Speaking to American Voters

I was thinking about the state of American politics lately and I came up with this intriguing thought. Americans finally seem eager to be engaged on the issues.

There’s always those few that see politics as a drag. It’s bickering. It’s fighting. It’s talking about legal terms they don’t understand. It’s boring. To those of us that are not political junkies like myself and likely you reading this blog, this is truly how politics is viewed.

Not to mention people see Politicians as self serving, dishonest corporate whores. Even the parties that care more about the people (see: Democrats) are just a step below Republicans in having their hands out in accepting money and policy from rich big wigs that don’t want anything to change.

Barring some dramatic overhaul of the election system that takes private financing out of the equation, this perception will never change.

But the Republicans and this Bush Administration in particular have made such a mess of the political system even the non politicos are taking notice. Scandal after scandal arises within this Administration and every single one can be pinpointed to political cronyism.

People are taking notice that their President cares more about his power and his rich friends being protected than doing what’s best for the American people. They noticed this more in the 2006 midterms and we took back the House and the Senate. I think the people are gearing up to depose Republicans for a good decade or two long minority in 2008.

This works for the Democrats on every level because Republicans in the national and state government all have their hands dirtied by this. At one level or another every one of them has towed the Bush line hoping to capitalize on what they believed to be a Conservative wave that would as Karl Rove put it, “create a permanent majority”.

If I were running a Democratic campaign for State Office I would do everything I could to let the voters and constituents know that I care about them. Right now there is a tremendous disconnect between reality and fantasy in the Republican policies and that disconnect carries over towards their constituents. People feel used. Used for their votes and not heard on the issues that caused these lawmakers to be elected in the first place.

Even some Democrats are starting to feel the heat as protesters who believed the November vote was a referendum on the war, are coming to their offices in droves to push the issue. While Democrats have limited power to stop the President (the Senate majority is too thin to pass any binding legislation or override Bush’s veto anyway), this has to be a wake up call to all current and future candidates as to how they must treat the will of their constituents.

Another thing that has to disturb most Americans was this notion that only those who voted for them must be catered to. Tony Snow recently mentioned that Bush is working for the people who voted for him. That to many has to be discouraging as even those who did not vote for you are still your constituents and with races as close as both of his were, you’d think somewhere in there Democrats who voted against him would have a voice in the shaping of American policy also.

Beyond left or right this disconnect from reality is what is driving people to be more and more frustrated with the current state of politics. Instead of driving people away from polls it is driving people to them. A “throw the bums out” theme resonated in the November midterms and unless something dramatically changes, 2008 will be more of the same.

If I were running a state office campaign (aside from Governor of course), I would put my candidate on TV and radio ads that welcome discussion from the people. I would have the candidate say something like this:

“Hi, I’m _________ and I’m running for _____ in your district. I’m sure over the years you have been bombarded with TV and radio ads that have negative tones and robocalls that interrupt your daily routine, sometimes multiple times a night.

I am running to represent you. I want you to hear my message and even though we may disagree on some things I want you to know that I am willing to listen and have an open and honest discussion on all of the issues. That sort of dialogue has sorely been missing from government and politics for many years now and I want you to know from the very beginning of this campaign that I intend to listen to you and make our district’s views a part of the conversation if I get elected.

So you will not be bombarded by robocalls or negative ads that blitz your day. Instead, I am going to put my number up here. Call this number with any questions or concerns you might have and volunteers here will take your message for me to get back to you with a response. I want to talk to as many of you personally as I can and I will try my best to get back to as many of you as possible. Also many of my stances on the issues are going to be up at www._____.com for you to read.

We need a government that is open and honest and listens to their constituents. I can bring that back and this is my pledge to you. I look forward to hearing from as many of you as I possibly can and as this campaign moves forward we have an opportunity to make history by interacting as a community of people not political donors. Thank you.”

Now this could be shortened up and some might say, “Well that could be an insane amount of calls” but is it really that many calls for a State Assembly or Senate candidate? Anymore than they usually make? Probably not by a lot.

Perception is everything in politics. If you are on the air slinging mud all the time or slamming people with robocalls you are turning them off to you and the process. This takes the exact opposite approach. It’s refreshing to hear that a politician wants to hear your views and is not going to try to bombard you with negative ads. It’s also refreshing to hear that the politician will try to call everyone back because he wants to engage you on issues that matter to you.

Will the candidate call everyone back? Probably not. It might be impossible depending how well the idea goes over. But you’re trying to get back to as many people as possible and for most that seems like a personal commitment most politicians never attempt to make. This shows you are beholden to the people and to the voters, not just the fundraisers which is a mistake even many Democrats make all too often. Raising money is important to buy media, visuals (signs, stickers, mailers) and pay for transportation costs but we must also get our message out in a way that the people feel a part of the process.

The concept will draw media attention for sure and of course free media is nice especially with the positive spin a story like this will draw. You can concentrate money on mailers, yard signs and phone banking and less on radio and TV buys because you would need to run this type of ad less often than you would if you were pounding in negative ads to try to counteract an opponents’ negative ads. In fact you could probably get away with a couple ads during the entire election season. One with the phone call message and another positive one that defines your stances on the issues.

Of course running for a national office and trying to do something like this could be a logistical nightmare. I mean how many calls would be missed by districts that large? But on a smaller scale it could be done and the time is right for someone who wants the people to be a part of the process.

And as much as winning the national campaigns is vital to the strength of a future Democratic majority, winning state office is equally important.

State Supreme Court and District Attorney races create more viable candidates down the road for Federal Court openings and thus the future of many issues that will be faced with court challenges down the line. State Assembly and Senate races determine statewide policies that are often emulated on the national level and have a direct (if not more so) impact on people who reside in these states. Those State officials can eventually rise up to governorships or as Barack Obama showed, to National prominence.

A Democratic majority must be built from the local office level on up and if I were to run a local campaign that is how I was start it. With an open dialogue between my candidate and the constituents they hope to represent. America is frustrated with the current process and the disingenuity of the politicians that run for office and could care less why the voters elected them. They feel their voices are not being heard.

Here’s our chance to capitalize on that and get voters motivated while at the same time disarming many who might automatically vote against the candidate based on the letter D being next to their name. Even if you disagree with someone it’s harder to work vigorously against someone who listened to and respected your views.

An open dialogue with constituents. Only in America does this seem such a foreign concept that bringing it up as a campaign idea seems somewhat radical.

-Rp