I have purposefully kept this cryptic. I am only going to give hints. These are some of the new tools or strategic actions that are shaping the elections behind the scenes. I have also purposefully hidden some of the tools.
1. Apply distilled political and historical wisdom, but go beyond Machiavelli.
Rules that May Tip The Balance
2. Use symbolism and images to appeal to the unconscious instincts of voters.
3. Corollary of 2: Downplay the rhetoric. Dumb down the message.
4. Trick the masses.
5. Ad-Sense: Talk to the great guys on Madison Avenue.
6. Build and leverage the power of a nationwide invisible quasi-monolithic hierachical network of supporters
7 Identify and use mythical auspicious times to nominate, give speeches and debates
8. I keep this to myself
9. I keep this to myself
10 I keep this to myself
One of my clients today said to me, and I quote, “Did you know that some people say Michele O’Bama is the next Jackie O? And some people think that O’Bama is the next Kennedy.” This is insulting to me. JFK and Jackie are great figures in history. Partly due to the untimely death of the President. The Kennedy’s have had to endure great tragedy and pain yet still served their country. Neither O’Bama’s make me think of Camelot. Just saying.
I am not really sure which way your blog is going here, but I will tell you that I have always voted one way for president and that is changing this year. First by instinct, second by alot of research and listening to many many people. I am shocked at myself for how different I am seeing things and feeling this time around – yet I can’t change how it is and how I feel.
By: Debby on September 5, 2008
at 3:21 am
When Mom was around, she was a strong Democratic supporter. Supporter? Wait… I mean, like, she ran caucuses and was the main whatever you call ‘em who kept a polling place open and she organized the political party summer picnics and junk. Ya, pretty into it. I miss that! I miss her opinions and her energy and the INSIDE INFORMATION. Her best friend called me the other day to talk politics. Oh my gosh, PATHETIC… I am NO replacement. Don’t even bother trying to get me to put energy into it. I have other fish to fry.
I’m openly socialistic… openly support the democrats overall. Those are loops I’ll probably hang onto. There was a day when it was worth thinking about the options, when it mattered what the individual stood for. Maybe it will matter again, and I’ll have to start to consider the sides again. But right now, the poor and the ill and the uneducated and the outsiders… they need our help. It’s blatantly clear where the social programs are.
But on the topic… hey, art and advertising are my thing… and the Democrats SUCK at it! They don’t speak to their own people. They stand for high morals and educated phrases and a bunch of junk my mom could rattle off as reasons. But it’s a real loss. Remember that great Rainier Beer commercial with the shifting motorcycle going over the mountain pass at sunset… Raaaaaaaaaaainiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiier Beeeeeeeeeeeeeer. Hey, Oooobaaaamaaaaaa works too.
I think the Democrats suck at the “new tools” and any old ones as well! Of the people I know, more than half that use the programs and systems and money that are Democratic achievements still vote Republican. That’s hilarious irony! That’s just plain SAD. If people understood how the vote translated into their lives, we’d have something very different in play.
Soon, I think it will be very soon!
By: Michele on September 5, 2008
at 6:50 am
I just want to clear up that most of the assistance we have recieved for people with disabilities has come from republicans and not democrats. Both McCain and especially Palin who has a child with a disability, have told the public that parents of special needs children will have an advocate with them. I have been in the DD field for 8 years now and I am for anyone who is going to fund me having a job. All of the cuts we recieved to our programs came from Democrats.
By: Debby on September 5, 2008
at 7:33 am
Let’s say someone actually records all the speeches of the convention. And decides to list the main ideas that the two parties brought out to govern America. Which two parties have more ideas?
What seems to be happening is that one party runs on facts, ideas and rational thinking. Another party runs on an appeal to the subconscious, through emotional appeal, and magical evocation of good feelings.
My guess is that a lot of people will vote in such a political climate what their subconscious mind directs them to do and not what is logically appropriate or beneficial to their material welfare.
By: Kwami on September 5, 2008
at 5:17 pm
Kwami, do you truly think that your rationale and attempt to make us use our brains will work? I have a feeling you’re destined to be disappointed with this one!
The “facts” are debatable… they aren’t facts at all. People use the craziest ironies to prove points that are unrelated. Tim Eiman convinced a heck of a lot of people that they would be better off with the licensing differences, and ya, if you were paying $1000 a year for your Mercedes, it did go down to $60… but those folks driving the 20 year old vehicles paid $60 as well (an increase)… and the ramifications ran deep, are still running deep.
How is that argued? It depends on who is doing the arguing. What are the facts? I bet someone can present them opposite to what I “know” to be true.
