Lizard brain tactics
by digby
I don't know whether to laugh or cry:
This summer, a group of well-financed conservative activists had an idea for what they hoped would be a last-minute game changer in the presidential race. They would put out a DVD that made a compelling case against Mr. Obama in battleground states, sending it to voters through a carefully targeted direct mail campaign or as an insert in Sunday newspapers in the weeks before Election Day.
They went to the unusual length of arranging a focus group to test anti-Obama films. Conducted by Frank Luntz, the well-known Republican research analyst, a 30-person focus group looked at three choices: Dinesh D’Souza’s “2016: Obama’s America,” which theorizes that the president’s political beliefs were shaped by the radical “anticolonial” views of his Kenyan father; “The Hope and the Change,” a softer critique of the president that features interviews with disaffected former Obama supporters; and “Dreams From My Real Father,” which posits the implausible theory that the president’s real father is Mr. Davis, and that Mr. Davis indoctrinated him with Marxist views early on.
Republicans have struggled in this election with two powerful and competing impulses: to hammer a president they dislike intensely with a strong indictment of his record, but to be restrained enough to win over independent voters, who generally like Mr. Obama. Those who commissioned Mr. Luntz’s research, according to people with firsthand knowledge of their motives, wanted to determine whether any of these films would do the trick and be worth backing. Mr. Luntz declined to say who commissioned his research.
The only one that didn't turn people's stomachs was the "Hope and Change" one which is running currently on cable stations. But that didn't stop the wingnuts from distributing their hideous garbage anyway:
But even though no major Republican activists stepped forward to finance its distribution, voters in Ohio and Florida have reported receiving the DVD.
Mr. Gilbert will not say where he received the money to distribute his movie — he claims to have sent out four million copies. “It’s a private company, so we don’t disclose who’s part of it,” he said. He also blamed the mainstream media for not looking deeper into the story he uncovered, telling The New York Times, “I hope you’re not angry or jealous that I beat you to it and might win the Pulitzer Prize.”
His work has already received a lot of attention in corners of the conservative media, including on the radio programs of Monica Crowley and Michael Savage.
One voter from Stuart, Fla., who received the “Dreams From My Real Father” DVD in the mail last week said she was appalled, confirming Republicans’ worst fears about the film.
“I thought, well, I’ll take a look and see what it is,” said the voter, Judy Cindrick. The DVD was addressed to her husband, who was not affiliated with either party on his state voter registration. “But then it got to the part about the president’s mother, and I was like, O.K., I can’t even watch this anymore. This is just something a bunch of crackpots put together.”
If Obama wins narrowly, I'll be very curious to see if the GOP has the wherewithal to pin some of the blame on these nutballs. Not that it will make any difference. These nutballs are empowered and well financed by other nutballs. It's far more likely that they'll blame the Romneybot for his lack of conservative principles.
And anyway, this ridiculous piece of garbage doesn't differ much from The Clinton Chronicles, which handed out in churches and sold through Jerry Falwell's "Old Time Gospel Hour" so it's not like they just came up with the idea. Considering the fact that the country is evenly divided, you also have to figure that it works on some level. It's entirely possible that for every Judy Cindrick there's some completely disengaged somewhat bigoted voter out there who figures there must be something to this or they wouldn't have gotten it in the mail.
Republicans always bank on the lizard brain and at least half the time it's a pretty good bet.
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