Now Listen And Listen Good
I have taken a lot of flak from you people over the last few months for being a "Nattering Nabob of Negativism." Turns out I was far too optimistic.
So before you crazy conservatives move into a new state of delusion (and while you are still loopy enough to accept advice from a cat) I'd like to slap you around a bit.
Here's what I see that you don't see:
Center-Right or Center-Left? Try None of the Above
This question was kicked around on the podcast and in the live chat. Ben Domenech posted it today. It will be kicked around for weeks. I say "STOP IT!"
This country has not moved leftward. It has moved inward. I would guess at least 80% of this country's population is disengaged from the world outside themselves. Republicans and Democrats. In political life and real life.
For these people, voting is like going to the dentist. It is something they do from time to time but forget about in between.
Therefore, Ideas Don't Matter
Think back over the last few months. How did Romney attack this election? He outlined the problems, offered a vision, and contrasted it with Obama's vision. How did Obama respond? "I've gone to your website and the numbers just don't add up." Check and mate.
Did they add up? Did they not add up? Doesn't matter. Nobody checks before they vote.
And It Wasn't Demographics And It Wasn't Organizing
And it wasn't the candidate. And it wasn't the message. And it wasn't the weather.
It is the Metanarrative, Stupid!
The metanarrative of American life during the last 20 years can be summed up as "Be Nice."
Everything everybody under 40 years old does every day is checked against "Is it nice?" Opposing gay marriage isn't nice. Throwing your Pepsi can in the wrong bin is just not nice. Voting against the first African-American president is definitely not nice. Your reasoning may be sound and pure and even totally correct but if it isn't also nice you lose.
So Here's The Thing
We can try to get a better read on the American population. Try to engage them. Adapt to changing demographics. Organize ourselves better. And choose better candidates.
Occasionally this will tip an election our way.
But if we want to win... and I mean win... we need to stop tinkering with our transistor radio. It will never sound like a Bose.
As I see it, there are 2 paths:
- Ride the "Be Nice" wave. Compassionate Conservatism. Make what we do fit the metanarrative. Portray what they do as opposing it.
- Change the metanarrative. Shake up the entire game. Make people check themselves against "Be Wary" or "Am I Getting Screwed?"
Any other path is a dead end.
Finally, I'm Incredibly Optimistic
In many ways, George W. Bush was his own worst enemy. And after 5-6 years we all got tired of defending him when he wasn't even defending himself.
Liberals are about to experience the same.... only worse.
Obama has not only proven a feckless leader of the nation, he's proven a feckless leader of his party. In 18 months he will be absolutely useless to the Democratic party. They'll chuck him like a day old bagel. He will receive 100% of the blame for all that is wrong. From all sides. Bill Clinton will fill the vacuum. There's no one else.
Barack Obama liberalism will look old and tired.
This is when we strike. This is when we win.
Assuming we're ready.
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Comments:
May '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
I think you may be on to something here, Casey.
Casey:
· 27 minutes ago
My question is this; The fundamental message of Conservatism is what I believe will win the day. I don't think the message needs to be changed, but perhaps how the message is delivered can be altered. How do we fit that into the metanarrative of "Be Nice" without compromising the underlying values and principles?
Feb '11
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Great analysis on the Metanarrative. That is the core of smiley-face national socialism that reigns here.
Jul '11
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Come 2016, that's when libertarians strike. The next election will have 25-30 % of the nation in a third party if I'm correct.
Nice analysis by the way, not just above but prior. You were right and I was wrong.
I figured he stunk so much that no one would want him again.
Jul '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Words of wisdom Casey. As one guilty of occassionally thinking you a Nabob, I apologize. Moving inward. Brilliant. That's the best assessment I've heard about the change in the electorate. Conservatism is unfortunately seen as not nice. We have to change that. Bastiat wrote that people mistake, saying that government shouldn't do something, with saying something shouldn't be done. That is how too many people see conservatives. When we say the Federal government shouldn't be involved in education, we are painted as people that don't believe in education. We must find a way to destroy that misconception.
Aug '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
How's this for "nice"
We'll see how the politically correct little [redacted for Code of Conduct] like that!
Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:36amApr '11
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Great. In 2016 we strike and win, but what exactly do we win then? A nation sunk even deeper in red ink than today and with Obamacare so entrenched it'll never be excised.
No, we missed a historic opportunity yesterday. One it's going to be hard to recover from. The Left gets all the chances it needs, but we have to be perfect every time.
Dec '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
If I tilt my head and squint just right, I can see what you're getting at. But, how is forcing Catholics to pay for your abortions and contraception "nice?" And how is saddling the next generation(s) with un-payable debt, devalued currency, and lost opportunities "nice?"
/oh, oh! did I just make your point?!! nah... that was too easy.
