One of the reasons I like Daily Kos is the amount of content that its users generate. To be fair, a lot of them have a "preaching to the choir" sense. Then again, we only really have two choirs in this country and I can only stand the other one for so long before I start feeling the urge to self-mutilate. I may be an unemployed writer off of this website, but I've never written a diary here before. But, like all good things, my inaction has come to an end.
The reason is in another diary I read here on this site: I Am Filled with Foreboding About What We Face. I'll give credit where it's due; Troubadour makes a very fair point that is easy to understand: the other team is long on resources and short on ethics. Very long, and very, very short. my issue is that there is one thing that was overlooked: our opponents are not supervillains, they are merely well funded morons.
It's no secret to anyone that in terms of dollars available and dollars spent, we'll never be able to compete with the Republicans. The game isn't fair, and there's no reason to believe it won't be any more fair this time. We should work to remove the influence of money in politics. But, I do take serious issue with one of the premises of that argument.
Are you so sure that having more money means you win more votes?
Here is a breakdown of a few House and Senate candidates from 2010, their campaign spending, and the number of votes they got. Also included is a statistic called "dollars per vote". Head on over and take a look.
Once you're done laughing at Meg Whitman and Linda McMahon, be sure to notice that Republicans have a serious problem: they have to spend more money to get someone to vote for them. A lot more money.
Now, remember that this was a heavy Republican year. Most of the Republicans on this list were winners. They should have been, given the circumstances of that election (midterm disinterest combined with successful Republican policy sabotage causing fatigue with the Democrats). But even with so much wind at their back, why is it that Republicans have to spend so much to get someone to vote for them?
Truthfully, I can't offer a definitive answer. All I can do is just speculate. So humor me for a second. Let's speculate. Here is my answer:
The Republican Party is too incompetent to get the most out of their resources.
The GOP has no interesting or exciting candidates. The GOP has no message beyond "Barack Obama is bad". The GOP has no plan or even desire to expand their party beyond its base. The GOP actively causes harm when it polices itself; it has done its best to purge itself of moderation.
Seriously, think about it. Imagine that you are the head of the Republican Party. Hopefully, you will have more enthusiasm about it than Reince Priebus.What can you do to help your cause?
You can't throw out any of your idiots. Todd Akin commits something that could be called "political suicide", but nothing you can do will stop him from running.
You can't censor your own supporters. It seems that every time a group of Republicans get together someone just has to find a black person to throw peanuts at.
You can't build any momentum.Try as you might, your campaign is a slave to the second law of thermodynamics; there is no way to gain energy. You can only lose it. Of course, this is doubly painful, because you don't believe in science.
Your voter supression scams are failing. Don't get me wrong, this was a good idea. It'll really put a dent in the Democratic voting numbers. Except...it's not exactly legal, and there happens to be a few judges out there that haven't been bought and paid for yet.
Do you have any other option other than to "carpet bomb" with advertising?
But, here's the dirty little secret of campaigning: Political ads don't really help that much.
There's only so much they can do. We happen to live in a country where most people don't care about politics, and tune it out. Of course, your advertisements themselves get tuned out too. Television advertising is one of the biggest sinkholes in politics, giving fewer and fewer returns in terms on dollars invested.
But, Republican haven't caught on. You can honestly say that the cornerstone of their strategy this cycle is negative advertising from their "sugar daddy" donors. Billionaires who have money to burn.
And, burn it they will.
Campaign spending has less and less to do with the outcome of elections. Yes, it's a factor, but it's very small compared to the candidates, the messaging, and the circumstances of the time. Fortunately, the Republican party is too stupid to realize this. For some reason, they don't seem to be interested in spending this money by say...training an actor to say what they want to hear. (Hey, it's not like it ever worked!). No investment in the candidate, the message, and they sure as hell have no interest in creating favorable circumstances.
What other conclusion can I draw from this other than our opponents are rich in dollars, but poor in sense?
I understand that defeating our opponents is a daunting task. If we are to win, it will not be an exercise in "slacktivism". We should respect their power, their lack of ethics, their dedication to winning. All of these make for a formidable opponent.
But fear them? Sorry, but I reserve my fear for things I can't defeat. And, we can defeat them.
You challenge them when lie to you. Make them cite their source when they say something out loud. If they can't laugh them off. Don't get sucked into their game. Make your case, show them why our ideas are better, and leave the rhetorical hole-digging to them. If they insist on continuing to talk, tell them to cut the crap!