Would Democrats do better if they ran against “puritanism” more?

[darklordoftech]

Would Democrats do better if they painted Republicans as prudes who want to stop you from going to bars, stop single people from having sex, make movies and tv sexless, etc.?

[Samof94]

Would Democrats do better if they painted Republicans as prudes who want to stop you from going to bars, stop single people from having sex, make movies and tv sexless, etc.?

True. I think that is a great idea, and also compare Christian theocrats to Muslim ones. One ad I thought of was "if you are homophobic, you are riding with Putin".

[Aurelius2]

This would not have worked more than about a year ago, because at the time it was not true: during the Trump era, Democrats were the more puritanical party. However,
 a good chunk of the Republican Party has become so prudish so fast over the past year that I think this could potentially bear fruit.

[NorCalifornio]

Would Democrats do better if they painted Republicans as prudes who want to stop you from going to bars, stop single people from having sex, make movies and tv sexless, etc.?

True. I think that is a great idea, and also compare Christian theocrats to Muslim ones. One ad I thought of was "if you are homophobic, you are riding with Putin".

If the point is to paint the opposing candidate as prudish, this kind of serious scolding tone is the exact opposite of what you want.

[Samof94]

Would Democrats do better if they painted Republicans as prudes who want to stop you from going to bars, stop single people from having sex, make movies and tv sexless, etc.?

True. I think that is a great idea, and also compare Christian theocrats to Muslim ones. One ad I thought of was "if you are homophobic, you are riding with Putin".

If the point is to paint the opposing candidate as prudish, this kind of serious scolding tone is the exact opposite of what you want.

Well, I disagree and I just know he's an easy target to vilify given he is making Russians prudish.

[Mechavada]

THe idea that non-voters, independents, swing voters, etc. find judgmental prudish political messaging is something I always found downright bizarre.  Even many partisan hacks will begrudgingly admit that the level of divisiveness in American politics is BAD and turns off non-voters.  It feels like over the past idfk 7 years (maybe longer) the Democrats have started campaigning more as "reverse Republicans" than "anti-Republicans".  The whole point should be that we don't stoop to their level and we respect other peoples cultures and lifestyles.  It shouldn't be "they hate black people, let's hate white people" or "they judge women, let's judge men".  "They want to ban talking about LGBT issues, let's endorse anti-speech activities on campuses to prevent reactionary messages from spreading."  I hate to be blunt like that but that really seems how the thinking goes nowdays and we are really seeing this in the lackluster election results versus a political party that is hell bent on forcing ONE NATION UNDER TRUMP at any cost.

It is so much easier, and much more rewarding, to simply be the party that lets people do things and be themselves (so long as they aren't LITERALLY hurting other people with their activities).

[Mechavada]

THe idea that non-voters find judgmental prudish political messaging is something I always found downright bizarre.  Even many partisan hacks will begrudgingly admit that the level of divisiveness in American politics is BAD and turns off non-voters.  It feels like over the past idfk 7 years (maybe longer) the Democrats have started campaigning more as "reverse Republicans" than "anti-Republicans".  The whole point should be that we don't stoop to their level and we respect other peoples cultures and lifestyles.  It shouldn't be "they hate black people, let's hate white people" or "they judge women, let's judge men".  "They want to ban talking about LGBT issues, let's endorse anti-speech activities on campuses to prevent reactionary messages from spreading."  I hate to be blunt like that but that really seems how the thinking goes nowdays and we are really seeing this in the lackluster election results versus a political party that is hell bent on forcing ONE NATION UNDER TRUMP at any cost.

It is so much easier, and much more rewarding, to simply be the party that lets people do things and be themselves (so long as they aren't LITERALLY hurting other people with their activities).

And yes I mentioned race and gender because there really is nothing more prudish than making assumptions about people based off of their well physical background.

[NorCalifornio]

Would Democrats do better if they painted Republicans as prudes who want to stop you from going to bars, stop single people from having sex, make movies and tv sexless, etc.?

True. I think that is a great idea, and also compare Christian theocrats to Muslim ones. One ad I thought of was "if you are homophobic, you are riding with Putin".

If the point is to paint the opposing candidate as prudish, this kind of serious scolding tone is the exact opposite of what you want.

Well, I disagree and I just know he's an easy target to vilify given he is making Russians prudish.

Painting the opposing candidate as a prude or a puritan necessarily means making your own candidate look fun/easy-going by contrast. Breathlessly denouncing your opponent's homophobia as helping America's geopolitical foes does not accomplish this in the slightest.

I'm not even saying it would be a bad ad. It's just that the original post calls for dismissing Republicans as uptight killjoys, not putting on your best Atticus Finch face to accuse them of aiding and abetting the enemy.