks. Then there's the layer of people who know that the palaver about death panels is nonsense but are very fearful that they have much to lose from a public option. I have had a tough time with seniors and those who believe (or want to believe) that their insurance policies will insulate themselves and their families from any peril. We know that there is a significant generational divide, and I think that divide is also regional, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is also an urban vs. rural divide as well. I'm in a rural area.

From where I'm standing, the messaging has not been nearly good enough. The deathers just like the birthers do not want to be convinced by evidence and reason, but it is a grave mistake to think that the opposition to healthcare reform comes only from such dead-enders. The administration and Democrats will have to convince a lot of people that they have nothing to lose from "Obamacare," and might just have something to gain. In a sense, the Democratic messaging has tried to kill the many heads of the hydra, without delivering a deathblow to the body. Yes, there is a rightwing/corporatist lie factory at work, but the misinformation would not have gained so much traction if it didn't tap into a considerable amount of fear. Obama needs to address that fear. And part of addressing that fear is talking relentlessly about how successful government programs like medicare have been at delivering quality, non-rationed healthcare with a remarkably low overhead, as well as showing Democrats to have been the creators and defenders of medicare. Ditto for social security. And Obama needs to drive home the costs of doing nothing. Lastly, Obama has to point the finger at insurance companies, directing the wellspring of fear and rage at them for practices that deny and limit care as well as driving up costs.

These are the conversations that I'm having with the people I canvass, and the only "propaganda" material I have from Organizing for America are glossy photos of Obama with precious little information of the kind I'm suggesting.

Is this another "no one could have foreseen...." ?