| by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Imagine, if you will, that you are a candidate for the United States Senate, the most exclusive club on earth. You have wanted to be a member, you have dreamed of it for your entire life. You have sacrificed over and over again to get this office of the people's trust. You have neglected your spouse... your children... because there are only 24 hours a day and something's got to give. But your dream cannot be compromised... for that is the sine qua non of your entire existence. You have spent long hours of every day raising the millions of dollars you must have to be competitive. Now it is just 8 days before the election... and you, the golden boy or girl that you are, you are down by just 4 points in the latest poll. Your financial backers are telling you they didn't invest their hard-earned money to cheer an also-ran. They make it clear what they think of such people. You know they are right, for you know America's Success Mantra. Respected senior members of your party, some direct from Washington, D.C., have told you that the party's agenda (by which, of course, they mean, America's agenda) is on the line. They need your vote, and they need it now. They make it plain that high posts of honor and deference await if you win... but nothing except scorn and execration if you do not. Good earnest supporters, the people of Main Street, are telling you, like Princess Leia to Obi-wan Kenobi, that "you're our only hope." You cannot let these folks down... they would despise you if you did. And they'd be right. The financial backers demand victory! The party big-wigs insist on victory! The people on Main Street tell you their storm-tossed lives depend on victory -- on you! And your handlers, the people you hired at great, almost unimaginable cost (they did, after all, manage to defeat three sitting senators, one thought impregnable in the last election), these handlers are saying... and their reasons are crystal clear... that your opponent's strongest suit is the integrity with which the voters regard him. Even you, the white hope of the opposition, have a sneaking regard for his old-time morality and squeaky clean service. But the handlers, your brains trust, is also telling you that after all your opponent is vulnerable. Yes, after all, you are only 4 points behind. They are also telling you with insistence how to eradicate this trifling deficit, grab the seat, and move up to your rightful destiny in the Senate of these United State and in the History of America. All you have to do is ratchet up the attacks, just another notch or two.... just ratchet up the attack. Insinuate... besmirch.... belittle... distort... demean... degrade... Then, in the final three days, blanket the airwaves with total, complete, shock and awe belligerence, nothing, absolutely nothing held back, everything on the line, do or die, take no prisoners. Yes, it will cost millions... yes it will shred the reputation of an opponent whose virtues and service even you can see... but it is what all elements of your campaign want, indeed absolutely insist upon. "Victory," Vince Lombardi wrote, "isn't everything. It's the only thing." And so you win your Senate seat... and it is sweet. As sweet as you always knew it would be. Whereupon the Leader of your party in the Senate comes to visit and remarks, almost as an afterthought, that there's a certain important vote coming up, next Thursday he thinks it is... and that he is hoping for the favor of your support. From such a man on such a subject at such a time, such words, almost gentle, are the sternest of commands.You have really not had a chance to read the bill... you know precious little about it, but you have heard whispers that your biggest financial backer is..... opposed to it. From such a man on such a subject at such a time, such words, not so gentle, are, too, the sternest of commands. And so, while understanding that no man can serve two masters, you attempt to do just that. Your maiden speech on the issue falls flat. The Leader is not happy. Your financial backer is not happy. Your constituents, too, let you know they are not happy. And you are the least happy of all. However, you learn and next time you are ready. You make a calculated decision based on public policy and private gain. You make a deal with the Devil and the Devil tells you to demonize your opponent before your opponent demonizes you. So you do, with no qualms whatsoever because your opponents on this issue gained a march by demonizing -- you. You learn two sets of words: the words for defending your side. and the ones for stigmatizing opponents. On the one hand is patriotism, what is good for America, lowering taxes, transparency in government, protecting the Middle Class. On the other are words like disloyal, perfidious, selfish, short- sighted, special interests. All you have to do is throw these words, and dozens like them, into a hat and pull them out one at a time, and, voila, instant speech. A quick study, you see early on that the more moderate the speech, the more reasonable the views, the less attention you get... and attention in Washington is how you play the game, increase your visibility, and win the glittering prizes. You get this message Loud and Clear. And so you up the ante, seeing your opponents no longer as good men and women like you (perhaps blighted by party affiliation) but as minions of an Evil Empire and the darkest of views and aspirations. Moderation doesn't work and, moreover, it isn't justified. Your opponents represent Everything Wrong With America. You learn it is your sacred duty to say so, to expose the culprits and Save The Nation and its beseeching members. And so you do... and as you deliver the red meat, the media delivers you.... to the attention of other media, movers and shakers nationwide, and to the unlimited financial resources of this great nation, a nation yearning for Leadership; now knowing that leader can be -- you. You are ready to answer this clarion call. Thus at last you understand, deep in your soul, the unanswerable validity of ancient Greek historian Plutarch's telling tale of the Spartan mothers. They said, they meant "Come home with your shield, or on it." You have heard.... and you are ready. You know just what to do. 31 bullets, 6 tragic deaths in Tucson, Arizona, , innumerable jeremiads and the most profound lamentations right up to the White House won't change things a whit. We're all sure of that, right? |
