There is intense discussion of how to defeat this monstrosity. Whilst door knocking or while speaking to attendees at the Western Idaho State Fair, it was dismaying to find that many have not even heard about Prop 1! This is being snuck in "under the radar," for sure, and for very sound reasons by very bad people. Many of the proposed anti-Prop1 suggestions attempt to "explain" how it works. I believe that this is astoundingly difficult to do at best, and impossible to do in any way that will be retained by our lamentably low attention span voters. I like the suggestion that we appeal to their "feelings" and also that we avoid making declarations of opposition and state "our" facts, because some will dismiss them as just more propaganda. I have heard that at the Canyon County Fair, the Ds had a woman body-painted as Lady Liberty prancing about while proclaiming the wonders of Prop1. Alas, the Ds know their intended audience all too well. In an honest attempt to explain the tangled mess of Prop1 ( how many have actually READ it??), I believe we get far too "wonky." IMHO, I suggest that we make appeals to their feelings and also simply ask questions, ala The Parables, so as to engage a little bit of thinking instead of simply challenging what they may already have cemented in their minds. As examples of "feelings" that many people would have against Prop 1 if they knew what we knew: it is DISHONEST to not tell people that they are signing in support of two huge changes in Idaho's elections, and it is UNFAIR that several times those with the most votes lost!! I have made a one page anti Prop 1 display along those lines and would attach it here if it is allowed and I knew how!! I also have a small but moribund Substack account, and if necessary I will post my suggestions there.
As an additional issue, I have heard that many Rs actually support the idea of what they mistakenly believe are Open Primaries. Of course, that is yet another lie in the Prop 1 propaganda, because it actually would produce Jungle Primaries, where no one could tell who was what. My proposed answer to that: imagine going to the grocery store to buy cereal and all of them are in white boxes labeled Great Cereal. You know they are made by different companies, but because they SAY they are Great Cereal, they MUST be OK. Right? No, of course not. If all the voters have to go by are the words and promises of the politicians, they are just buying a form of Snake Oil. Some have said they don't trust R politicians because they cannot be sure that they will vote as they promised. Alas, there has been some truth to that, but there is much less now that our current ID GOP Chairman has pushed for declarations of support for the official party platform, or else give reasons for disagreement with specific sections. Failure to vote as claimed will be noticed and will now have consequences, so the voters can now have more confidence in their representatives.
Thank you for your comments. It is true that many (most?) voters base their decisions on emotional appeals. All of the facts and data can be on your side but they may not be enough to overcome a simple slogan that tugs on the heartstrings. Deep dives into the 'cerebral' arguments are important, but they do not typically have mass appeal. It is best when 'messaging' can reach both the head and the heart.
There is intense discussion of how to defeat this monstrosity. Whilst door knocking or while speaking to attendees at the Western Idaho State Fair, it was dismaying to find that many have not even heard about Prop 1! This is being snuck in "under the radar," for sure, and for very sound reasons by very bad people. Many of the proposed anti-Prop1 suggestions attempt to "explain" how it works. I believe that this is astoundingly difficult to do at best, and impossible to do in any way that will be retained by our lamentably low attention span voters. I like the suggestion that we appeal to their "feelings" and also that we avoid making declarations of opposition and state "our" facts, because some will dismiss them as just more propaganda. I have heard that at the Canyon County Fair, the Ds had a woman body-painted as Lady Liberty prancing about while proclaiming the wonders of Prop1. Alas, the Ds know their intended audience all too well. In an honest attempt to explain the tangled mess of Prop1 ( how many have actually READ it??), I believe we get far too "wonky." IMHO, I suggest that we make appeals to their feelings and also simply ask questions, ala The Parables, so as to engage a little bit of thinking instead of simply challenging what they may already have cemented in their minds. As examples of "feelings" that many people would have against Prop 1 if they knew what we knew: it is DISHONEST to not tell people that they are signing in support of two huge changes in Idaho's elections, and it is UNFAIR that several times those with the most votes lost!! I have made a one page anti Prop 1 display along those lines and would attach it here if it is allowed and I knew how!! I also have a small but moribund Substack account, and if necessary I will post my suggestions there.
As an additional issue, I have heard that many Rs actually support the idea of what they mistakenly believe are Open Primaries. Of course, that is yet another lie in the Prop 1 propaganda, because it actually would produce Jungle Primaries, where no one could tell who was what. My proposed answer to that: imagine going to the grocery store to buy cereal and all of them are in white boxes labeled Great Cereal. You know they are made by different companies, but because they SAY they are Great Cereal, they MUST be OK. Right? No, of course not. If all the voters have to go by are the words and promises of the politicians, they are just buying a form of Snake Oil. Some have said they don't trust R politicians because they cannot be sure that they will vote as they promised. Alas, there has been some truth to that, but there is much less now that our current ID GOP Chairman has pushed for declarations of support for the official party platform, or else give reasons for disagreement with specific sections. Failure to vote as claimed will be noticed and will now have consequences, so the voters can now have more confidence in their representatives.
For much more discussion also see https://substack.com/@bige47/p-147584868
Thank you for your comments. It is true that many (most?) voters base their decisions on emotional appeals. All of the facts and data can be on your side but they may not be enough to overcome a simple slogan that tugs on the heartstrings. Deep dives into the 'cerebral' arguments are important, but they do not typically have mass appeal. It is best when 'messaging' can reach both the head and the heart.