Political tactic: Copies of Profiles in Courage
Sometimes it seems like progressives are so great at the discipline of analytical thinking that dissecting the problems and solutions needed for legislation takes on such a focus that tactical approaches for moving votes in a more muscular, political way gets lost in the process.
There are considerations for legislative provisions, and there are tactics that appeal to the issue of political survival. Both are critical.
I’d like what I do to have as much “bang for the buck” as possible so it is not effort wasted, since my resources are so puny. This is a recommendation for one tactic that could work for very little effort or money.
Below the fold:
Why this book (available from Amazon for as little as .50 cents)
Profiles in Courage was first published in 1955. Millions of second hand copies are available for chump change. There is time to get some copies from Amazon or from local second hand bookstores and mail them to Members of Congress, with a note attached making some of the following political points.
If the Kennedy legacy can be summed up in one talisman you could hold in your hand, and obtain cheaply anywhere, it is a copy of a book. JFK's old college thesis turned into a book was a study on how politics sometimes takes courage. JFK studied leadership and public personalities such as movie stars, since his dad owned a major part of Hollywood.
Ted Kennedy became, in the end, and improbably, a study belonging in that book.
This legacy should really resonate with Democrats in public office, who inherit and stand on it.
I hope that appeals for the public option will land on Congressional Democrats' desks, especially in the Senate accompanied by this reminder that history remembers well those who had the courage to do the right thing at time when it was precisely difficult to do it.
There are consequences for failing to be a profile in courage that are terrible to consider:
If Democrats are seen by the people who volunteered in the campaigns of 2006 and 2008 or voted in those elections, as betraying them, there will be hell to pay. At least some, will see no point in participating in the next set of elections and this could result in the kind of people who are promoting unconstructive negativity now, getting elected instead beginning in 2010 and 2012.
Contemplating that for a second, should lead one to conclude that the likelihood of constructive leadership coming of that would be extremely unlikely. People like Michelle Bachmann or (fill-in-the-blank) could be sitting in Congress in enough numbers to keep anything from happening on any front that might be constructive in any way.
Losing the Public Option is about more than health care. It means losing the potential in the best hopes of the Democratic Party and its traditions. It means the prospect for some members of Congress losing the next election. It means that reasonable Republicans might lost out to nihilists and naysayers. If enough of those people, mostly operating on fear and negativity, win election to Congress, the result could well be a total leadership paralysis at a time when clear thinking and decisive action is most needed.
If you look at what is going on right now in the Texas State Board of Education, where the governor is cynically pandering to the right wing in hopes they will support his re-election against a somewhat more moderate Republican hoping to restore the GOP to its more businesslike fiscal conservatism, you could be seeing the future of education in America.
7 out of 15 members on the SBOE are evangelical right wingers , with a chair recently appointed by Perry. They are looking to rewrite curriculum standards and textbooks to reflect evangelical views that are pretty hard to believe. They matter because their efforts could influence textbooks, curriculae and standardized testing nationwide.
Various possible directions for the future are hanging in the balance if the Public Option in the strongest form possible does not pass for the President to sign.
For some, courage may be required. If so, they should be reminded that this is not the first time the basic issue has been political courage itself.
The best targets for a letter pointing out some of the political considerations are members of Congress and the Senate from the districts we reside in.
The next best are those Members who seem to be among the current whip count tallies as most likely to change from opposition to support. The Daily Kos search feature is great for the latest on key words such as “whip count” or “Public Option, Senate Support” etc. This can provide a short or long list to send something to.
This is a good diary focusing on getting to 50 votes in the Senate:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
If Congress members were to be deluged by copies of this book, perhaps it would evoke the best moments the history of Congress and evoke the image of John, Robert and Ted Kennedy looking them in the eye.
You would of course, hope that members of Congress would have such considerations in mind without being reminded…but then, if that were the case, all the energy to get Congress to do the right thing on this or any other issue might never be needed.
A great diary on the specifics of what is in the Public Option:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
A great diary on what Ted Kennedy would have really wanted:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I close with some photos. I have been maintaining a website for a friend from Austin, Tx, a photographer who has been doing social justice work with his camera since returning from Vietnam, where he served as a battlefield medic. There is a little tribute section with photos he took of Ted Kennedy. They show him to be willing to make extra efforts he didn’t have to make and travel to places he didn’t have to go in order to support progressive causes. These were taken in the context of fundraisers for the Texas Observer, a progressive news magazine, in Austin and Washington.
http://www.documentaryphotographs.com
If this man who didn’t have to do anything at all, much less work as hard as he did, could do all that he did, we could do a little something in his memory and in the memory of his brothers.
Enjoy!