In 2005, my then-Los Angeles-based aunt and uncle bought 30 acres of beautiful farmland near Lawrence, Kansas. They hoped to one day retire on that acreage. In the meantime, they thought they would enjoy having a country home for periodic escapes from the hustle of LA.
A few months after their purchase, I sent them Thomas Frank’s What’s The Matter With Kansas?, reasoning that they needed acclimation to their future home state and the things that might be the matter with it. In his excellent book, Frank argues that the Republican machine has learned how to convince Americans to vote against their collective self-interest by linking its party with moral issues. Frank uses my home state of Kansas as the example in his book because Kansans have been among the most gullible, turning their homeland from a once-Progressive state to a political back forty that elects ultra-conservatives like Sam Brownback. (Who happens to be the state’s governor-elect.)
By Frank’s reasoning, the lower-middle class farmers that Republicans run over roughshod are the same people voting, by wide margins, to put those Republicans in office. All because the campaigning Republicans convince those farmers that Democrats would take away their guns, turn their kids gay, and stab pregnant women with abortion machines.
My aunt and uncle sold their land in Kansas a year after my aunt read Frank’s book.
Their reaction after reading What’s The Matter With Kansas? was not unlike mine during Election Night 2010. I was appalled as I watched Republican victories mount. I wasn’t appalled because I felt like “we” were losing – not all of my philosophies line up with those trumpeted by the Democratic party. I was disgusted because I had just watched one group of people (most Republican candidates) make fools out of another group of people (most of their supporters).
I couldn’t help but think of Pizarro and the Incas. I know you’re a peaceful people, but take some weapons to the powwow already.
All of this because the Republicans employ some really good ad men.
The “mandate” granted in 2010’s “referendum” election, which “repudiated” Barack Obama and his “liberal agenda” came about not because the other side had great ideas for change, or because it could claim that it hadn’t been listened to. It happened because the current group of Republicans is really good at sales. Even better, it seems, than it was when Thomas Frank wrote his book.
Like a virulent strain of antibiotics-resistant bacteria, Republicans have learned. Before, their main weapon in duplicity was religion and morality. Now, they’ve added self-determination to the mix. Now, a Republican candidate can deploy not only, “You should elect me because I believe in wholesome American values,” but also, “You should elect me because I’ll help you develop to your true potential because, up till now, the government has been holding you back by interfering with your life through onerous taxes and/or unnecessary health care provisions.”
And it wasn’t just the ephemeral Tea Partiers who thundered such platitudes at their constituents. It was a united Republican party, repeating talking points about smaller government, bad government, less governmental interference.
The Republican embrace of values was a brilliant move; the selling of the power of self-determination was, quite possibly, even smarter. It sidesteps the Church and gets at the everyman’s desire to be different and special.
“Yeah, he’s right. I should be successful. Damned government’s the thing that’s keeping me from it.”
Discarding the fact that the people calling for less government ARE government, the problem, for the congregation to which those Republicans preached, is that much of that congregation needs governmental interference. There are plenty of go-getters and self-starters in the United States, just like in the world as a whole. But there are a lot more only-mildly-motivated, generally disenfranchised, or unlucky people. And those groups need a safety net.
It is intoxicating to hear that you don’t need help – that the only thing standing in the way of your personal and financial success is the government. Which is exactly why it worked so well leading up to Election 2010.
This is not a new plank in the Republican platform, of course. Republicans have always been (in theory) the party of smaller government and individual determinism. What is new, I think, is the idea of selling it to people who may not have much chance to make good on a promise of self-determinism.
The careful reader might now say, “Hold on. Who are you to say that these people don’t know what’s best for them?”
It’s a valid question, because the tightwire I’m walking – between elitism and explanation – is a thin one. So let me be clear again: If people want to vote for smaller government, that’s up to them. I’m talking about the spectacle of voters not understanding what they were “repudiating.” For example, their confusion about the difference between the TARP and the stimulus package. Or a fundamental misunderstanding of a health care bill that could very well have saved them money.
That confusion was demonstrated by those constituents who trumpeted some variation of, “I don’t want the government interfering with my life. But I sure do like Social Security and Medicare.”
Republican dominance of the ad campaign that is American politics doesn’t look likely to subside. Republicans have had plenty of time to consider their problem, which is that, if personal economics are the driving force behind one’s vote, a large portion of the American population should be voting Democrat. After considering that problem, those Republicans have created some powerful weapons.
First, it was fear.
Now, it’s faked empowerment.
The only solution, as I see it, is for Democrats, should they ever regain the electoral momentum, to make a certain book required reading in American schools.
Then, there’s at least a chance that kids would grow up understanding that what’s the matter with Kansas is the same thing that’s the matter with everyone else – we’re all suckers for some good, old-fashioned pandering.
For more from Paul, click some of the fun buttons below…
Past work on FlipCollective.com.
To follow him on Twitter.
To befriend him on Facebook.
Related Posts
I recently spent two weeks in Spain promoting the translation of my book, Can I Keep My Jersey? (Me Puedo Quedar La Camiseta?, thanks for asking.) On the trip, I shook hands, I signed copies of the book and I did interviews for newspapers and radio stations. I did all of those things, mostly, in Spanish. I speak Spanish with the same level ...
It used to be simple. You got the girl’s number, you called her, you hoped you’d get her voicemail, you waited for her to call back, you made a plan to get Italian. But now? Now, nobody uses the telephone for the “phone” part. So, unless the girl is not a girl at all – i.e. over 40 – you’re going to need to send a text message. ...
You are probably aware that there used to be a 17-year-old in Florida named Trayvon Martin and that there is no longer a 17-year-old in Florida named Trayvon Martin. You are probably also aware that many people – athletes and celebrities and politicians alike – have come out in condemnation of the circumstances surrounding Trayvon Martin’s...
When I was 18, I left my tiny Kansas hometown to play basketball at Iowa State University. During my college career, I cared so much about basketball that I was willing to put up with screaming coaches, early-morning practices, and the complete absence of any social life. I worried more than most CEOs. I slept less than most workaholics. To combat ...
Imagine this scenario, if you will: I’m standing in a room. I don’t know how I got into this room. There is another man in this room with me. The man tells me that if I stay in this room with him for the next 24 hours, if I follow his orders, if I put my absolute trust in his guidance, and if I tell him I like his haircut once every...
Comments