So many words hanimmal...so many words
First paragraph I fully concur, it is the root of the other issues.
Second one: beto was the darling of the party and did almost beat Cruz. He fizzled hard, but he had a good 3-6 months where he got serious play. I don't consider cnn right wing, that's where his gun rhetoric showed up for me. It was considered a selling point, again gun control (yes, loaded term) is a topic that plays well in cities and is popular with the dem base...and cnn readers.
Third: I agree with their platform and it is what I thought, but that isn't the messaging that is out there. Again it's the issue of not being able to have reasonable discussions on the topic. You can have whatever as your actual party statement, but republican influence or not, the dems need to own that conversation and steer it. Just saying "well that's not what we think, based on facts" isn't cutting it.
Four: of course nothing is popular with 100%. What I am saying is that the gun control topic is popular with a large chunk of the dem voters. Of course they go with that. It doesn't make any sense to then deny that something popular with the majority of the party won't leave the minority unhappy, rural gun rights voters are a minority. I wasn't trying to say the expansion of gun rights under dems meant they were anti gun (bad punctuationon my part), was pointing at that as something where you can point to facts and talk about what actually happened until you are blue in the face but it ultimately doesn't matter in the broad public discussion that occurs, that public discussion is based on feelz, not facts.
Five: I think we do disagree here. It isnt right or moral, but facts don't matter in terms of these large issues as discussed in the public sphere. You can't just say the other side isn't playing fair, you have to get out in front of it and make your case to convince people. That's the job of a politician. Policy wonks can sit and make factually heavy arguments all they want, doesn't sway the people. Again, not saying this is the way it should be, bit I think it is the way it is.
Six: sort of the same as above. So the other side tricks people...well what do you do about it?
Finale: public perception isn't based in reality. It's emotionally driven. You can have all the facts and figures in the world and make great points, but if you fail against someone just yelling "they took yer gunz" then you need to change your tactics. Also, dems aren't a monolith, things won't be popular with everyone. You have people on the far left unhappy with the dems going center (where most voters are), you have rural voters that don't like the stuff that appeals to the city voters (where most voters are) such as guns. I do think it's a mistake to paint that as the republicans fault, its just how reality works if you have a diverse group, but its not the oppositions fault.