May 18, 2012
To Play Politics Better, You Have to Know What it Is...
One
of the biggest problems we liberals have is that a lot of people
don’t like us very much. (In fact, Grover Norquist and his ilk HATE us, believe that they are in a WAR against us, and would feel a whole lot better if each and every one of us would simply die - except for Mexicans, or third-world women working for sub-slave wages; somebody, after all, has to work the sweat shops, and clean the garbage up)That should make every one of us sad,
because we really are the good guys. (I'd take issue with this: we are sometimes pusillanimous, we are inconsistent in how we apply the standards of our consciousness and morality to gusy and gals who claim to represent us) Even those on the far left whom
I’ve been taking on mercilessly over the last year or so are mostly
decent people with good hearts (okay, I'll gran this) ; at least those I don’t suspect of
being double agents for the far right, anyway.
Unfortunately,
caring about people and feeling strongly about an issue doesn’t
turn you into a successful politician (good politicians get THEIR agendas passed; in this regards, President Dick Cheney was perhaps the best, or most efficient politician in the history of the country - well, maybe FDR could give him a run for his money). If that’s not obvious after
watching neocons dominate our political discourse for the last 32
years, then turn in your “political junkie” membership card (I daresay its not that the neocons have dominated our political discourse, it's just that the country's elites in the media, in politics, in finance, in academia have been trending RIGHT, hard right towards facism, in my view, and they are the ones unto whom voices are given - be it in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, public television, etc - to the extent that some people actually view Barack Obama as a liberal and as a democrat; he is MOST ASSUREDLY, neither. In fact, if "Republicans" in general, or self-annointed "Conservatives" in particular were not so flummoxed with the Bland One's being "the leader of the free world" or so taken in by the conservative tenor of such publications as the Wall Street Journal, they would realize that Obama is the best Republican President since Slick Willy "Bill" Clinton; best insofar as being able to effectively cut taxes, and reduce social benefits - they have accomplished stuff that Ronald Reagan might not even have been able to dream of.
I
made a really simple statement on Twitter the other day. I simply
said:
“Issues can be personal, but politics cannot be personal.”
I
made the statement based on the assumption that it was relatively
non-controversial, but that liberals are so emotional, they need to
be reminded of it once in a while ("conservatives (i.e.,) people disgusted with Republican candidates who would rather not self-identify as Republican (cheap labor / no taxes) party supporters). Little did I know the thrashing I
would take from self-described “political junkies” for a
statement that I know to be absolutely true.
It’s absolutely
true.
I don't make that statement often, because there are few absolutes in
this world. But as someone later pointed out to me, One
of the biggest problems we liberals have is that a lot of people
don’t like us very much (some of this is very much deserved, and very much self-inflicted). That should make every one of us sad,
because we really are the good guys (except when we're being mamby-pamby idiot "liberal" and against gun control laws - which were only put on the books to make it a crime for blacks and / or hispanics to arm themselves; or when we belittle our "values" bretheren and sisteren who devoutly worship, tithe - even though they are living in an over-priced double wide). Even those on the far left (having not read this blog until just about yesterday, not exactly WHO or WHOM it is on the so-called "far left" that have been taken to task - is it those of us, like me, and like the black intellectual community who believe that Barack Obama is a war criminal whose continuing pledge of fealty to the not-so-great-state of Israel consigns the U.S. to be a suzeraine of Isreal unto the end of our days, then, hmm .... well, I'll have to read more to find out) whom
I’ve been taking n mercilessly over the last year or so are mostly
decent people with good hearts; at least those I don’t suspect of
being double agents for the far right (this, by the way, is one of the most prescient off-hand remarks you will ever encounter; BIG BROTHER - FBI, CIA, MEG, etc, etc, are always watching, listening, agitating, and trying to get simple-minded anarchists to do dumb shit), anyway.
Unfortunately,
caring about people and feeling strongly about an issue doesn’t
turn you into a successful politician (oh, SO TRUE). If that’s not obvious after
watching neocons dominate our political discourse (aided and abetted by the MSM - whose interests are ALL 100% for the corptocracy and the corporate welfare state wherein the losses are socialized and the profits are privatized and the uber-rich should never have to pay taxes or be regulated, where the Supreme Court rules that corporations have a right to lie, and where the University of Chicago Business School can teach that "fiduciary responsibility" means (among other things) that if the cost of getting caught breaking laws on the books is less than the shareholder value added by the breaking of the law, one has then done due diligence in adhering to the dictates of "fiduciary responsibility)for the last 32
years, then turn in your “political junkie” membership card.
