It’s the Message, Stupid (and Oh Yeah, Hard Work)
Republicans are stupid about politics. That’s one of the rules of political discourse. We are always outsmarted by Democrats, we are out-technologied by Democrats, and, all things being equal, we lose. The fact is, we should lose more, we only win because our message has persuaded a lot of voters to entrust us with power, in just about every state but California.
But let’s get back to the rule…about stupidity, Republicans and politics. Two examples, first gerrymandering. For years, Republicans campaigned for, and finally received, a “nonpartisan,” rather than “political,” solution to gerrymandering. When I spoke out against the initiative that provided for the supposedly nonpartisan commission, I was told that fair districts were the Republicans only chance of getting a majority in the Legislature, and a nonpartisan commission was the only chance of getting “fair” districts. So…we got a nonpartisan commission, which was staffed with partisan Democrats, and what we got was a worse gerrymander than we would have ever gotten if the lines were drawn by legislators (as the redistricting in 2001 proved).… Read More