SEATTLE, Jan. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The following was published on January 11, 2011, by Shafeen Charania, author of the synthesis blog, winner of the 2008 Weblog award for best new blog, and Time.com's 25 best blogs of 2009.
If you can't win with substance or the facts, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) are a great way to put the other side on the defensive. The recent health care bill was expertly FUDded by the Republicans, and became one of the cornerstones of their successful campaign to win back the House.
President Obama could have subverted this strategy with a simple argument, much like President Reagan did in 1981 in his first Oval Office speech about the economy, how spending power had been reduced, and how it was critical to employ the strategy he was proposing because it put money back in the hands of the American family.
With health care, the President could have pointed out that other Western countries spend about half of what America does on health care, and have a lower infant mortality rate, and more long-lived populations. While they spend more public vs. private dollars to accomplish this, there's no denying that at the end of the day, their citizens have more money in their pockets from health care, and live longer. This simple argument might have altered the dynamic, and neutralized the FUD.
To learn more, please visit: http://interacc.typepad.com/synthesis/2011/01/defuddle.html.
SOURCE synthesis