An open letter to all the Democratic candidates running for president: Thank you for stepping forward and know that collectively you are blowing it.
The fact that so far 16 of you are vying for the top spot (not to mention those still in the wings), you are doing exactly what those who have taken over our government want you to do.
You are dispersing the energy it takes to succeed like an egg dropped from an airplane. Concerned and honest citizens who are looking for change are huddling around coffee tables talking about the candidates: “Well, I like (fill in the blank) but then again there is (fill in the blank) and (fill in the blank) has good ideas, too, but . . .” There is no united front; there is no united strategy. If that keeps up, you will collectively lose, and the America we cherish will continue going down the tubes.
There is a strategy, and a winning one out there. It was used in the 1980s and has gotten us to this point. Remember Karl Rove? He was “The Architect.” It’s all laid out in the book of the same name by James Moore. The full title is: The Architect: Karl Rove and the Dream of Absolute Power. Here is a review from Amazon: “President George W. Bush dubbed Karl Rove ‘The Architect’ for his skill in creating an unprecedented campaign and fundraising machine. But Rove’s ambitions have always been far more sweeping – to build a right-wing dynasty that can dominate American politics for decades. Rove’s master plan imagines a political system so controlled by Republicans that it is resisted only by symbolic opposition.”
As each of you goes about listing the ills of our current system and how you will attempt to fix them, those in power are loving it. They know you don’t have a united strategy to take this country back. You have only a divisive strategy to get you to the presidency – all 16-plus of you.
Yes, universal government-run health care is needed and is a no-brainer (Denis Kucinich has the template; go ask him). Yes, women’s rights/lives must be protected. Yes, income inequality must be addressed. Yes, confronting racism must happen. Yes, free universal education up to the university level is long overdue. Yes, immigration needs to be reformed. Yes, corporate America should stop putting profits over people. Yes, climate change is critical and corporate America must stop killing us with Roundup and fossil fuels. Yes, Big Pharma has to stop killing people by pricing lifesaving drugs out of the reach of those most in need of them. Yes, judicial appointments are critical (which conservatives have already started stacking). Yes, closing offshore accounts for the rich so the money is used here to fix roads and bridges makes sense. Yes, one person, one vote is critical for democracy to exist, and gerrymandering by both sides has to stop. Yes, our international standing must be re-established in a collaborative and peaceful way. Yes (fill in the blank) is not a radical idea but one that all industrialized nations have had in place for almost 100 years with only America behaving like a Third World country when attending to the needs of her citizens.
All of the above will never be addressed unless and until each of you lets your ego go, and you see the bigger picture and ask the critical questions: How do we take our country back? What is our strategic plan to do so? (Note: One exists already, use it!) And critically, who is the best person, known or as of yet unknown, who can pull it off?
Once you have that conversation, off site, away from the press, at someone’s home big enough for all of you to be there, you unite around that person, put all of your collective energy and money into making that person successful. If you do that, all of the other issues each of you honestly care about and are so necessary to saving our democracy will be able to be acted upon. That is how the Republicans did it. That is how Rove convinced them to put their own issues/egos aside and unite in the overall goal: to take over the government. And they did.
Read the book. The blueprint is there. Learn from their success. Stop being ahistorical. Those of you old enough to remember the 1960s know this phrase: “Know Your Enemy” from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Use the Republican strategy (and their tactics if they are morally sound) to create success. Think bigger than yourselves. And if you have trouble doing that, think about another four years with the current regime.
If that doesn’t motivate you to try uniting, then nothing will, and we can kiss our democracy goodbye.
(Susan McKevitt lives in Bradford.)