My mom spent 10 years in political debate with that BRILLIANT best friend… in opposing political party sides. And, interestingly, when the woman opened to actually “see”, she let herself change away from the loops of a family trend. Her reasons were because the “facts” supported that she had been voting against her “self”, in the needs and beliefs department… but it took an entire decade of work for her to see it.
The most common place I witness that is in small business. Most small business owners I know vote against themselves. I think they don’t understand basic math. Let’s blame the school system : ) We may as well keep debating for the sheer fun of it.
By: Michele on September 6, 2008
at 2:51 am
What a wonderful revelation your mom’s friend had.
And what patience your mom showed as she stuck it out with her friend until she got it. I think voters should be made to see how they vote against themselves.
By: Kwami on September 6, 2008
at 3:46 am
Politics is a game, pure and simple. Most people know that; it’s why a lot of people hate politics and hate politicians even worse. Game or no game, however, what happens in politics has big, real-world implications. As the French say, if you don’t do politics, politics will do you.
Obama was not my first (or second) pick. I thought he was too close to Wall Street. I knew the same was true of Hillary, whose past was chequered to say the least (read Greg Palast if you don’t yet know that). Not on a personal level, but in terms of being in the pockets of corporations. I was disdained by how the corporate media picked who the “real” candidates were — fed them up to us on a platter. Yet I’ve come to be fonder of Obama with time.
He is not perfect. Until we reform our system, which is so driven by big money, we will never have many politicians who work for the people at large and are not beholden to big money interests.
However, the choice is still stark in this election.
John McCain isn’t a bad man, but he has voted for Bush *on every occasion that mattered* (i.e. when the vote wasn’t simply symbolic because it had no chance of making a difference). He is a man deeply beholden to his party, and the core of the Republican party leadership is very right-wing extremist, although I don’t think many rank-and-file Republicans really understand that. They talk a good talk, but it is what they *do* that matters.
John McCain believes (or is willing to carry water for those who believe, anyhow) that the richest should not pay their full share, that it is OK for us to continue to borrow and spend instead of paying for the government we are buying as we go. He is firmly embedded in the military-industrial complex, where war is necessary for corporate survival. He is willing to pander to the far right to give us more judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, who are really all about handing over power to the corporations. These people think it’s OK to torture, OK to do away with habeus corpus, the core of a democracy, OK to turn the military against private citizens, OK to take away all of our freedom in the name of corporate safety.
Obama is far from perfect. He will not solve all our problems. But at least he seems willing to listen, and MOST of world (that part that doesn’t feed on war, and misery) is holding its breath, hoping that the USA will stop the warmongering, and reenter the world scene as a partner working to solve real problems we are facing, like climate change, terrorism, food instability, and thing like that, instead of a crazy despot wanting to rule the world at any cost, even if it drives the empire into the ground.
We must change course. Economically, even many Republicans understand that the Republican party may not survive another four years of crazy, extremist right-wing economic policies. And make no mistake, these are the people who are behind John McCain. He is no Maverick. He will dance with them what brung him.
(Of course, there are also those who are hoping that Obama will win, so that when the s**t from the last 30 years of conservative economic policies really hits the fan, they can blame it on the Democrats and bring on a real resurgence of Republican power. There is that to consider too!)
By: Rebecca on September 6, 2008
at 5:49 pm
I love that this particular blog that didn’t really say all that much inspired so much conversation. Bravo.
By: Debby on September 7, 2008
at 4:06 pm
Rebecca, I actually know people who will vote Republican because of the last paragraph you wrote. They actually VOTE on the concept “they made their bed and now they must lie in it”. Argh.
People play Monopoly with unique strategy too, but there are lives in the loss of this game, actually lives (and deaths). We should all try our best! : )
By: Michele on September 7, 2008
at 6:56 pm
If it weren’t for the Supreme Court I might think that was reasonable, but we have 5 moderate justices that are holding on by sheer determination, and 4 corporate, anti-democracy, extreme right wing, YOUNG nut jobs in therenow and I don’t think very many people will be happy when they realize what kind of Supreme Court they’ll have with John McCain. The courts are often the last line of defense for people who’ve been harmed, and they’ve been very carefully teaching us that lawyers are evil and that punitive damages are terrible and that most lawsuits are trivial–but sometimes it is the only thing that will stop corporations from killing and maiming, because otherwise they can just factor in the piddly fines they’ll pay as a cost of doing business. Some people may think they want a conservative Supreme Court so they can get abortion made a crime again, but they may be surprised at what else happens.
By: Rebecca on September 7, 2008
at 8:54 pm