Concern trolls gotta troll:
If Harry Reid isn't careful, Democrats might just lose the all-important "Morning Joe" vote this year.Yes, he actually said that: liberals might be less inclined to voter Democratic if Democrats attack the Kochs. The mind reels.
On Wednesday, MSNBC's purveyors of conventional wisdom once again panned Reid's attacks on the billionaire Koch brothers. Joe Scarborough said the strategy is evidence that Democrats are "devoid of ideas" and "disconnected from America."
"Harry Reid has lost his political mind," the host declared.
Scarborough's sidekick Willie Geist also questioned the effectiveness of going after the Kochs, wondering how "moderate voters" will respond. And Scarborough even suggested that liberals might be annoyed with Reid because the super rich siblings have made contributions to cancer research and the arts....
This follows snickering from National Journal ("Can Democrats' Koch Attacks Work If Nobody Knows Who They Are?") and BuzzFeed ("Poll Shows Democrats' Big Push Against The Kochs Might Not Make Any Sense"), all based on a poll showing that very few voters are familiar with the Kochs.
But here's the thing: Democrats are invoking the Koch brothers to inspire the base to donate money (money that, of course, offsets the money the Kochs themselves are spending). And it seems to be working: as Dave Weigel has noted, recent fund-raising appeals that mention the Koch brothers have pulled in triple the money that non-Koch appeals have raised. If mention of the Koch brothers opens Democratic wallets, presumably it will also drive Democratic voters to the polls in November (in a midterm election, when Democratic turnout is traditionally a problem).
Funny, I don't see Joe Scarborough or National Journal or BuzzFeed mocking the GOP's attempt to fire up the base using Obamacare, even though, as Talking Points Memo notes, that effort may be alienating non-base voters:
... a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation might bring the GOP's certainty into question: 53 percent of Americans, including 51 percent of independents, say they're tired of debating Obamacare and think that the country should focus on other issues.What's more, this poll says that 59% of voters, including 52% of independents, want to keep Obamacare in place, either as is or with improvements (49% of all voters and 44% of independents want the latter). Only 29% of voters (including 32% of independents) want what Republicans want, which is repeal.
Even among Republicans, the numbers are almost evenly split: 47 percent are tired of the debate, while 49 percent think it should continue.
So endless Obamacare chatter bores non-Republicans, and the Republican insistence on repeal is rejected by large majorities of voters. Who in the center is going to wag a finger at the Republicans?
But we all know that Republicans are fixated on Obamacare because it fires up the base. Republicans never get attacked for preaching to their own converted -- not on the IRS or Benghazi now, not on ACORN or the "Ground Zero mosque" four years ago. Just don't try it if you're a Democrat, because the Morning Joe Heathers will snicker and point.
