Do we act on what we know?
All this political chat… I have understood that 20-25% of people are dyed in the wool conservative and another 20-25% is dyed in the wool liberal. You ain’t gunna change em. That leaves 50 -60% who fall somewhere in the middle… and yes you are right that has been the battleground for political power. I believe the question comes down to does this group of ‘moderates’ act on what they know? Are they swayed by mass appeal? Are they duped by deceptive media games? Do they act on habit? Sad thing about it is too much information gives paralysis due to info overload and too little… well there have been plenty of people acting from the deficit mode for some time now. Are we asking ourselves what can be done about this? Is it simply education?
Do you know if the numbers you used above are people who consider themselves to be conservative/liberal? I have several people in my life who have a more progressive worldview but still label themselves as conservative. They are people who will believe the latest FOX spin that liberal = socialist, progressives are coming aftr their churches, and that think when conservatives talk about redeucing taxes, their own taxes are included, etc. They listen to mainstream media, including FOX and believe they are well informed.
Your comment on information overload i fully agree with. I try to be active in knowing the current events and being well informed. But sometimes I don't even know who or what to believe, and i am too paranoid that when i do read or watch the news i am being fed bias and diversion. Its almost depressing.
It is sad for the amount of people who are faced with be un/miss inforemed. There are some who would not even know where to start out trying to get the appropiate info.