Crossposted at One Million Strong...
My father once ran for state office, and that was my first experience in perceiving politics as something with personal influence as well as something influenced by personality. You see- one can't help but be influenced as a young teen when a mob of well-meaning donors descends upon your home and sanctuary for a fundraiser, or when a pile of letters lies strewn underfoot across the living room waiting to be licked and stamped. Moreover, I was the most competent computer operator in the house.
...I was also the most politically disaffected in the house, having little reason to be that way, given that I couldn't even vote for a lost cause yet. I asked my father, once, whether he couldn't have greater influence as a teacher than as a solitary member of the state legislature. Over time, I've become somewhat more inclined to believe his answer...
He's always been more of a political idealist than I could see myself becoming - because having grown up in the 60s and 70s he has been convinced that popular political and social movements can effect change. I've grown up in a time when I've found the country's perceptions regarding religion, sexuality, and social responsibility to be fundamentally at odds with my own. However, given that I've spent all my time in environments where my family and friends largely share my views, there hasn't been a great deal of personal urgency in my opinions (making me a perfect fit for DailyKos and its relative unity of message).
Still, when both state parties overturned an open primary in Washington, I was pissed. When the cause of gay rights boiled down to Don't Ask-Don't Tell within a Democratic Presidency, I was disillusioned. When the "moderates" condoned the War on Iraq it did not seem I had much of a party, a feeling terribly reinforced by my U.S. Senator's death two weeks later.
Seeing the public react to 9/11 out of fear, and seeing the government react as if it were playing a casual, bipolar game of Risk has been enough to shake me out of political complacency and label me a Democrat, casting a vote under that moniker just this past Tuesday in California. That personal urgency is here to comfort me, along with this accomodating Cult of Personality I've joined.
The CoP? Surely you've heard of it by now, perhaps from Paul Krugman's Inquisitional Mutterings. It's all the rage. Surely, like all fads that strike Youths like me (and African-Americans... Educated Voters... Midwesterners... Northwesterners... and those pesky Connecticut and Delaware Voters) this, too, shall pass - but in the meantime I felt I should tell you something about us, and what these discontinuous demographics hold in common.
I can certainly speak for myself - and I hope it is evident that I've considered upper-level politics ineffectual and unrepresentative. I found an amusing coincidence in Congress' vote against MoveOn.org last year, in seeing that our legislators approve of us much the same as we approve of them. Of course, when 3/4 of your employees disapprove of your performance, it is a somewhat different matter than having 3/4 of your bosses condemn you. In the U.S. we accomodate something of a professional political class - one which is, all too often, motivated more by self-perpetuation than by the responsibilities of their power. The result is that we have a governing body that neither represents us in demographics nor represents our political leanings. Something more I've learned from my father is that there are more ways to involve one's Personality in government than simply being there in person. I wish to speak in government, in order to have government speak for me - and confine the louder, richer voice to the opera house.
But then... I can't speak for all members of the Cult of Personality, and I'll leave it to one of its greater Acolytes to make the attempt...
we made a bet on the American people. That bet was simple - we weren't going to change anything by relying on the same Washington games; instead, we were betting on the American people's hunger for change, and your ability to make change happen from the bottom-up.
And we are showing America what change looks like. From the snows of Iowa to the sunshine of South Carolina, we have built a movement of young and old; rich and poor; black and white; Latino, Asian and Native American. We've reached Americans of all political stripes who are more interested in turning the page than turning up the heat on our opponents. That's how Democrats will win in November and build a majority in Congress
...and this isn't empty rhetoric. The caucus victories are no fluke. The ground-up engineering of this campaign has been evident from early in the race (from viralvoice):
Camp Obama in the western regions reveals still more Camp Obamas popping up in places where no other candidate or campaign has tread, in the following locations on the following dates (these ones appear to be two day sessions for Saturdays and Sundays):
Salt Lake City, Utah: August 25 and 26
Denver, Colorado: September 8 and 9
Albuquerque, New Mexico: September 15 and 16
Anchorage, Alaska: September 22 to 23
Could it be that this is happening in all regions, everywhere at once? Only a national campaign with a fifty state strategy could hold training sessions in Alaska, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Idaho this early. This also speaks to the fact that Obama will have a real organization on the ground in all primary and caucus states whereas the Clinton campaign and others will have to depend upon those politicians that endorse their candidate to put theirs on loan (anybody that has worked as a campaign field organizer knows what a dicey and nail-biting situation that is, to have to rely on "loaned" field organization: It ends up being expensive and more often than not it simply doesn’t yield results: think of Senator Harkin in Iowa in '04. Organization is rarely transferable).
