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November 07, 2005
"Don't Call Me 'Stupid!'"
(Apologies to the creators and producers of A Fish Called Wanda)
I started commenting over at Bob Krumm's after learning of his post from The Monroe Doctrine, but then decided to turn my comments into a post of my own, link to those guys, and hopefully have something meaningful to say in this discussion.
Says Mr. Krumm:
Here's a quick Politics 101 lesson: If you tell the people who voted against you that they're stupid, you've guaranteed that they'll vote against you again.
And:
I feel confident in predicting that Democrats won't recapture 51% of the vote until they have a nominee who, instead of insulting his country, has faith in it.[...] Ultimately, to win, you have to convince the people that you like them. At least try to fake it.
Here's the thing: I do believe that the Republicans -- or, more correctly, a subset of them -- have been "faking it" with regard to certain core voters. See recent revelations from the Abramoff/Scanlon hearings. And don't forget that Tom DeLay is close to these guys. I get the same sense of cynical manipulation from operatives like Karl Rove, though I have not the same kind of hard evidence. I'm not a partisan, so don't read me the wrong way. I would have just as big a problem with this if, say, Hillary Clinton secretly despised tree-hugging dreadlocked hippies but found ways of trotting them out to the polls to propel her into power and to further her agenda once she got there. The saddest part is that people on both sides allow themselves to be manipulated in this way.
Which is worse: calling your opponents "stupid" or calling your party's most ardent supporters "wackos"? Bob K. and H. Monroe are right. Randi Rhodes and her ilk do nothing to further the Democratic Party's electoral intentions by calling people "idiots." On the other hand, Scanlon, Abramoff, and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed do long-term damage to their party's trust factor when their little super-double-secret memos get revealed. More Krumms falling from the table:
I submit that middle America is growing increasingly disgusted with both sides.[...] I have a feeling that neither party's incumbents are going to fare very well. 2006 might just end up being the year of the political outsider.
Well put. We need rational people in leadership positions. The games must stop. I'm pretty liberal on some things (most social issues and war), and I have a history of leaning democratic-socialist on some economic matters too (as a result, go figure, of studying History), but I can be reasoned with if you come to the table with facts and well-defined arguments and not just the bludgeon of pseudo-religious jingoism. As my more conservative friend Bill Colrus put it recently, "I want to be able to have my mind changed." I see this as being a very different goal than "I want my political party to win more seats in the government, so I'll do anything it takes to make that happen, regardless of whom my bedfellows might be" or "I want to change the direction of the country because its current leadership is dangerously misguiding it, so I'll attack the people who voted for them." Think about it. Not a single one of us has all the answers, so we should collaborate and forge solutions. I dislike the current connotation of the word "moderate" as it evokes a finger-in-the-wind type who just says what it takes, as a real moderate is endowed with Reason and its resultant flexibility, which is quite a different thing.
Furthermore -- As a result of Bob's post, I'm determined to re-focus my own rhetorical output away from some admitted mishaps of the past and toward encouragement of other human beings. There's a difference, though, between being encouraging, which can imply challenging someone to excel, and simply being a cheerleader for the way people are. The trick is to emphasize an opportunity for improvement without belittling folks in the process -- and to recognize that a lot of them are content not to improve in the slightest. And to not let that last part send me into apoplexy.
I'll admit it: these changes will be difficult for me. I have a quip hanging in my cubicle that reads something like "Forget the Fountain of Youth; how about a Fountain of Smart?" (It was given to me by a co-worker.) My own personal bigotry is not based on race, gender, age, sexual preference, or favorite college football team, but on what is a very likely distorted, highly personalized measure of intellect. Acknowledging as much is the first step to recovery, or so They say.
Politics is Personal | By joe lance | 08:29 AM