I
made a really simple statement on Twitter the other day. I simply
said:
“Issues can be personal, but politics cannot be personal. (quite true, most pragmatic and INDEED THIS is where the Carl Rove's the Grover Norquiest's and all the other no-longer-so-young turks have it all over the political elites of what was once proudly known as "the Democratic Party))”
I
made the statement based on the assumption that it was relatively
non-controversial, but that liberals are so emotional, they need to
be reminded of it once in a while. Little did I know the thrashing (I won't be one of the thrashers, that's for sure) I
would take from self-described “political junkies” for a
statement that I know to be absolutely true.
It’s absolutely
true.
I don't make that statement often, because there are few absolutes in
this world. But as someone later pointed out to me, it’s called
Political Science for
a reason. Politics is not about issues, it’s about cold calculating
strategy for dealing with life. There is politics in every aspect of
our lives, as anyone who has ever worked outside the home knows first
hand. You may not like the new boss, but if you need the job, you
have to consider strategies for dealing with him, and co-workers who
may love him. That’s politics. I remember one job I had, where I
worked for a guy who was a hard core right winger. He used to try and
bait me fairly regularly, and one day, I calculated that it was a
crappy job, anyway, so I said (and this is a direct quote), “You
don’t know what the f*** you’re talking about (truth tellers will never be popular; nor will prophets).”
That
was bad politics. It made me feel good, and I got a better job within
days after, but his response to me was, “Get out of here, NOW!” Is
that the response we want from voters when we present them with our
case? Actually, we spend so much time "refuting" the right
wing, when DO we make our case, anyway? Do we want to feel good, or
do we want to get the most people behind us and win elections? (I'd say the answer to this question depends ENTIRELY on what the officials you want to get elected DO WHEN they get elected. My guess is, most of them will get down on their knees, genuflect, and pay homage to corporate money - a la Melissa Bean, to name but one who started off completely well intentioned, but whose corporate DNA was too fully encoded "thou shalt love the corporations and the rich and kow tow unto them until the end of thy days)Too
often, when I talk to liberals about politics in the Bush, I get a
ridiculous response like, “My conscience is clear; I voted for
Nader (and damn good for them, too, THIS is what we are supposed to do in a democratic country; the Nader voters were NEVER gonna vote for JFK, no Al Gore - they voted for Nader because he resonated with them, and that is as it should be and it is my contention that, at least for some of what he has stood for, fairly consistently over the years (I have yet to read his book "Only the Rich Can Save Us (he might be right - especially if he were to append from the coming revolt of the working man wherein there WILL be blood in the streets and a vicious state response that will kill and maim innocents, the impoverished who don't have enough energy or money to own guns or to lay low with the pitch forks),” or something equally clueless.
I
understand that people get emotional about issues,
and I understand the racist, sexist and homophobic history of this
country. But that’s not “politics,” that’s society. Politics
is about strategizing to put in place the right people in government (I continue to contend that we will never get the government we would be most proud of UNTIL such time as every day schmucks, such as myself, are willing to run for office (at the local level, of course, where one really CAN influence politics, rather than just blog and complain and pontificate)to make sure the right policies are enacted; it’s not about
righting all of society's wrongs. Politics is about making your case
to people to get them on your side, doing what you need them to do.
Liberals
have to play better politics. But apparently, some of us have to
learn what politics actually is. The best way to do that is to ask
yourself if what you’re doing, politically speaking, will lead to
better government. That’s the politics.
Do
you want to know why Republicans are taking such hard stances against
us on so many issues? It’s because it’s politically expedient to
do so. Do you really think Paul Ryan and the Republicans want to kill
Medicare? Of course they don’t. They know damn well the Ryan
Budgets will never become law, because they know the Senate and/or
Obama will block them. Do you really think the GOP wants to ban
contraceptives altogether? Do you think they really hate blacks,
Latinos, women and gays? Of course not. They obviously don’t care
about the deficit or the debt. if they were in favor of all of the above, they would have attacked all of that during the six years they
had full control, and they didn’t. Hell; they’ve been “targeting”
abortion for almost 40 years, and it’s still legal.
They
push their crap because they're trying to do two things. They want to
energize their looney tunes base, of course. Everything is about
that. If they don’t get at least 90% of the right wing nut jobs out
to vote, they have no chance of winning anything in most places. But
just as important is their strategy to drive down turnout at election
time. Make no mistake, folks, that is their number one goal; to make
sure no one outside of their moronic base shows up on election day.
That’s their political goal.
Unfortunately, because too many on our side don’t understand how
real politics works, many of us engage them in their lunacy, which
exacerbates the effect they’re going for, and does as much as their
insane stances on issues to drive down turnout.
Every
time someone in the press or elsewhere declares that the electorate
is “polarized,” someone at the RNC squeals with glee, and the
Republican Party feels a little closer to victory. That is exactly
what they are looking for. Politically, we play into their hands so
well, they have come to count on our help on their way to political
victory.
