I read this lib "how to" about Gaza - How To Speak To Voters Who Say They Can't Support Biden Because Of Gaza. The substack is co-run by George Takei and he's built himself into a super-popular lib brand. I wanted to know what he was promoting.

Most of it was exactly what I expected. But a surprising word stuck in my craw - "dealbreaker". As if there can be a "deal" made on morality. And - of course - the "deal" is we must change 100% and see things the lib way while they don't change an iota. Quite a deal!

Most of us know someone on the left who is dug in against voting for Joe Biden because of U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza. For them, the continued support of Israel and the flow of weapons is a dealbreaker, and they say they can’t support a president for reelection who would back a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

  • kristina [she/her]
    ·
    6 months ago

    i skipped through this dogshit article to find the actual arguments. here is what they suggest:

    Say you feel conflicted, too. Forming a bridge of understanding with those who are suffering anguish at the role our country and this administration are playing in Gaza is foundationally critical to having any kind of productive discussion. Expressing your own emotions—whether it’s frustration, horror, pain, sorrow, confliction—will open a patch of common ground on which real dialogue can happen. It is an invitation to share more, not shut down. And talking with someone who also hates what’s happening in Gaza but arrives at a different result on how to act on it can be illuminating.

    Talk about other issues that matter to you. This is a key point. When someone is stuck on the narrative that “Joe Biden is bad,” you should move away from talking about the candidates (Biden v. Trump) and talk instead about all the issues that matter to you. This election is about Gaza, yes. But it’s also about many other things:

    Ask them what else matters to them. You won’t be able to convince voters that they are wrong for standing on the Gaza issue and not supporting Biden. How they ultimately vote is something they will have to arrive at in just over six months, and each journey will differ. All anyone can do now is seek to expand the discussion beyond the war to include all of the other things that also matter to progressive voters. From there, they’ll have to make up their own mind, but you will have left an opening. Let them say aloud what else they care about, and then let them make their own decisions.

    so the advice is to deflect and emotionally manipulate people

    • Moss [they/them]
      ·
      6 months ago

      talking with someone who also hates what’s happening in Gaza but arrives at a different result

      The different result is being pro genocide

    • NewLeaf
      ·
      6 months ago

      They act like all of our problems with Biden exist in a vacuum so they can call us single issue voters. If the single issue is genocide, and they can't see how that's a red line, I wish them endless mental anguish when trump wins in November and nothing fucking changes.

      • Egon
        ·
        3 months ago

        deleted by creator

        • NewLeaf
          ·
          6 months ago

          smuglord "Biden won't give you a free pony. The adults in the room have to make all those unpopular tough decisions™ because you don't know how politics works. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the 'good' (read: genocide, mass poverty and civil unrest)"

    • Egon
      ·
      3 months ago

      deleted by creator