My last couple blog posts talked about some of the important events going on in the nation right now, the Wisconsin debate, and the Planned Parenthood debate. It seems, in both situations, that in the face of economic & financial concerns republican values and democratic values have officially squared off for a dual. The republicans are targeting unions and social programs that directly influence women’s health, and framing these attacks as both a return to republican values and being “the only financial option”. In Wisconsin the republican values that are driving the campaign in support of Walker are the anti-union position of the Republican Party as well as their position to be the economically responsible party. Their economic values could also be used to explain their proposal to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, but it is their pro-life values which are really fueling the efforts here. Some of the strengths that the Republicans have with these campaigns are that they are relying on the values of the Republican Party to help gain support. These values are in some ways linked to Lakoffs argument about the “tough father” who is needed to get its family into shape, to make them good, and to get them to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps. But generally, these value laden political actions are able to gain a lot of support from their bases because these actions are consistent with the republican platform. Additionally, the republicans are also doing well in its organized campaign efforts. In Wisconsin, for example, the republicans are- in my opinion- winning the ad war. First, they have three different ads by three different organizations- one of them being the RNC. The fact that the RNC has come out with an ad speaks volumes to the commitment by republicans. Next, each ad is clear, it is timely (about 30 seconds), and they are persuasive. In the Planned Parenthood debate, I also believe they are in a good position. First, they have a majority in the house which gives them power to pass policy. Next, they have organized campaign efforts targeting Planned Parenthood on multiple fronts. What I am getting at, is that the Republican party and republican organizations are successful campaigners. They stick to their values which are fairly similar across organizations and therefore allow a cohesion and coordination between campaigns- thus bringing them together as a united front. They go big or go home. And this is standard practice for them. It is with this acknowledgment of their successful practices that I am concurrently showcasing the weakness of the left.
These weaknesses frustrate me. I want to see the Walker proposal fail and Union collective bargaining rights remain. I also want to see that Planned Parenthood, at the very least, gets to keep their federal funding. But, I am nervous that the organizations on the left are going to hand everything over the right, which is something I believe they do well. I am not saying that a lot isn’t being done to defend the left and its values from a full frontal attack by the rights, but what I am saying is that the campaigns need to go big or go home. And that means doing more than just protesting or creating internet awareness campaigns. The left needs unity, it needs to win the ad war, the DNC needs to get with it, and the left needs to take control and frame the debates (instead of letting the right frame the debates). The left, needs to argue differently.
1 comment:
Hayley, good stuff here. And now your (gentle yet firm) tirade in class makes a little more sense to me.
Here're my two (perhaps more) cents:
In my mind, it's easier to rally conservative voters/minds/sympathizers around a specific cause. I understand conservatism to be a desire to keep things as the status quo, and in some cases, to return to a mythologized ideal. In either case, it's easier to define what the goals, wants, desires, needs, etc of that group of people is. It's easy to say 'keep prices down' in the same sentence as 'more jobs for Americans' because those ideals are easy for people to grab hold of.
The problem with organizing liberals is there is so much variation as to what it means to be a liberal these days (and any days for that matter). People may identify as liberal for a particular reason (say, environmental protection) but might be completely against other hallmark liberal agendas (like say, reproductive rights). I agree with you that the Left needs to get it together, but there is a much greater risk of alienating a base when you stick hard to something.
The TeaPartiers have problematized this, of course, showing there is still a lot of variation on what it means to be conservative in the US today. Now I'm rambling. Let's talk about this more.
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