Authenticity

Terrence Samuel writes a very interesting article on legislative strategy in The American Prospect that I hope gets wide readership. He discusses the fact that the Democrats have found “their inner no” and are realizing that as the opposition party their primary job must be to stop the other side from doing their worst. Tom DeLay and his minions are going to continue to screech that democrats have no ideas and no beliefs and that is why they are opposing the GOP agenda. Aside from being an asinine statement, it is also overlooking one important thing and it’s something that Samuel mentions in his final paragraph:

Chafee, who had once been the Dems’ best hope for stopping Bolton, seemed to be back on the fence. “The dynamic has changed,” Chafee said. “A lot of reservations surfaced today. It’s a new day.”

And maybe for the Democrats as well. “The passion on the other side on this — I don’t think it’s political,” Voinovich said. So the Democrats may be becoming not just the opposition but the principled opposition. A new day, indeed.

This is what happens when Democrats fight for something that hasn’t been poll tested and focus grouped to death. They actually persuade some people by the virtue of their passion and their argument. Voinovich apparently was simply struck by the fact that his Democratic colleagues really seemed sincere about this which made him stop and think about it.

Of course Democrats have to put forth a vision and they do and they will do more of it. The lesson is that, in the immortal words of Al Gore, sometimes you have to “let it rip,” even if you are going to lose. It’s how people come to see what you care about — and even if they disagree they respect the fact that you give a damn.

Which brings me to this Salon interview with the new Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, which I’ve been mulling over for a couple of days now. As all of my 4 readers know, I’m a proponent of an electoral strategy to capture back the mountain west. I don’t say that the south is lost forever, but short of an economic disaster (which may very well happen) I just don’t see Democrats winning it back for a while. So, I’m extremely interested in Democrats who win in the mountain red states and how they believe that they did it.

I’ve read a lot about Schweitzer and am predisposed to like him. Contrary to myth, latte swilling liberals like me don’t actually look down on everybody but coastal elitists. I happen to like fiesty political personalities with regional color whether they are flinty Vermonters or silky Mississipians. I find the TV anchor style of politics boring. And I agree that part of the way to gaining ground in the heartland is to embrace a cultural style with which people who aren’t like me feel at home. Fine.

Schweitzer says some very smart things:

“You know who the most successful Democrats have been through history?” he asks. “Democrats who’ve led with their hearts, not their heads. Harry Truman, he led with his heart. Jack Kennedy led with his heart. Bill Clinton, well, he led with his heart, but it dropped about 2 feet lower in his anatomy later on.

“We are the folks who represent the families. Talk like you care. Act like you care. When you’re talking about issues that touch families, it’s OK to make it look like you care. It’s OK to have policies that demonstrate that you’ll make their lives better — and talk about it in a way that they understand. Too many Democrats — the policy’s just fine, but they can’t talk about it in a way that anybody else understands.”

I’m with him on the message being straight and true and talking in language that people can understand. But there are times he’s so over the top “aw shucks” that I’ve got to tell you that I find it hard to believe that he’s being straight himself. His “authenticity” sometimes sounds contrived — this is a guy who spent many years all over the world as an expert on irrigation techniques. He’s a trained scientist. But there are times in this interview that he seems quite shallow. I know he’s a real rancher and down home guy, but c’mon, the whole point of the interview is to find out what Democrats should do to win in the heartland, and he dispenses advice about it quite freely. But then he says stuff like this:

Q: Do you have to show the voters that you’re a regular guy — the “who would you most want to have a beer with?” test — or is it a matter of building some kind of link with voters on political or social issues?

You’re asking me? Hell, I’m out here in Montana. I don’t have any idea what the big shots in Washington, D.C., are doing. I don’t think I’ve got any great solutions for the rest of the world, but I think I understand Montanans.

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Q:Does that kind of personal authenticity trump everything else in the minds of voters?

There’s more that the big shots from big cities will never understand. I probably shook hands with at least half of the people who voted for me, maybe two-thirds. You can do that in a place where there’s only 920,000 people.

Q:But you can’t do that when you’re running for president. How would you translate that sort of personal appeal into a national campaign?

You’re asking me about a national campaign? What the heck would I know about a national campaign?

