Republicans don't trust the vaccine. No problem. Don't beg.
Vaccinate Democrats.
Appoint Stacey Abrams to run a "Vaccinate America" program.
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| Put her in charge of vaccinations |
This locked in a partisan split on COVID response. Trump was the symbol of COVID minimization. He said the disease would disappear, it's just the flu, don't fuss with masks, and don't let COVID dominate your lives. On the other side, Democrats represented masks and shutdowns and near-universal vaccinations. That created a backlash of vaccine resistance from Republicans, both officeholders and voters.
Democrats should wise up. The harder they push for everyone to get vaccinated, the more resistant Republicans will be. They are wasting money and effort on the wrong people. Can Democrats not see that Dr. Fauci is now a negative figure to Republicans? Republicans raise money by saying their donation will hasten Dr. Fauci being fired. It gives many Republicans a "you can't make me" boost of pleasure to refuse the begging by "experts."
So Biden should change the policy and change the message.
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| Republicans are invested in criticizing vaccinations |
Further signal the Democratic Get Out The Vaccination policy by appointing Stacey Abrams to a highly visible position as Chair of the "Vaccinate America" program. Her name and reputation alone would change the optics. Of course, Vaccinate America would vaccinate everyone who appears-- Black, White, Asian, whatever, but a Stacey Abrams-led vaccination program communicates that we want Democrats to be vaccinated and to be alive to vote in 2022.
This flips the message. Now the vaccine is a symbol of partisan privilege, a valuable (but no longer scarce) lifeboat in a pandemic storm. It would be another presumed iteration of the demographic White-replacement plan.
Expect criticism. The new focus would be surveilled for evidence of overt discrimination against White people and rural residents. After all, it is what Republicans believe anyway. The attitude-question that most successfully identifies a Republican voter is one that asks whether Blacks or Whites face the most adverse discrimination in America. Republican voters identify Whites as the ones more burdened by prejudice. Republicans think Blacks get un-earned benefits, a way for Democrats to buy votes. I expect Republicans to want in on it. Good. As far as I am concerned, the more people vaccinated the better.
It would be welcome for red state governors to cry foul and demand that their voters keep their share of that precious vaccine. Their criticism brings credibility. Let Fox News hosts complain that vaccines are going to urban people who want the vaccine, leaving Fox News viewers to die. How dare Democrats think we don't need or want vaccinations? We demand mobile clinics, too!
This approach does not deny partisan signaling over vaccines. It acknowledges it and works with it. It reverses the signal, turning vaccinations from something suspiciously socialistic into a tool of partisan advantage, something Republicans are primed to believe. I expect Republicans to see Democrats getting the extra effort and feel resentful and suspicious. They may decide they want to confound Democrats and get vaccinated.
What if Republicans still decide they don't want the vaccine? What if this approach doesn't work? Then a few extra Americans will likely get sick and die--disproportionately Republicans.
10 comments:
I say, let the people who refuse die.one less vote for lies and ignorance. Sounds mean? I guess it does, but fed up with the republican ignorance. Yes, get the vaccine to those that want it, those that don’t? Oh well.
Putting Darwin to work ? I like it, and as Anonymous puts it, any Anti Vaxxer who dies proves the point. I don't think it's mean, but pragmatism often sounds that way.
Republicans have been suffering from oppositional defiant disorder ever since we elected a black president. Their revenge-election of a deranged birther was a historic case of spite run amuck. Reverse psychology might work on some of them. If not, COVID-19 could very well kill them disproportionately, giving a much-needed boost to our national I.Q.
Unfortunately the "let'm croak" argument, while tempting, isn't practical because it risks not getting enough people protected to stop the epidemic and puts a burden on healthcare workers at the expense of other patients.
No, free MyPillows, car washes, chick-fil-a gift cards, bible verse t-shirts, or just cold hard cash; whatever it takes to get shots in arms. Republicans always respond to bribes, it's just a matter of negotiating the price.
...and the leader and face of the démarche should be Oprah.
If your strategy is followed, I’d be willing to bet that a narrative on the left will rise up about how blacks and other minorities are being targeted for experimentation with “risky” vaccines.
Posted by Peter Sage on behalf of Tam Moore, a retired Medford journalist:
Do you realize the thrust of this notion is to close down the free seven-day a week effort in this county to vaccinate? After all, R outnumbers D 50,690 to 47,019 (and non-affiliated outnumbers both 51,517). As responsible human beings we care for our neighbors. We recall the Declaration of Independence message that each of us is entitled to a "pursuit of happiness." Happiness includes staying alive and defeating a pandemic.
Tam Moore
Tam Moore raises a good point. It appears that I am trying to discourage resources being put in areas like southern Oregon. I am sorry I left that impression. I simply want resources put into balance. My son, age 30, lives just outside Portland. He cannot get a vaccination. He has called every day for a month, and appointments are all booked. He drove down to Medford and sailed right through. Resources are being spent in areas based on population, not based on desire for the vaccination. It means slack time in Medford and people unable to get service in areas where there is demand.
My goal is to send a message of availablity in Portland but also to send a message to people here that if they don't want the vaccine that they should not be keeping people who want it from getting it. Put resources where they are wanted.
Peter Sage
One can make the argument that refusing to be vaccinated should be accompanied by an agreement to waive medical care for COVID. One could make a similar argument as respects motorcyclists who don’t wear helmets......... but I digress.
Reverse psychology only works on people capable of processing their position as flexible
It may be that deniers visit cemetery rolls and compare them to declared party registered to get the votes they need in 2022/ 2024
It sounds like Peter was being sardonic in his post, and why not? Tan Moore would have raised a good point if Republicans were open to facts and reason, but they aren’t. We’re as likely to overcome their willful ignorance about the vaccines as we are to convince them the election wasn’t rigged. The odds are this virus, like the flu, will require annual vaccinations because of all the people who refuse to do it. On the other hand, it isn’t only the Rs. Ashland is also a hotbed of vaccine refusal by people who think vaccination is some kind of evil plot, like “chemtrails” and 5G.
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