Take
the “Violence Against Women Act.” Do you really think
the GOP is going to kill it, or that it's in favor of domestic
violence? REALLY? That’s funny, because they know
they can’t do
it. Have you even noticed how much freaky shit is being passed by the
House, but never makes it to law? They can’t kill it, because they
know the Senate will save their asses. But when the House questions
it, and liberals en masse go batshit over it, they score big time.
Do
you have any idea how many political points they score every time
they simply drive liberals crazy? The rank-and-file wingnuts LOVE to
watch us pissed off. They feed on it. They’re like the Blob; the
negative energy from us emboldens them and makes them stronger,
politically. But more than that, all of our “War on Women,” “War
on Gays,” “Climate Wars” and other silly rhetoric helps them in
their main goal, which is to depress
turnout in November.
Probably
about 90% of people who vote in every election have already decided
who they’ll vote for. The fight is rarely about who moderates will
vote for. It’s almost always about whether or not swing voters will
vote at all. Of course, not all fights have to be intense battles of
wills. In fact, we'll never best them in a battle of rhetoric,
because they don't believe in anything except making liberals mad. If
you hate it, they love it and vice versa.
It's
important important to understand is that those who actually decide
elections don’t sit and stare at the television or computer all
day. Instead, they listen to what their friends, family, co-workers
and passers-by have to say about candidates. They’re not news
junkies; they make their decision about whether or not to vote based
on the overall meme. They don’t care about left/right, or even
right/wrong. Their biggest concern is competence (there are, after all, acceptable levels of corruption, even acceptable levels of politics, the art of compromise, as someone or another once said), and a feeling that
the candidate has the ability to solve problems, and is less likely
to mess things up (at the national level, we get VERY few such people running for office - so many of them are already millionaires in their own right, what with the perception that you have to have a lot of money to win elections, which, I will contend forever is absolutely wrong; you have to get an honest vote count and you have to get more voters than your opponent; end of discussion).
In
short, they want to vote FOR something. We win if we give them
something to vote for.
Constantly complaining about every single thing that pisses you off
doesn't give anyone anything to vote for.
Politics
is not personal, it’s about employing strategies to get the most
people behind you. Government politics is not about issues, it’s
about winning elections and effecting policies. Politics in
government is no different than politics in other aspects of life. If
you would hate it if your co-workers were pointing at you and calling
you “racist,” “misogynist,” or whatever, then you need to
understand its effect on voters. They hate it, too. When you’re
sitting in a park reading a book, and two people near you start
arguing loudly, do you strain to hear them both, to decide which one
is right, or do you ignore both and move to a quieter bench? It’s
the same in government politics. Voters can't stand us, and they
point to us as part of the problem because, to them, there is no
difference between our side and the right wing. They see screaming,
and nothing getting done.
That
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t advocate for the issues you care
about. I feel passionately about a lot of issues and I work as hard
as I can to make them happen. But I also realize that screaming
at my Congressman or County Commissioner and calling them racist
morons probably isn’t going to move my advocacy forward. Diplomats
play politics, as well. Imagine how many wars they would start if
diplomats used the same rhetoric with other countries that liberals
do in their daily arguments with right wingers.
By
the way, if you continue to argue with right wingers, stop now.
It’s
a waste of time, and it’s killing the cause, politically. If you
think you'll get them to see things you're way, you're delusional.
On
the other hand, it contributes to the "polarization" meme
that
results in low turnout, and the continued political dominance of
a
group of people who are bound and determined to prove that
government doesn't work.
Do
you have any idea how many political points they score every time
they simply drive liberals crazy? The rank-and-file wingnuts LOVE to
watch us pissed off. They feed on it. They’re like the Blob; the
negative energy from us emboldens them and makes them stronger,
politically. But more than that, all of our “War on Women,” “War
on Gays,” “Climate Wars” and other silly rhetoric helps them in
their main goal, which is to depress
turnout in November.
Probably
about 90% of people who vote in every election have already decided
who they’ll vote for. The fight is rarely about who moderates will
vote for. It’s almost always about whether or not swing voters will
vote at all. Of course, not all fights have to be intense battles of
wills. In fact, we'll never best them in a battle of rhetoric,
because they don't believe in anything except making liberals mad. If
you hate it, they love it and vice versa.
It's
important important to understand is that those who actually decide
elections don’t sit and stare at the television or computer all
day. Instead, they listen to what their friends, family, co-workers
and passers-by have to say about candidates. They’re not news
junkies; they make their decision about whether or not to vote based
on the overall meme. They don’t care about left/right, or even
right/wrong. Their biggest concern is competence, and a feeling that
the candidate has the ability to solve problems, and is less likely
to mess things up.
Liberals
simply have to play politics better.
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