Dems Won't Win Unless They Understand This

A few days ago one of my favorite commenters, Justin Wolfers, remarked: “We’re going to educate our way out of this crisis.” As a professor of economics, Wolfers understands his public duty as teaching how the economy works so that voters can better evaluate the decisions made by officials. Wolfers assumes that voters will make rational choices if they learn basic economic principles. Almost all Democratic leaders and commenters share this perspective, regardless of their area of expertise. And it’s dead wrong.

American democracy is in a big hole today because Democrats continue to misdiagnose Republican voters. Unless Democrats change the way they think about this problem, democracy and prosperity will slip away. To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To rationalists, every problem can be solved with reason. That is the fatal mistake the left keeps making. Republican voters are not rational, not when it comes to politics. Until Democrats grasp the irrational forces driving Republicans’ pathological behavior, it will only get worse.

Another way to put it is that Republicans are not misinformed; they are delusional. Good answers to the policy questions debated today can be found in minutes by anyone who does a Google search and evaluates sources with a little critical intelligence. The vast majority of voters are capable of this. But Republican voters don’t do it, and when authorities like Justin Wolfers show them the right answer, they don’t believe it. This is not because Republicans are stupid. Rather, they are in the grip of powerful fantasies that prevent them from seeing reality.

Republican delusions aren’t hidden. They’re apparent in the way Republicans talk: us vs. them, makers and takers, Christians face repression, taxation is theft, government is the problem, George Soros, pedophile ring, drill baby drill, don’t tread on me, from my cold, dead hands, and so on. Why the persistence of these obviously absurd fantasies? No, it’s not the right-wing media universe and the propaganda spread by the rich. Republicans want to believe them. These delusions give them power to resist a world they don’t understand and changes they fear. When we try to educate Republicans, we are not simply asking them to substitute facts for falsehoods; we are asking them to alter their whole philosophy of life. They would rather believe the most impossibly complex conspiracy theory than accept a simple truth that contradicts their world view. Educating Republican voters is futile. So what can move Republicans?

Reflection. Thinking about the role right-wing fantasies play in their personal life. A conservative friend advises the top companies in the world on digital technology and business strategy. He relishes disruptive tech and creative destruction in the economy. He’s also terrified of Black Lives Matter, fearing that a violent mob of BLM protesters is going to show up at his house some day. I point out that 98% of BLM protests had no violence and that most of the violence in the other 2% was caused by conservative counter-protesters. These facts make no impression on him. Then I say, “How come you love revolutions in business and technology, but you’re afraid of mild social change?” He says, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that.” That is what we need Republicans to do.

The only way to break Republican delusions is to encourage self-reflection in Republican voters. Stop trying to educate them. Stop trying to debate the issues with them and arguing policy. Instead, turn the focus to Republican voters themselves and challenge them to look at their own ways of thinking about the world. Point out the inconsistencies in their behavior—they would never choose a plumber the way they choose a president. By reflecting on themselves, Republicans will be able to see their fantasies as fantasies and not reality, and move beyond them.