Projection & Rejection

Conservatives are so incredibly transparent! Why would we ever let their claims get under our skin? Their tactics are so simple. I'll bet you that I could predict their strategy in any situation.

What's the magic formula? Simple.

1. You are probably familiar with the psychological concept of projection. If not, projection is simply accusing others of what you are doing yourself (more specifically, things you don't like about yourself). In consulting or therapy, clients are typically unaware of the fact that they are accusing others of characteristics they dislike in themselves. In politics, strategists deliberately turn their opposition's strength's against them by accusing them of doing the exact opposite of what they actually did. For example, at a recent forum, a Conservative candidate for the US House accused President Obama of enabling British Petroleum, for actually being complicit in the Gulf Oil disaster, when, in truth, the President stood up to BP and has instituted strong environmental regulations. No one called him on it because our Democratic candidate was back in the other Washington working for our country.

So, what is the effect of falsely accusing us of doing what they, in fact are or would be doing in the same situation? For one thing, their accusations seem to tie us up in knots. It's as if we become paralyzed by their patently outrageous assertions. We don't know how to respond when someone accuses us of the very things we stand against. And, unfortunately, if we do respond, we sound doubly defensive as we point our finger back at them and argued "Wrong, you are the ones who ruined the environment," or "You are the ones who demanded deregulation and then complain that the current administration failed to regulate oil companies." Soon the whole thing would turn into a "yes, you did," "no, you did it" shouting match and serve their purpose totally by muddling the issue to the point that average voters wouldn't know who to believe.

Never doubt that their intent is to confuse and thus neutralize every achievement by any Democrat.

And we let it happen because we've never figured out a way to counter this tactic.

Think of a similar situation in your own life. For example, let's say you have a friend who has the annoying habit of interrupting you and finishing your sentences for you. What happens when you confront that person and ask them to please stop interrupting? You guessed it. They will frequently turn around and accuse you of interrupting them. What do you do then? Do you let it turn into an argument, or do you just let it go as a lost cause? That's what Democrats do. They just let conservatives get away with this tactic and it works! Creating chaos works.

If, as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Genius is the ability to hold two conflicting ideas in your mind at the same time," then what does this say about those of us who are not geniuses? Doesn't the inverse of that statement imply that stupidity is the lack of an ability to hold two conflicting ideas in your mind at the same time? By creating chaos with conflicting ideas, aren't conservatives betting that a large element of the population are somewhat less than intelligent?

2. Rejection strategies necessarily follow projection. First, you accuse your opponent of doing what you yourself are doing, then you reject that action. Condemning or rejecting the very activities you perform yourself shines the spotlight on your opponent and no one notices the diversion.

Don't get mad, get even.

Did you know there is a science of human conflict and interaction based on what's called game theory? Extensive research on human cooperation and conflict finds that the best approach to conflict comes down to the simple idea of tit for tat. Tit for tat means that in any conflict, the best response should echo the behavior of your opponent. If your opponent displays good faith, respond in kind. If your opponent attacks, attack in kind. Sort of a perversion of the Golden Rule. "Do unto them as they did unto you?"

How this approach applies to politics, I'm not quite sure, but I am certain that we need to figure out a way to do it. Until that time, I encourage you to try my magic formula for predicting conservative strategy. At the very least, you might actually see past your anger and outrage to the real reason they do what they do. If we get angry, they win.

-- Nancy Frank, Chair 35th LD Democrats