The Camp Obama training sessions weren't focused on a candidate, to all reports... they were focused upon a skill set... a set of tools for grassroots political activism you'll still make use of years down the road... perhaps for your candidate, instead of or as well as ours. However, if you're to make the most of the grassroots, you have to have a government open to that influence. putting it simply...
Sec. 10-10. Gift ban. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, no officer, member, or State employee shall intentionally solicit or accept any gift from any prohibited source or in violation of any federal or State statute, rule, or regulation. This ban applies to and includes the spouse of and immediate family living with the officer, member, or State employee. No prohibited source shall intentionally offer or make a gift that violates this Section.
(Source: P.A. 93-617, eff. 12/9/03.)
The Gift Ban Act
``(3) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND ELECTED OFFICERS.--Any person who is a Member of Congress or an elected officer of either House of Congress and who, within 2 years after that person leaves office, knowingly engages in lobbying activities on behalf of any other person (except the United States) in connection with any matter on which such former Member of Congress or elected officer seeks action by a Member, officer, or employee of either House of Congress shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this title.''
Amendment 31 to the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, which was drawn from more extensive legislation Feingold and Obama submitted in January. The above cooling off period amendment was accepted and passed with the act...
9/26/2006--Public Law.
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on September 7, 2006. The summary of that version is repeated here, with changes reflecting enrollment corrections.)
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 - Directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), by January 1, 2008, to ensure the existence and operation of a single searchable website accessible by the public at no cost that includes for each federal award of federal financial assistance and expenditures (excluding individual transactions below $25,000 and credit card transactions before October 1, 2008): (1) the amount; (2) information including transaction type, funding agency, the North American Industry Classification System code or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number, program source, and an award title descriptive of the purpose of each funding action; (3) the name and location of the recipient and the primary location of performance; and (4) a unique identifier of the recipient and any parent entity.
Congresssional Research Service summary of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Coburn-Obama)
None of this legislative miasma is going to be rated highly within the context of American prose... but these and other examples represent a measure by which Barack Obama is exceptional in the context of this rate. He has both the rhetoric and the long track record of a legislator honestly commited to reform and open government... the sort in which popular voices are more readily heard. Obama has made a clear commitment (h/t Kid Oakland) to making government data accessible as part of his tech policy... such that more mundane cultists like myself may more effectively invest ourselves in the process. this is precisely the way to reach out to voters who are politically disaffected- to those who feel they have no say in governance regardless of what party they have ever chosen. This is the way to reverse the conservative movement, and it is time for self-identifying progressives to stop decrying the capacity of the general public to feel passionate about liberal reform.
We are the personalities we advocate. Those who seek to diminish or denigrate our individuality out of cynicism would do well to take care of their own personality before passing judgment on ours. Of all the arguments of this extended primary season, the claim that you are simply more wise and less credulous than us is the least convincing. In the end, you may be right. You may have picked a better candidate even for the causes we have chosen... but in the end you will want us on your side.
My dad's answer? ...as to whether he could be more influential as a minor elected official or as a teacher was, as I recall, a "maybe," and he measured the jaded record of legislative consensus against the opportunity of accomplishment in policy. Having had an example from his formative days, he could readily envision that, while political and social momentum is inefficient, its capacity for influence is worthwhile. Perhaps that is why, after hoping for Gore in the beginning of this cycle, he ended up caucusing for the Cult of Personality.