Look, I started this out by saying that Democrats can win if they lead with their hearts. Let people feel you! Don’t try to verbalize. Let them feel you first. If you’re not a passionate person — I happen to be. If I’m for something, you’re gonna know it pretty quick. And if I’m agin it, you’re gonna know it too. I’m straight about those things. Some people can’t do that. Maybe they’ve had a lot of time in politics, or they’re lawyers, or it’s just their makeup. And they have all these highfalutin pollsters and media people, and they say, “Well, there’s this demographic that kind of bleeds into this demographic, and you don’t want to lose these over here because you were on this.” I don’t believe any of it. I think most people will support you if they know that you’ll stand your ground.

I get the straight shooter business and I agree with the essence of what he’s saying. I think that people will be particularly receptive to some straight talk after the Bush administration is done. But I’ve got to tell you, after George W. Bush I have a feeling that people aren’t going to be too impressed with leadership that goes overboard to pretend that they don’t understand the way the world works. I don’t think that will work again.

And frankly, I just don’t underestand what the hell he’s saying here, other than that the voting public is stupid:

Q: Howard Dean, who earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association as governor, has said almost exactly what you’ve just said about guns. But people in Montana probably don’t think of him as a friend to rural gun owners.

Most people that matter in Montana have never heard of Howard Dean or anybody else we’ve talked about today. People who are into politics — they’ve already decided how they’re going to vote not only in 2008 but in 2012. They’re not persuadable. The more people follow this, the less persuadable they are. Anybody that knows the names I just talked about is either a hard “R” or a hard “D.” They already know how they’re going to vote for the rest of their lives.

So Joe and Mary Six-Pack, they don’t have time to watch “Hardball With Chris Matthews.” They haven’t any idea who Pat Buchanan is, or Robert Novak. They don’t watch that stuff. They don’t read about it. They open the newspaper; they read a couple of headlines on the front page to see if they know anybody that got in a pickle, and then they go right to the sports page or the comics. And if they see something about politics in there — hoo, they’re not reading that.

Q:Don’t you think any of it seeps through? The Republicans’ involvement in the Terri Schiavo case, for example?

Sure it does. Maybe a little [on] Terri Schiavo because it was blasted on the national news. But I don’t think anybody figured out what was going on there, except that it looked to them like it was a big political move by some rascals in Washington.

Do they make any distinction about which “rascals” those were?

You know, Joe and Mary Six-Pack, they don’t disassociate. They’re pretty much all in the same box.

Q: They may not differentiate among Democrats, either. Again, Howard Dean has a record that’s not at all unlike what you’re trying to pull off in Montana, but it’s hard to imagine Dean as the kind of national candidate who would do well here.

The first time people heard of Howard Dean, they heard of him as some guy from Vermont — and people vaguely know where that is, but it sounds like it’s where lots of hippies live — and that he was against the war. So even before they saw him on TV, they figured he had a ponytail and a nose ring. Turns out, if they had gone three or four pages deep, they would have found out that the guy was a well-respected, moderate Democrat. But in the course of national politics, you’ve got about a blink or two to make up your mind whether you like somebody.

I just don’t get that. You couldn’t possibly have formed an opinon of Howard Dean if you didn’t follow the news at least somewhat. And what’s the point of being a straight shootin’ sonofagun if nobody listens to what you’re saying? If Joe and Mary Six Pack know nothing about politics and haven’t formed any opinion, then they are not likely to vote. Besides, there definitely are swing voters and ticket splitters in Montana, which is proven by the fact that he won the governorship while Bush won the presidency there.

I spent many years in Alaska, a quintessential western red state, where guns are worshipped and individualism is a religion. I thought that the ethos was fierce independence, not unwillingness to understand the details. And I certainly thought they didn’t like anybody telling them what they think.

But, this guy knows more about it than I do, so perhaps he’s right and we should rely almost entirely on style and not sweat the details.

I like him and I understand his basic message. I’m grateful that he’s out there as an example. But he seems a little bit shallow in this interview so I’m not sold on the idea that he’s the guy to lead us out of the wilderness.

Update: After reading the comments and having an e-mail exchange with a very smart friend, I think the problem is that guys like Schweitzer should not give interviews about strategy. His mystique is all about not caring about strategy, just telling it like it is. There’s a little cognitive dissonence in someone like him trying to finesse that. He’s better off talking about what he believes, not talking about how other people should talk about what he believes.

This was one of my biggest gripes about Dean. He talked about process constantly — “I want guys in pick-up trucks to vote for us” — when a candidate ought to just make his pitch to the guy in the truck. (Now as the Democratic chairman it’s his job to talk about process, so it’s perfectly approcpriate.)

Straight talking guys should never talk about politics in purely political terms. It takes away their mystery and makes ’em look like politicians. Which they are — but it’s exactly the image we are trying to dispel.

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