A recent piece on Politico takes the temperature of the Republican base, and sees it reaching feverish desperation. The mood at recent McCain-Palin rallies has turned more "frenzied" and "visceral". Examples of this nastier turn can be seen in the video posted on openUSA yesterday. Are such demonstrations of emotion admissions of impending defeat? Or inklings of a last ditch Republican tactical coup? More likely the former. As Tom Ash pointed out this week, negative campaigning doesn't seem to work.
From Politico:
The calendar is closing and the polls, at least right now, are not.
With McCain passing up the opportunity to level any tough personal shots in his first two debates and the very real prospect of an Obama presidency setting in, the sort of hard-core partisan activists who turn out for campaign events are venting in unusually personal terms.
"Terrorist!” one man screamed Monday at a New Mexico rally after McCain voiced the campaign’s new rhetorical staple aimed at raising doubts about the Illinois senator: “Who is the real Barack Obama?”
"He's a damn liar!” yelled a woman Wednesday in Pennsylvania. "Get him. He's bad for our country."
Comments
"Are such demonstrations of emotion admissions of impending defeat? Or inklings of a last ditch Republican tactical coup?"
Neither: they're expressions of frustration and fear, amplified by the experience of being in a crowd of like-minded people. Local power, baffled and agitated by a sense of larger impotence.
I think it's politically important to keep in mind the distinction between "fear of losing" and "admitting defeat." Democratic politics is neither a game nor a war: it is a serious struggle (more is at stake than points scored), but not a scene of conquest and humiliation. It has to be about the recognition and acknowledgment of a common fate, a fate that will be shared by both winners and losers. We can hope that the fate will include a common good, but it will be common in any event.
Triumphalism and self-righteousness are a great danger, especially at a moment of imminent victory. It's more important than ever to try to recognize the legitimacy of those whose desires are being thwarted. That was one of the great failures of Bush II--to govern as if the other side no longer counted. Let's learn the lesson.
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