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Nov. 6th, 2004 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stakebait1) Start educating the kids, now, about voting and why it matters and how parties work. Teach them that politicians are not all alike just because they dress alike and have the same mannerisms, about stuff like court appointments and how being able to compromise doesn't mean you're compromised. Every study I've seen shows that Generation Y is uncommonly altruistic and civic minded, as well as traditional enough not to disaffected from institutions just because they're institutions. They're much stronger on the environment and unbothered by gay issues than older people are. And they're the Echo Boom, so there are a lot of them. They're ages 10-27 right now, which mean all of them will be able to vote by two elections from now. We need to get them registered and involved. P. Diddy and Eminem and Rock the Vote are great, but not enough.
2) Work on registering and turning out more black voters in the South.
3) Take a tip from the Cluetrain Manifesto and go for the straight talk approach. I don't mean fake (or real) Jes' Plain Folks, and I don't mean soundbites either. I mean people respect and trust someone who they feel calls a spade a spade. We can still have complexity and nuance when they're called for, but you have to first sketch in the broad outlines in a strong hand. For the last several years we've been letting the other side frame the debate's basic terms and then taking issue with them. Gotta stop. It's like they tell you about dealing with your dysfunctional family -- don't get trapped into letting them define the conversation so that all the options put you on the defensive. Find what *you* think is the real heart of the issue.
4) Pick a candidate that's not from the Northeast. Sorry, I like it here too, but the perception that we're not like the rest of America is strong, and the (understandable) post election venting ain't weakening it any. So far I'm leaning towards New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. He's got a strong record on international politics (former ambassador to the UN, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times), knows a lot about energy and preserving the environment while still working with business.
5) Speaking of which... we need to slack off on the post-election venting that paints the midwest or the south as ignorant or bigoted. I have no problem at all attacking the ignorant or the bigoted, or agreeing that both played a role in Bush's reelection, but the Midwest has no monopoly on 'em, we have no monopoly on the informed or the tolerant, and in any case, you catch more flies with honey than with condescension. If we want swing voters in these states to back us, we need to ask them why they didn't and then listen to the answers. I wouldn't vote for anyone who was calling me names either.
6) We need an agenda, which is *not* the same as a series of positions. Positions are "on this issue, I feel XYZ". An agenda is "in four years (or eight, or twenty, or a hundred) this is where we want to be, and this is how I think we can get there." That gives people hope, something to believe in, and something to judge a new guy on compared to the record of the old guy.
Yes, we run the risk that somebody will be offended by something in it. But for the last two elections we've run the risk of people thinking we don't know what the hell we want, let alone how to make it happen, and we can see how well that works. Depending on temperment they then go on to think we have a secret agenda, which won't be revealed till after the election, or we're weak and reactive, or we care about nothing but gaining power for ourselves. Any which way, there's no good there.
Much as I honestly don't see what the hell people are talking about when they say Bush has character and is a strong person and what you see is what you get with him, I do see that people *want* someone who has character and is a strong person and what you see is what you get with them. And really that's not unreasonable in a leader. So we have to do that. Show them we have a realistic plan with some scope and some hope to it, and we can swing the character voters to our side even if they *don't* agree with the details, just like Bush did.
7) Start working now, on the state and local levels, to improve the mechanics of voting so that not every close election hinges on mechanical or human error. Look into the accountablity and security of the new digital machines while we've still got four years to fix it. And make a serious effort to get bipartisan sponsorship and support for the effort.
2) Work on registering and turning out more black voters in the South.
3) Take a tip from the Cluetrain Manifesto and go for the straight talk approach. I don't mean fake (or real) Jes' Plain Folks, and I don't mean soundbites either. I mean people respect and trust someone who they feel calls a spade a spade. We can still have complexity and nuance when they're called for, but you have to first sketch in the broad outlines in a strong hand. For the last several years we've been letting the other side frame the debate's basic terms and then taking issue with them. Gotta stop. It's like they tell you about dealing with your dysfunctional family -- don't get trapped into letting them define the conversation so that all the options put you on the defensive. Find what *you* think is the real heart of the issue.
4) Pick a candidate that's not from the Northeast. Sorry, I like it here too, but the perception that we're not like the rest of America is strong, and the (understandable) post election venting ain't weakening it any. So far I'm leaning towards New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. He's got a strong record on international politics (former ambassador to the UN, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times), knows a lot about energy and preserving the environment while still working with business.
5) Speaking of which... we need to slack off on the post-election venting that paints the midwest or the south as ignorant or bigoted. I have no problem at all attacking the ignorant or the bigoted, or agreeing that both played a role in Bush's reelection, but the Midwest has no monopoly on 'em, we have no monopoly on the informed or the tolerant, and in any case, you catch more flies with honey than with condescension. If we want swing voters in these states to back us, we need to ask them why they didn't and then listen to the answers. I wouldn't vote for anyone who was calling me names either.
6) We need an agenda, which is *not* the same as a series of positions. Positions are "on this issue, I feel XYZ". An agenda is "in four years (or eight, or twenty, or a hundred) this is where we want to be, and this is how I think we can get there." That gives people hope, something to believe in, and something to judge a new guy on compared to the record of the old guy.
Yes, we run the risk that somebody will be offended by something in it. But for the last two elections we've run the risk of people thinking we don't know what the hell we want, let alone how to make it happen, and we can see how well that works. Depending on temperment they then go on to think we have a secret agenda, which won't be revealed till after the election, or we're weak and reactive, or we care about nothing but gaining power for ourselves. Any which way, there's no good there.
Much as I honestly don't see what the hell people are talking about when they say Bush has character and is a strong person and what you see is what you get with him, I do see that people *want* someone who has character and is a strong person and what you see is what you get with them. And really that's not unreasonable in a leader. So we have to do that. Show them we have a realistic plan with some scope and some hope to it, and we can swing the character voters to our side even if they *don't* agree with the details, just like Bush did.
7) Start working now, on the state and local levels, to improve the mechanics of voting so that not every close election hinges on mechanical or human error. Look into the accountablity and security of the new digital machines while we've still got four years to fix it. And make a serious effort to get bipartisan sponsorship and support for the effort.
