Saturday, October 1, 2016

Why Focus on 3rd Party Voters Instead of 1st Party Opponents?

So why am I targeting 3rd party voters? Why not leave them alone and fight for the votes of 1st party voters across the aisle? To be honest, it’s because those closer to us are more likely to listen. I’ve largely given up on arguing the left-vs-right thing with strangers. After a certain age, opinions are pretty entrenched. You rarely meet people on either side who are actively interested in learning more about both perspectives and revising their opinions based on the data.

The mainstream-left-vs-alt-left and center-left-vs-far-left debates, however, still feel relatively open, active and dynamic. It seems far more likely, for instance, that a Green Party voter could be swayed to vote Democrat, or vice versa, than that a Republican Party voter could be swayed to vote Democrat, or vice versa. I think a lot of liberals with overlapping but distinct leftist agendas are looking for ways to collaborate productively and are willing to hear out each other’s arguments in good faith.

I hope this project can be a venue for those activities.

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