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Edited on Fri Apr-18-08 09:24 AM by mrbluto
Brokered conventions have happened and been good for the party.
I savor the idea of finally giving the GOP some bait and switch medicine.
Rove & Co. are all geared-up for either O or C - imagine all the positioning and oppo research that goes down the drain when (if) the Dems can pull a 180 on them!
They're as relatively light on cash as they've ever been - This sort of move could really sink them. Could help make November not just a win, but an unexpected massive upset! They are ripe for it!
It is very important to remedy the glass ceiling of sexism and racism that has kept good people from running for president, or office in general, but I think every subsequent democratic candidate and every democratic administration, and eventually many many red-state voters will eventually thank us for busting the wheels of off the GOP's little red wagon. Bust them off and toss them (the wheels - give me room, I'm stretching a metaphor here.) ...toss them in a wood chipper!
What's the matter with Kansas is the ringing question I've heard?
The answer is that we democrats, with our earnest deliberations and sincere contention feed them a steady diet of red meat. They basically get to sit back half the time and say "let's you and him fight." and they mean democrats! This primary is the epitome of that.
We need to put some noise in their signal, burps in their tubing. They never want for an issue of the day - our issue of the day - to beat us over the head with. What if they threw a right wing echo chamber and we didn't show up? They'd be shit-out-of-luck. They 'd finally start to chew each other's limbs off like we've sensed they would all along.
How do we not show up for a Faux smear fest? How to not walk down a cattle chute prepared by Karl Rove?
It would take some discipline.
We'd have to set aside this historic moment to prove that gender or color of one's skin is not an insurmountable obstacle to the Whitehouse. We should have a brokered convention.
This is what it would take to slip out of Rove's new trap. He sees honest people strain and hope for justice and relief, on every front. Our consistent, unrelenting attention to every issue has made us predictable. He always knows where we'll be. He knows these are not easy issues. He doesn't need to be everywhere he can concentrate and strike at random. He doesn't really care about any issue except the garnering of power. It's godamn political jujitsu! Ever see those martial arts movies? What's the thing they say as often as not? "Don't tense up, be flexible." If we're fighting with our all, for complete justice, on every front, all the time, we've saved him any guessing about what we're going to do. We need to mix it up a bit. Be unpredictable. Make them waste time and attention.
Here - try this little thought experiment. It's one an evil genius might like, but it will illustrate a point:
Imagine if all the muggers, all the robbers, criminals, gang guys, etc. went on strike? Stupendously reduced crime right? If they could manage it it would have quite an impact. But what would happen if they kept their criminal mind sets? What if they just waited? Eventually, after a year, or two, or three, the police budgets would be cut. There would be lay-offs. Nobody would train up for no job. It would become an unglamorous profession. Kids wouldn't dream of a job that was 99% directing traffic. The creepy thing, when you think this through, is it's not hard to imagine some desperate police high-mucky-mucks figuring out ways to increase crime, ways to redefine it so they could keep their jobs, their budgets. Eventually they'd lose that battle. Now on some particular date all the criminals go back to work - the country would be overwhelmed! Or imagine they only commit certain crimes on random days - traffic violations on tuesday, assault on the 14th, larceny during months where the lotto number was even. These pulses would still overwhelm the system. You'd have, as an example, a situation where 80% of the cops were equipped to hand out tickets for the day, but all the criminals were committing identity theft. It would be tough for the police to explain. It would be seen as an excuse and people would get disgusted with the situation. Etc. Etc. Ad nauseum.
Terrible scenerio. Lucky for us it's unrealistic. But the dynamic still holds. and we can use it.
All the timing and sequencing and massaging and preparing their base to act on their chauvinist racist impulses can be turned against them. Just like Rove used Kerry's service against him - Kerry's campaign held so tight to that plan they couldn't move. Rove used Gore's reputation for foresight and intelligence against his campaign - with the bullshit "invented the internet" line. Gore's campaign couldn't change gears and that one drop of poison tainted all they had plan for.
Let's fuck with their plan. Let's not give them the fight they want.
Don't press the buttons that will activate their base for them. Jujitsu them. A little judo could go a long way just now.
What's the tough part? Trust and discipline. If I were a woman, or if I weren't a white male, upon hearing this strategy, this tactical maneuver, I'd say "Sure - Just this next eight years we go with a white, southern guy? Then we open it up more fairly. Sure. No problem! Hey got any bridges to sell me along with this line of bullshit?". I'd have to wonder about anyone who didn't at least entertain this take on the idea in the current situation. This is why it would have to be a brokered convention with all significant parties involved. Why? So they could hammer out a bunch of quid-pro-quo (which isn't a a bad term in and of it self - it means give and take equally - troubling that it seems associated only with the schemes of bad guys.) and benchmarks and monitoring of whatever deal would satisfy enough people to stick to it. If you think this is somewhat undemocratic then you're right. It is somewhat undemocratic. But that would be mitigated by the fact that many of the people involved have been elected democratically. Given Obama's strength he would have a lot of say at the table, so too would Hillary, if sexism is what she's really fighting then there would be great strides on that front. (I have my doubts it's really her issue - she cares, but she's more about the nuts and bolts of the domestic economic policy and services IMHO). Trust would be a challenge. Promises would need to made - ones that future democrats would have to deliver on or lose all credibility with other democrats, and significant parts of the democratic base.
To have that trust we'd have to ask ourselves about the following:
Do we, in our hearts, do we know and believe that the tacit rules about race and sex regarding the presidency are dead, still walking, but not for long. If as Democrats we know that, if not now, that very soon, and definitely within our lifetimes, race and sex will be only a minor factor - that once democracy is allowed a natural course cultivated by people who respect reality and reason - that democracy will flourish.
If you believe, along with me, that racism and sexism is a dead letter, a revenant, then you, like me, will consider the possibility, not necessarily support it until we're clear on the possible advantages, consider the possibility that it might be more effective for our liberal cause to run a white southern liberal economic populist who's already been vetted by the media.
A well designed ticket, rather than one allowed to survive by the MSM, might have the coattails to put a stake in the heart of the vampire that keeps crawling out of its GOP grave.
And fix the economy,
And PUNISH those who have betrayed their office and the constitution. (PUNISH, not merely chase away for a while)
And show the world that the US of A is NOT truly represented by BushCo. (that they're not merely squelched for the time-being)
And...bust the fucking wheels off the GOP red wagon!
That is what Rove et. al. are really afraid of.
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