A Brief Interruption

The Democrats are currently pulling a tough card in this country. That’s the overall impression I got from a Benjamin Wallace-Wells piece in the Sunday New York Times. The title of the article (“The End of Republican America”) suggested an impending doom for the party of conservatives. But it seemed to me that the Republican inner-core is in fantastic shape--they’re crafty, smart and masters of exploitation.

They may not have much money this time around (yet), but they will. And there may be plenty of flaws within their platform, but they have one extremely important trump-card over the Democrats--the base of their party is incredibly stupid and generally easy to manipulate. Not that all Republicans are dim (there are plenty of brilliant but misguided ones), but the ones that are counted on to win elections are easy to herd and ideologically similar.

The base of the Democratic party is neurotic, skeptical, and varied in their pursuits and causes. It's very difficult for the Democrats to get these crazed Bohemians in line. Not that there aren't amazingly stupid Democrats (they're called Hillary Clinton supporters), but they make up a smaller percentage of the overall party. It's slightly tougher to trick the Democratic base, which leaves the party structure in a constant struggle to find the right manipulative words. And that's all modern politics in America has become anyway--a nasty game of delusion.

But it isn't like the Republicans have had a 250-year monopoly on the idiot bracket of the American public. They used to be called Dixiecrats, and they used to ensure decades of congressional dominance for the Democratic Party. This twisted group of Southern racists, Midwestern bible slaves and Southwestern Mexican-mongers have been the key to American political power for some time. And whichever party manages to trick them into buying their bullshit gains the upper hand in this money game.

The Roves and Gingrichs were the ones that executed the nasty deal to swing the idiot pool back to their side, but they certainly weren't the ones who thought of the idea. Tricking dumb people into aligning into either party is a mainstay of politics. It's the reason we'll never have a general popular vote as compared to the electoral college (among other things, the EC groups the cogs into very important and easily identifiable districts, while a popular vote would blast them all over the map like a Jackson Pollock painting).

So Republicans (through all their fuck-ups and policy issues, not to mention just a bad overall public image) still have the easiest job come election season. No matter how much money the Democrats have nor how unpopular that conflict is. Guys like the Chairmen of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Tom Cole, have been brewing this delicious stew for years. As he toured what is perhaps one of the poorest areas of the country, Southern Oklahoma, he says to the reporter Wallace-Wells: "what we had to do was convince them that the Democrats in Washington were completely out of touch with Oklahoma values". Between the lines of this dialogue is the fuel that has powered the Republican machine since the 80s. They sell these poor stupid people conservative values (which most of the Washington core of Republicans could really give a damn about), and then turn around and pass economic legislation that is exactly counter to the type of stimulus that would help these people. Collecting both money and power as they push the buttons of fear and bigotry. Things that could help poor Oklahoman's (like raising the minimum wage, taxing higher classes and killing, for good, the trickle down theory) tend to fall into the Democratic platform. But it doesn't matter what the reality is, it only matters how it's sold. And right now, Republicans still have the easy task of selling blankets to beds, while Democrats are trying to pull one over on a group of people whose tastes and ideals seem to change every few weeks.

Don't think the Democrats haven't caught onto this. They won the general elections of 2006 by running conservative candidates disguised as Democrats. Like good old boy Heath Shuler, who Tom Cole calls "to the right of Genghis Khan" (and I'd agree). In essence, they're trying to win back those Gomer Pile's by sprinkling dumb into their own offerings. And that is why this primary season has become so fractured for the Democrats. All policies and reality aside, Clinton represents moderation and good old fashion God-fearing political bullshit that middle America goes for. She's hell bent on maintaining the current political atmosphere with tricks and mirrors to sway that all-important dumb block. For the Clintons (and this is just like Primary Colors), selling out has always been worth it.

Obama (though he sleeps with just as many lobbyists as Clinton) represents a change back to an adult-like discourse that ruled politics (for better or worse) until just after FDR. That is why the intelligent and neurotic sector of the Democratic party is forcing him ahead. He at least embodies a politician that could ignore the dumber parts of the populace. It's also why (to me) he's still the underdog. Clinton will kill him in Pennsylvania (where voters may be smart enough to sense the political/social implications of an Obama presidency, but just to poor and out-of-work to care), and then she will sway the Super delegates with hand-jobs and eloquent rhetoric into believing Florida and Michigan should count. If she wins, it will mark the last jumping off point before the Democrats truly begin to transform themselves into the party in the market for those Dixiecrats. They'll sell out any social and moral reasoning to win back power--just like Republicans would. If Heath Shuler thinks the war in Iraq is just and gay people are immoral, who gives a shit--for Democrats he still has their name on the place cards. Republicans aren't going to let Democrats win the morons back without a hard fight, and they will have plenty of fear for ammo.

So what's the cure for this political juggling of America's Moron Majority? A third party that could scare the only two shows in town. One that would ignore entirely that segment of the population--something that Democrats and Republicans won't and, frankly, can't do. A party that would look to only act in the best and most progressive interest of the populace. A party that wouldn't even care if it lost. The message, and the idea, would be more important then the power. It's a party like that that could bring the disenfranchised to the polls just on its very theory. And although initially it would kill the Democrats (as many Democrats are dying to jump ship), I think eventually a strong third party could be the death blow for both parties (as just as many Republicans are tired of social conservatives screwing up their money train). A strong third party could end up spawning many parties, and a system with multiple specifically aligned parties would be far preferable. We are waiting for the death of the two-party system in American politics, and it's a funeral that is long overdue.