A Non-Emergency Fundraiser (Or, Why Ron Paul has no chance in hell) [Editorial]
pO157.
Posted to Etcetera on Wed Jan 30, 2008 at 10:02:36 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
I spent a good portion of my Friday evening at a fund raiser at some banquet hall. You know, the ones everybody gets guilted into going to, or possibly for the open bar serving only wine in a plastic cup or Canadian beer by the pitcher. The good thing is the evening allowed for lengthy introspection after which I realized a 3rd party candidate has little to no shot in this country for the foreseeable future.
As is the custom at many of these events, I spent much of my time people watching. Unfortunately, there is only so much hilarity that can be had from watching random women get severely buzzed and stagger around the room working the crowd. Eventually the crowd sat down before dinner and I talked to people at my table. There was quite a diverse group of people sitting around me, from the middle aged couple with kids, to a newly married set in their late 20s/early 30s with a baby at home, as well as surly empty nesters that pretty much ignored me the whole evening.
Anywho, the conversation eventually settled on politics as these gatherings usually do. As my rules of engagement for the evening regarding political conversation demanded reconnaissance only I mostly listened with one exception*. I was shocked to hear that almost everybody at the table seemed to be strongly disgusted with the way things were heading in general in this country and almost everybody used phrases like "lesser of two evils" or "I'll choose who I dislike the least." In my opinion, I would say almost everybody at the table (including the government civil servant) was espousing opinions on how "things should run" that were almost libertarian in nature, or perhaps more accurately a left-leaning libertarian slant.
Nothing else that evening was relevant to discussion, as the conversation soon changed when a person at the table started discussing how impressed he was with the amount of alcohol the women of Polish descent could put away. I assume the Polish families were making similar comments about the Italians in the crowd. Ahh, good times.
Why did I find this interesting and decide to bother everybody with its recounting? I think Ron Paul boosters, Libertarians, greens, or whoever may have some interesting ideas to bring to the debate. Quite frankly, I think their platforms would be sympathetically received by a wider spectrum of the population, but for a lack of "getting the word out" they are permanently relegated to the <10% category which is not enough to get delegates or house seats.
I think the problem many of these groups have is that they think "money bombs," smarmy t-shirts, or self righteous slogans coupled with some 'net roots' are enough to win the presidency/media attention/delegates/whatever. While 3 out of 4 people in the country have access to internet, many of the connections are dial-up and I would hazard a guess that the overwhelming majority of those people do not have the disposable time or income to hang out on discussion boards such as this one. Many users are likely to be older or may not feel comfortable discussing or researching alternative political philosophies or candidates online. As one candidate already found out, having strong 'net roots' and a metric crapload of cash doesn't mean jack if you can't reach the rest of the voters who don't have roots on the 'net.
My point? It's not about how much money you can raise, the size of your blimp, how gaudy you can trick out rides and then say "These guys really make things HAPPEN!!" but how you present the case to your average voter. In these days of style over substance and people wanting to vote for somebody based on how awesomely they could rock out Guitar Hero Ma and Pa Kettle aren't going to vote for somebody they consider to be "extreme." While the positions of 3rd party candidates may appeal to many voters (including myself) the sale has to be closed. How? By mainstreaming the party/candidate/whatever it is they are trying to sell. I hate myself for making this comparison, but look at the recent PR campaigns run by the Mormons and their public relations/advertising firm that ends in "Ask your Mormon neighbor for more information." The PR firm knows the group looks (at best) odd but by normalizing things and pointing out to potential customers that "regular" people hold those views it (theoretically) gets rid of the "weird/unknown" aspect. 3rd parties should be trying to do this by running ad campaigns, encouraging their members to talk to people and breaking down the idea that not all libertarians live in shacks in the Dakotas and many Greens shower and hold down real full time jobs. Destroy the stereotypes.
My point? Money bombs, youtube videos, blimps, net roots and all that crazy shit isn't going to do much without voter outreach which is something almost every 3rd party I have ever seen lacks.
That is all.
*When one person who considered himself a "lifetime Republican who recently changed his affiliation to Democrat" brought up that he would leave the country if Huckabee won I laughed and said I almost hope he won the GOP primary. I explained I almost wished he would get the GOP nomination because I hoped that would prompt some internal party discussion about how far they had strayed from their roots and allowed the social conservatives to dominate the platform over the recent years. I sensed from the blank looks around the table that it was not a time for a discussion on the vagaries of the libertarian wing versus the socially conservative base of that party. I shut up after some nervous laughter.
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