It's tribal.
For a nation that is supposed to be obsessed with reality TV, it is odd that our political analysis hasn't focused on the pseudo-tribal nature of politics today. I'm not a fan of reality TV. Indeed, I am in no position to comment on it, never having watched. But as a piece of pop culture, the essence of the primordial reality program "Survivor" is well known.
Let's call them the red tribe and the blue tribe. Stranded on a deserted island with nothing to sustain them (but an X trillion dollar economy, a Y trillion dollar government, a Z trillion dollar military) They have to perform tasks as "tribes". Periodically, they have to choose someone to "kick off the island".
On Tuesday there was a nominal head count done, and it appears that the blue tribe constitutes about 49% of the population and the red tribe constitutes 51% of the population. I would suggest that for our tribe, the shock of being numerically outnumbered at this particular point in history shouldn't be distressing. Indeed, in the eyes of the rest of the world, the US has essentially gone mad over the past four years. Not a bad time to assume a lower profile.
I've seen a bunch of hand wringing from the political experts recently along the lines of asking what the left has to do to be more competitive (as if this wasn't a close election!). Here's my take. This election cycle was important because it was the first one in a very long time that the left came together as a tribe. The fact that we only constituted 49% of those who came to the poles is much less significant than the fact that we have forged a true movement, a tribe.
The conservatives did that a generation ago. On the left we have been looking at this tribe and simply assuming that there was this group and then everyone else. You know, the normal people. And therefore, all that was needed was to get the facts out there and the normal people will reject the tribal indoctrination. But that isn't the way it works. The first step to competing is to recognize your own tribal nature. It is by being a better tribe that you create conditions where people want to join.
The left, and the democratic party as a vehicle of the left has allowed itself to be defined in opposition. All characteristics have both positive and negative interpretations. Being defined by the opposition means allowing the negative interpretations of all your characteristics to dominate public perceptions. Take one example.
Look at the preponderance of blue tribe folks in entertainment and the arts. Now you can look at this as a positive thing. Or a negative thing. To listen to the right, it is 'Hollywood Values' or some such decadent image. But ask yourself, when it comes time to decide which tribe to join up with what would your natural inclination be? The tribe that has the movie stars and artists and musicians and poets? Or the other one. The one that wants you to hate your favorite movie star? They play the Hollywood elitist card because it is the only chance they have against the fact that the creative people of this country are predominately on the left. But that fact has never been intelligently exploited in a positive way by our tribe. Damn right we are where these people are comfortable. That's the kind of tribe we are. And if that's the way you are, come and join us! Even the red tribe understands this. Hence their infatuation with B-actors. They understood that even a shitty actor trumps a policy wonk every time.
So I think that what we need is to simply do a better job of defining who we are. We are the thinking people. The creative people. The actors the artists the scientists the musicians. We believe that a person should be judged by what he does not who he is. We believe in personal freedom. We believe in economic and social justice.
Democrats and people on the left shouldn't be wondering about how they can become more like Republicans and the right. We need to sharpen, not blur the distinction. I think we have crossed a threshold in this election cycle. We have come together in a way that hasn't happened in a generation. The trick now is to stay together and define ourselves within the context of the wider population. Honestly folks, Grover Norquist or Robert Redford. Who's tribe do you want to join?