Sobering Thoughts on Our Political Future (+) by: lightseeker Mon May 28, 2012 at 11:44:30 AM CDT

From the old Nazi hater, Bertolt Brecht: "The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn't hear, doesn't speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn't know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn't know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies." Sadly, I don't know of any way to ensure political literacy for the average American voter. I just don't. Brecht is too harsh in implying that this illiteracy is willful and chosen. I don't think it is. There are only so many hours in the day, and people who don't do politics for a living or whose jobs do not allow them the chance , as mine does, simply do not have the energy or time for the kind of board based political awareness that Brecht calls for. Thus the need for progressives to learn to communicate clearly and effectively with voters, especially our base and independents. Thus the need to understand that emotional truth/facts are primary in any message you hope will be heard. Given the partisan divide we now face, the fate of our nation at election times turns on the votes of the independents and leaners who are available to be persuaded. They are about 40% of the electorate , they aren't automatic votes for any side. Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in '11 The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year, although the 40% who did so is the highest Gallup has measured, by one percentage point. More Americans continue to identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27%. Despite the Democratic advantage in party identification, proportionately more American independents lean to the Republican Party than to the Democratic Party. Thus, when independents' party leanings are taken into account and combined with the party's core identifiers, the parties end up tied. In 2011, 45% of Americans identified as Republicans or leaned to the Republican Party and 45% identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic. Some of them are politically aware and saavy, many are not.

I haved blogged many times about the message thing, but it only grows more important as time passes.I know that Clinton understood, I think that Obama and his folks do as well. Locally, I see progress on this issue. We actually have an effort going forward to annunicate a clear concise message and to take advantage of issues framing moments that the Repubs present. (In case you didn't know it, we have a motto: "Democrats: MAKING BETTER LIVES FOR ALL, Not Just the Privileged Few.) But everyday, I hear evidence of far we still have to go. Good progressive grass rooters who think that Vote ID makes good sense, who believed until it was too late (?!?) that all that high stakes testing was a sign of better educational accountability, who knew that teacher's unions were the problem, and the list goes on and on. And then there is THE QUESTION , "Why do those people (Blacks, workers, rural poor, parents of public school kids) vote agains their interest? The answer is simple: Progressives all to often don't know HOW to tell their story and so all that "those people" hear is the others sides messages, over and over again. lightseeker :: Sobering Thoughts on Our Political Future Drew Weston in his book explains it this way: Republicans understand what the philosopher David Hume recognized three centuries ago: that reason is a slave to emotion, not the other way around. With the exception of the Clinton era, Democratic strategists for the last three decades have instead clung tenaciously to the dispassionate [that is, the purely rational ] view of the mind and to the campaign strategy that logically follows from it, namely one that focuses on facts, figures, policy statements, costs and benefits, and appeals to intellect and expertise... If you think about voters as calculating machines who add up the utility [usefulness] of your positions on "the issues," you will invariably find yourself scouring the polls for your principles. And as soon as voters perceive you as turning to opinion polls instead of your internal polls-your emotions, and particularly your moral emotions-they will see you as weak, waffling, pandering, and unprincipled. And they will be right. Westen, Drew (2008). The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation (pp. 15-16). PublicAffairs. Kindle Edition. An unnamed BBC reporter gave this answer in 2010, He quotes Thomas Frank of 'What's the Matter With Kansas': Why do people vote against their own interests? He believes that the voters' preference for emotional engagement over reasonable argument has allowed the Republican Party to blind them to their own real interests. The Republicans have learnt how to stoke up resentment against the patronising

liberal elite, all those do-gooders who assume they know what poor people ought to be thinking. Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America's poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest. Thomas Frank thinks that voters have become blinded to their real interests Thomas Frank says that whatever disadvantaged Americans think they are voting for, they get something quite different: "You vote to strike a blow against elitism and you receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our life times, workers have been stripped of power, and CEOs are rewarded in a manner that is beyond imagining. "It's like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy." As Mr Frank sees it, authenticity has replaced economics as the driving force of modern politics. The authentic politicians are the ones who sound like they are speaking from the gut, not the cerebral cortex. Of course, they might be faking it, but it is no joke to say that in contemporary politics, if you can fake sincerity, you have got it made. And the ultimate sin in modern politics is appearing to take the voters for granted. This is a culture war but it is not simply being driven by differences over abortion, or religion, or patriotism. And it is not simply Red states vs. Blue states any more. It is a war on the entire political culture, on the arrogance of politicians, on their slipperiness and lack of principle, on their endless deal making and compromises. And when the politicians say to the people protesting: 'But we're doing this for you', that just makes it worse. In fact, that seems to be what makes them angriest of all. The Tea Party and its various arms represents these sentiments all too well here in Texas and nationwide. Ironically, the Republicans are now facing some karma for their stoking of these fires. Witness the defeat of Senator Lugar for making too many compromises. Additionally, this is the key attck line being used by Ted Cruz against that well known moderate, David Dewhurst here in Texas: David Dewhurst, Ted Cruz And Tom Leppert Face Off In Texas Senate Election Conservative groups that complain many Senate Republicans now in office are too quick to compromise have spent more than $4 million trying to help Cruz. The benefactors include South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund, the anti-tax Club for Growth and former Texas Rep. Dick Armey's FreedomWorks. Where does American politics go if politicans cannot compromise any more? In contradiction to the implication of the British commentator, America, unlike Great Britain does not have a Parliamentary scheme of government. Our system allows the minority to obstruct any majority's efforts to govern. Compromise is the ONLY way our system works. If any significant segment of the population has come to

belive that ths is what is wrong with government, there will be hell to pay. The Congressional train wreck that saw Congress's popularity dip into and remind in the 'teens in national polls is only a little taste of things to come