Framing the debate

I had the most infuriating argument this weekend when I attended a LIBERAL discussion group meeting. I took the opportunity ask what my fellow liberals were doing to respond to arguments about trans athletes and trans people in bathrooms. 

I noted that the issue is just another in a long line of wedge issues the Republicans have used to distract us from real concerns (before this it was late term abortion and before that it was gay marriage). I noted that polls of Americans consistently show the majority agree with Democrats on many core issues, such as public education, gun control, and the social safety net. I noted that the infrastructure bill Biden got passed will positively impact communities all over the US. I noted that making insulin cheaper will help MILLIONS of people who depend on it.

One woman, wearing a RESIST hat, immediately starting explaining to me that liberals should not support trans women playing sports as men are naturally stronger than women. I pointed out that not all men are stronger than all women, but she continued (shoulder muscle mass, testosterone, etc). I tried to steer the conversation back to my point - that the Republicans use these issues, which affect almost no one, to distract us from issues that affect lots of people and that we could win on. She then felt the need to explain "post-birth abortion" to me (despite the fact that I had more than demonstrated my detailed grasp of many issues). Then I got pissed off. I left shortly after that, disgusted and discouraged.

Why do we let the Republicans run the table? And why do we help them by chasing them down these rabbit holes? They are only winning elections because of their REDMAP gerrymandering and aggressive voter suppression - their policy solutions lost in the marketplace of ideas years ago (for example, while a majority of Americans want us to control border crossings, few Americans support deporting people from the US, regardless of their immigration status).

Yet liberals let conservatives frame the debate on every issue, using lies and manufactured outrage to divert us from compromise and finding solutions. Why do we continue to do this?????