"Douglas Friedman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in small part:
>One thing I find interesting is that the rank and file of the Republican >party is far more libertarian than the leadership. When I've raised the >issue of drug legalization, I am astonished at how high support for it is >among people who would generally be considered conservatives. Support for >medical marijuana is over 80%, over 70% among conservatives according to >surveys - and I think those understate the support. For recreational >marijuana, the last survey I saw was 36%, but I think the actual level is >higher, based on recent votes. Maybe the difference has to do with the sort of thing it means for a leader to state a position, versus a follower. I think among the rank & file there are plenty who'll go along with drug reforms, in that they'll agree with that side in a survey or when you ask them. But I think it's a lot harder for a leader to take a public position like that. And I think this is a result of something I've noted at lesat elsewhere (DRCtalk) and maybe here too. That is, as the issues are lumped symbolically, a lot more people are HIGHLY MOTIVATED to be anti than pro. For instance, when it comes to medimar, the vast majority of people of all kinds are in favor. However, the issue affects relatively few people directly, and few people in favor would make it a priority. Meanwhile, there are a great many more people for whom the "narcotics issue" is to be considered as a symbolic bloc (because one doesn't often get a chance to state a nuanced position and have enough people pay att'n), and who are highly motivated to oppose any reform. As an isolated issue, secret ballot, many reforms win in a landslide. But among people who will vote for or against a candidate based on this single issue, a lot more are against than for. And in this case, it doesn't help that the "universe" is "known" to be polarized into "liberal" and "conservative" camps, in which the "conservative" side is "supposed" to be anti-sensual. It will take a VAST amount of communication to overcome this "convenient" categoriz'n. In Your Sly Tribe, Robert _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [email protected] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
