How to Change Politics

In the 2008 Presidential election there was a powerful force at work behind the scenes which helped set the stage for future President Barack Obama’s victory and a complete sweep of congress by the Democrats which resulted in a supermajority. One of the most surprising things about this victory was, in fact, the scope, coming off several cycles of Republican dominance it just didn’t seem like there were enough potential democratic voters in the whole country to deliver such a result. And yet President Obama took office with the power to enact pretty much any legislation he desired.

What actually occurred is a lesson in wasted opportunity, as Obama personally oversaw losing all three branches of Government to the opposition. Obama was a very good president, but he reneged on campaign promises immediately from the start, most notably his total unwillingness to codify Roe v Wade into law as he frequently and emphatically promised on the campaign trail. His hallmark healthcare reform, the Affordable Care Act which the right naively tried to denigrate by calling Obamacare, wouldn’t even go into full effect until after the conclusion of his first term. I was especially perplexed by this decision because if the act had any positive effects Republicans could easily claim credit if they retook any branch, or oppositely destroy it before it had any chance to fix things. In hindsight, I have no idea why Obama nor anyone in the Democratic leadership failed to anticipate the effect on insurance premiums of millions of previously uninsured Americans suddenly getting overdue medical care in an exploitative and opportunistic medical industry—my own parent’s monthly, mandated health care premium skyrocketed from something like $700 a month to about $1600. There is a lot of talk about racism being a factor in the election of Trump, except that Obama won two terms to office, and hardly anyone discusses the financial burden this specific policy had on every day Americans for which they were powerless to resolve without putting the opposition into power.

As this topical detour has deftly demonstrated, many people have lost track of a major reason for Obama’s victory in the first place, which was the 50-state strategy championed by then chair of the democratic party, former Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean, which was immediately abandoned by Obama and Clinton even though it had been one of the primary reasons for their victory in the first place. Clinton famously didn’t even campaign in several swing states, and we all know how that worked out.

Typically when people perform well at their jobs they are, or should be, promoted and retained. But Dean was opposed by people like Pelosi, Obama, and Clinton, probably for egotistical and power reasons, but the generation of baby boom and adjacent politicians seem especially invested in cynical Us vs Them ideology, and appear to desire and create conflict as a means to obtaining power in the first place. The end result was a complete reversal of all the progress this inclusive strategy had accomplished, and rather than being promoted or lauded for his insight and willingness to engage the entire country he was roundly marginalized and dismissed, even when he once again offered to lead the DNC after Clinton’s disastrous loss.

Especially during times of political turmoil such as this, it can often be difficult to see how to move forward, to effect real change, and to make things better for everyone. But Governor Dean demonstrated exactly how to do this, to change politics and to make them now and not later. The 50-state strategy was successful for one single, simple reason—that people felt seen, validated, and engaged. While there are a lot of racist, xenophobic, and bigoted politics active in this country at the moment these divisive and destructive trends are only effective when people firstly feel disenfranchised, ignored, lost, forgotten, or marginalized. As I discuss in The Perfect Child, my book on child abuse, oppositional forces who support such heinous behaviors like racism, xenophobia, and bigotry are actually employing spite as a tool to feel powerful in their lives. If nobody is going to help or listen to them, then they aren’t going to help or listen to anyone either. Governor Dean’s approach subverted our tendency as humans to engage in spite, and this in turn opened their minds to hear rational and progressive policy. If, by default, you feel that candidates or politicians are the opposition, because they don’t fucking talk to you, you are never going to consider their positions.

Systematically our elections, politicians, and other governing bodies are otherwise set up to promote rather than neutralize this division and spite and political conflict. Behind all elections and elected officials are also the committees and parties who control who runs in elections, but because the leaders and members of these committees are not as publicly facing or accountable as the actual government officials, their behavior and influence often goes unscrutinized, and thus the establishment maintains control by being the proverbial man behind the curtain, and because they are not as accountable and often obsessive, divisive, or neurotic nothing ever changes because power starts with them. In Nevada last year social democrats were successful in supplanting the establishment members of their state Democratic Committee, and the losers then responded by unethically moving the committee’s funds to the Senatorial Committee before the new leaders assumed office. This demonstrates exactly where the lynchpin of dysfunction in our political system lies, within the parties and committees themselves, because they act with as much or more power than elected officials to decide, support, and interfere with candidates for office in the first place, acting as gatekeepers and lords without the same equal responsibility or accountability as more public-facing officials. In reality, most candidates are chosen and put forward by these very people who themselves only hold a mere fraction of voter endorsement and, in effect, often act with unilateral, undue, and outsized influence over our political process, unbeknownst to most voters. This is, in effect, a violation of our Constitutional rights to representation. This dynamic becomes even worse and even more entrenched when public officials like Pelosi or Obama wield influence over the committee, because of their victory and position, controlling the very machine which is in the first place responsible for putting up candidates, funds, and supporting fundraising, volunteers, and exposure. Even though we can engage with and vote in these parties, most people do not because they aren’t engaged or even aware that this is where power begins, and as such the parties often wield power without legitimate representation as required in the Constitution because they are not government officials even though they can and do decide who becomes a government official.

Because public elections for office receive the majority of attention and focus they are also the target of reform campaigns, but the reason this rarely produces effective results is because reform needs to start where the political process starts—at nomination and committee groups. Because committee members are often neurotic, fearful, obsessive, or just plain ignorant or stupid the problem starts at the ground and ripples through the entire system. Part leaders must be more visible and accountable, and rewarded when they perform well by retaining their position just as any other holder of public office. Chair of the Democratic party, for instance, should be a consistent, four-year term offset from national elections which will allow qualified leaders to commit to the position and cultivate a culture of inclusion and competence, the public seeking a leader who is entirely honest, admirable, trustworthy, and uncompromising. Committees and party leaders need to be more active in engaging the public and the recruitment, nurturing, and support of qualified, admirable, and effective candidates, and this only happens if the public ourselves are as much or more engaged in the committees and parties as we are in the final elections. People like Trump or Biden only take office and entrench the status quo when better people do not step up to the responsibility of being our own leaders. We do not need vast coffers of campaign funds or national institutions to support us in taking over and reforming our local community party branches, which is where the real power lies, and being the change we want to see in the world by self-governance through our active participation in local civics modeled after leaders like Governor Dean who engaged everyone and sought to help and represent all or as many people as possible and not just those with whom we feel aligned can rapidly change things for the better, without waiting for bigger institutional movements to do it for us, because that is never going to happen anyway.

Go out and get involved in civics in your local community. Start small. Run for city council, educational boards, county government, neighborhood councils. Take charge, be the representative you want to see in power, because that is exactly how it happens, not to control things but to help others and to make a difference. Because we haven’t been doing this other people have been doing it for us, which is exactly why we are in this mess in the first place. And, if you get involved and need advice or help send me a message, I would be glad to help you out.

The Us Versus Them politics of the baby boomer generation are toxic and unhelpful, but it can be helpful to understand what they are and how they came about. My book, The Perfect Child explains how abuse and trauma of the baby boom generation occurred, how it creates political conflict, and how to heal and prevent child abuse. Health is frequently not a focus of political campaigns, but addressing things such as Obesity in the Agricultural Community can be a way to address the real needs of people. Minimum wage laws do nothing to alleviate long-term economic inequality and need to be abandoned. Police reform is also desperately needed, and there is a lot of mental illness in politics which can be a hurdle but can also be addressed if you know what is going on.