By now, I assume everyone on the planet, or at least everyone on Planet Kos, has read or heard about Thomas Frank's snarky "analysis" of the rise of the GOP as fueled by an alliance between corporatist upper class Republicans and working class religious conservatives. I'm talking, of course, about
What's The Matter With Kansas?
For those who may have been living in a remote island off the coast of Tahiti for the last year, Frank's central thesis is that abandoned by the Democratic Party, working class voters have been conned into voting against their economic self-interest by pro-business Republican elites who have cloaked themselves in the mantle of religious fundamentalism, centered in particular on opposition to abortion, gays, and secular schooling.
Its a useful thesis. Unfortunately, its pretty much only useful in helping Mr. Frank and his publisher sell a lot of books to smug, self-satisfied "progressives". In that respect its no different than any other pulp polemic from the left, such as those from Al Franken or Michael Moore.
I have no problem with Mr. Frank wanting to sell a lot of books. Nor do I begrudge him the success he achieved with it. No, my problem with the book is the effect it has had on the minds of my fellow liberals. I've lost track of how many times I have seen a left-leaning fellow traveler roll their eyes and ask "Why do working class voters keep voting against their economic self-interest?" Or worse, I read some snarky comment about "sheeple" or some other such nonsense. And nonsense it is.
Everytime that phrase gets used - "voting against their economic self-interest" - is a moment when the critical analysis stops and a pop-culture caricature is substituted in its place. The phrase is devoid of critical thinking because it attempts to explain away a complex pattern of voting behavior with a single thesis which has as its principle benefit to make liberals feel good about themselves. Its says to liberals, "Your ideas and policies are the right ones. You just lost because you 'stopped fighting for working class voters' and those nasty Republicans pulled a con job on them.'" Its says the road back is easy - all you have to do is "fight" for your values, "fight" for working class voters, display some "backbone". If only it were that easy, if only.
Unfortunately, I don't think it is that easy. I don't think our wandering in the wilderness is the result of some vast conspiratorial con job. And I certainly don't think a short hand critique like "voting against their economic self interest" provides any useful analysis.
Rather, we have lost time and again because we have no real agenda. What we have is grab bag of issues provided to us by various single issue groups cobbled together under a banner of "liberalism." (Ed. We recognize the new brand name is "progressive" in an effort to move away from the negative associations with the term "liberal." However, we feel that just because the GOP has tarred and feather the term is no reason to give those fuckers any satisfaction.) The average voter can't rally around that - its like rallying around a shopping list. Worse, its a shopping list that wants you to buy Cheer, Fab AND the no-name brand detergent all on the same trip. Seriously, who the heck needs three brands of detergent - I sure don't.
What we need, whether as "fighting Dems" or plain old liberals, is an examination of our received wisdom, because some of that wisdom is just a clunky stinker. We need to figure out what policy plans we have that work and what doesn't. We must provide security and opportunity to all Americans in the 21st century. And that last bit is key - the 21st century.
Its a new, fast-changing, fast-moving world out there and our job should be to help our fellow Americans and their families thrive in it. Thomas "Flat Earth" Friedman is a bit of a putz, but he is right in one regard - the 21st century is going to be the century where the borders of the nation-state melt away and a new, integrated, networked, 24-hour world takes its place.
For many Americans, that's a pretty darn scary world to live and raise their families in. Even more so if you live in the heartland, far from the opportunities and resources afforded to coastal denziens who have been living in that 21st century frontier for a while now. What the GOP offers these voters is not some religio-fascist, Dominionist fantasyland. What the GOP offers is control. Control over the vast forces that threaten to upend people's lives, that threaten to treat their families as nothing more than a post-script on the way to a shiny new future. A future where they have no role to play.
The question we liberals should be asking is not "What's the matter with Kansas?". No, the question we need to ask is "What's our path to the future?" and "How will we help our fellow Americans to get there?" I may disagree with how those folks may be voting right now, but they are my fellow countrymen, goddammit. And like the Marines for a fallen solider, I will not leave them behind.