While politicians are hell-bound to party labels and the money that comes with them, when given the opportunity to vote on policy Americans tend to reach a consensus. Policy consensus already exists in America – in Americans – but elections and monetization of politics has made policymaking next to impossible in Congress and state houses.
It’s hard to hate policy, but it’s easy to hate a politician. The “Obama Era” has taught us that, and the 2014 mid-term elections proved it.
During the run up to November 4th, virtually every commercial on the GOP side of the aisle was about Obama, while nearly every ad by a democrat was trying to distance themselves (once again we see how spineless democrats can be). The GOP bet that Obama-hate would win them Congress, and they were right. We have to give the GOP credit for a working strategy, but shame a bit as well for exploiting a culture that helped create such a vile environment that is now American Politics.
Granted, the President hasn’t run the most effective administration in American history, and the democrats are horrendous at marketing their own successes. In the end, though, that doesn’t matter when it comes to winning elections in the United States, which are now almost exclusively based on emotion. Even in my county supervisor elections the republicans were Obama-bashing, and rarely said anything about what they actually believed or would do. Why? Because the GOP has known for a long time that people are motivated by anger more than hope. Hope keeps people alive, but it only sparks revolutions in novels. Since Obama was first elected the GOP has made it no secret that hating the President has basically been their number one priority and primary election strategy.
Looks like it worked.
Americans Hate Politicians
We The People hate politicians. We The Blue People really hate the Tea Party, and We The Red People really, really hate Obama.
While the republican strategy of demonizing Obama failed to make him a one-term president, it did ultimately succeed at winning them the Senate. After years and years of “dog-gone-democrat-bashing” in right-wing media, most people on the right hear the word “democrat” and an image of Obama hits their brain like a straight shot of mescaline. It’s the same for liberals when they hear Tea Party. In politics, the only thing Americans have in common is that we hate politicians.
… but policy is not politics. (mostly, anyway… it depends if the Koch brothers have an interest)
When Americans vote for politicians we are most motivated by what we hate, rather than what we support. However, another thing we’ve learned in 2012 and 2014 is that when We The People are allowed to vote directly on policy – not politicians – we actually tend to agree on many issues. It’s when the labels of “democrat” and “republican” come into play that it all hits the fan… we circle the wagons, sneer, jeer and leer.
Voting for Politicians vs. Voting for Policy
I say never underestimate the power of anger based on how Americans vote on state-wide propositions vs. the politicians they elect. We can’t look county-by-county because rural vs. urban and suburb culture is far too taught and passed-down to give us an accurate measure of the “American Mob” as a whole. Moreover, due to gerrymandering we can’t even look at congressional districts anymore as an accurate measure of American culture and beliefs. State initiatives, however, can tell us a lot because they are able to measure what a (generally) diverse set of Americans think about specific policy.
For example, in the 2014 mid-term elections Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska all voted to raise the minimum wage – a progressive policy that every democrat supports and nearly every republican claims will end the world by a rain of fire. These red states voted to raise the minimum wage while simultaneously electing politicians who vow to abolish it. Never underestimate the power of anger. On policy Americans can find consensus. On politicians we are polarized because we’ve been taught to hate “the other side” even if we agree with their policy positions. Politicians, not policy are the polarizing factors in America. That’s how we’re trained as a result of billions of dollars spent on elections.
A true, born and bred red state voter will never vote for a democrat (yes, I’m generalizing) because that’s the culture in which they are raised… but they will vote for progressive policy. They often do. We also need to look at the results of conservative policies: on average, hard right-wing initiatives fail in red states. Personhood bills, for example: states that voted to elect republicans who support personhood at the same time voted down personhood amendments and initiatives. On the same ballots in the same election year.
Americans are stuck with political parties like a birth mark and a last name. But when given the chance to make policy for ourselves, we tend to agree. If anything, that gives some hope.
What also gives some hope is that most of the winning republicans in 2014 are not Tea Party or in the hard right-wing (other than one who boasts of castrating hogs). Yes, Congress swung to the right, but at least not as far as Tea Party Ted dreams of nightly. Most are more the sort of republicans I grew up with; those who understand that the point of being a politician is to make deals, not set fire to the Capitol just to raise money and get on TV.
Look to How Americans Vote on Policy, Not Politicians
On the whole Americans agree on policy. It’s politicians and billions of dollars spent on elections that cause polarization by means of confusing issues and making people angry. If Washington is incapable of passing laws, maybe we the people should start making our consensus known to those we elect… constantly. Or at least more often than the rare times an initiative reaches a state-wide ballot…
…but who am I kidding? Most Americans don’t even vote.
