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April 28, 2004
The fruitlessness of our rhetoric
There are two possible aims of political rhetoric: 1) to rally supporters, and 2) to persuade undecideds to become supporters. Most political rhetoric in this country falls in the first category, and the blogosphere in general is one of the worst offenders.
Take Google bombing as an example. It makes us smile to see Bush listed for "miserable failure" and it makes wingnuts smile to see Kerry listed for "waffles". For undecideds, it has no effect whatsoever.
The Bush administration and its allies in the conservative media regularly engage in vicious partisan rhetoric, lowering the bar so much as to sink beneath the floor. The natural instinct of many liberals is to strike back - to hit them as hard as they are pummelling us, to take the gloves off and go for the jugular.
Blogs, most of which are run by committed partisans, fall into this trap easily, and indeed the majority of American political blogs, of either political stripe, spend most of their space criticizing their opponents. Some are dignified and polite, others venal and vindictive, but few indeed have much to say to those who don't share their general views.
However, the electoral record shows that attacking the other side has only a limited effect. In order to cross the threshold into building a winning majority, we have to construct actual policy themes that voters can relate to. People vote for something, not against someone.
This is nowhere near as satisfying as rebutting the latest Bush smear, or exposing Bush as a chickenhawk or hypocrite. But in order to win elections, we have to figure out what voters want and give it to them. What voters want to hear is often much different from what partisans want to say.
In 1992 Bill Clinton had a clear set of themes - fiscal discipline, investment in infrastructure, health care, and welfare reform. These were themes that matched people's frustration at a stagnant economy and a disconnected administration. The elder Bush had only meaningless partisan rhetoric to counter him with. He lost.
In order to win the election, we have to move beyond Bush-bashing.
Posted by Tyrone at April 28, 2004 04:16 PM