Aug '11
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
DocJay: Come 2016, that's when libertarians strike. The next election will have 25-30 % of the nation in a third party if I'm correct.
Nice analysis by the way, not just above but prior. You were right and I was wrong.
I figured he stunk so much that no one would want him again. · 38 minutes ago
DocJay...you are reading the situation correctly and so far you are the only person to pick up on this idea. The Libertarians I know voted for Johnson and it had nothing to do with Johnson's worthiness, it was all about sending a message to the GOP. Problem is...the GOP will pick this election to death and decide it was all about this issue or that demographic and they still won't get what the Libertarians are trying to teach them.
Feb '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Reminds me of the Witch from Steven Sondheim's "Into the Woods":
Jan '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
All true Casey But I'm already resisting the soon-to-be cliche. Metanarrative. Narrative has already been beaten to death, followed by it's sappy cousin meme. Find a new phrase. They're out there. No metanarrative.
Dec '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Dear Casey,
You don't have any more an idea what's gonna win the next election than the toothless old guy who sells me bolts at the hardware store here in town.
Yours truly,
The Increasingly Grumpy Fat Guy
Edited on November 8, 2012 at 2:38amJan '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/where_we_go_from_here.html
Here's another really good take on the election/culture
Jun '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Nice. It's such a soft, flabby word. "Isn't she nice? She's sooooo nice. Isn't that nice?"
Dec '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
"Be nice"? Or "don't be a jerk"?
"Be nice" is what your Mom tells you to do with the obnoxious little kid who's stealing your toys. The message: what's yours isn't really yours if someone else wants it. Keeping it is greedy and selfish. Other kids are entitled to it.
"Don't be a jerk" is what you want your Mom to say to that kid. The message: we can all get along if you stop trying to take what isn't yours without asking, demanding without saying please, grabbing whatever you can get your grubby little mitts on.
Dec '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
You call it a metanarrative, I call it a meme. Republicans and conservatives have been labeled as evil, not mean or un-nice, but evil. The left (through their megaphone the MSM) impugns our ideas and our motives. Even if we are nice, we will be classified as devious. The nation will still believe (because it's the only thing they hear coming out of their electronic devices 24/7) is that we are nefarious, greedy, and evil no matter what our actual motives are. I don't know how to defeat that other than burning down the entire MSM.
Sep '12
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
I entirely agree about the new Metanarrative. But I take issue about why we should be optimistic, and here it is:
Serious question. How do we know Democrats won't win back the House in 2014? How do we know Obama will be blamed for the mess of the next four years, if the media and the culture at large can get away with convincing half the electorate that the bad economy now is still the fault of George W. Bush? How do we know the wool won't be pulled over the eyes of the voters come 2014 (or even 2016)? What keeps the country from doubling down on failure yet again in two or four years? Seriously.
Sep '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Great post! It'll be interesting to see how things transpire.
Jul '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
"This when we strike. This is when we win."
?With what - a latte.
May '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
Western Chauvinist: If I tilt my head and squint just right, I can see what you're getting at. But, how is forcing Catholics to pay for your abortions and contraception "nice?" And how is saddling the next generation(s) with un-payable debt, devalued currency, and lost opportunities "nice?"
/oh, oh! did I just make your point?!! nah... that was too easy. · 1 hour ago
But you do understand how they frame it, right? It's mean to prevent women from having contraception. It's mean to deny social welfare payments to the poor and elderly.
I have a friend at work who doesn't realize this himself, but he literally does not believe in freedom of religion. He's an atheist who explicitly told me that a religious objection should not be sufficient cause to exempt anyone from complying with federal healthcare mandates, or any other mandate. He's pretty representative of squishy center lefties in California, in my experience.
So any argument that "forcing Catholics" to provide contraception is "not nice" would be completely useless to people like him.
Jul '10
Re: Now Listen And Listen Good
It's an interesting analysis, and compellingly stated. Where it may fail, though, is just here:
Deep down, conservatism is about a belief in personal responsibility and self-government. In order to "win", as you put it, we have to convince a majority of the people that they should want to govern themselves.
Unfortunately for us, it appears they just don't want to do that. They want to vote in a crew of charismatic, telegenic talk-show hosts and their bureaucratic hangers-on to do all that hard thinkin' and decidin' for them. This will leave them lots of time for sports, video games, and movies based on comic books and trashy romance novels.
True self-government is hard work. Wilson and FDR began the process of convincing the American people that it's too hard for us simpletons: better let the experts take over. LBJ continued the job, and yesterday BHO gathered up the last scraps, tossed them in the trunk, and slammed the lid.
The people gave away their liberty, voluntarily. Gleefully. We can't make them take it back. They don't want it.
Edited on November 8, 2012 at 3:07am