Politics and War and the 2012 Strategy

[amenirdis]

The famed military theorist and author Carl von Clausewitz famously stated that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." However, the inverse is also true -- politics is war with fewer explosions but no less damage. Politics is, quite simply, how decisions are made about who lives and who dies, who eats and who starves, who prospers

Comments

[rubynye]

Thank you for writing this.

[amenirdis]

You're welcome.

[lilacsigil]

Coming from a country with compulsory voting, I had never even thought about these no-hope measures as calculated to drive voter turnout! Thank you so much for this explanation.

[amenirdis]

You're welcome!

My state is a swing state with a split congressional delegation that went for Obama last time and Bush the time before. The whole battle is about turnout -- who gets their people to the polls most enthusiastically!

[thothmes]

Sigh.

I try so incredibly hard to ignore Karl Rove and rise above him, but he works so diligently to make it tough to do so.

[turns her back even more studiously on Rove] "Not liiisteninnnng!"

I'm glad you made this post, and I'll be sure to link to it the next time I see a hysterical post about the Mississipi Personhood thing.

[amenirdis]

You're welcome! :)

[aubergineautumn]

I don't think your post is having the effect you intended (or maybe it did). The tendency after reading your post is to become less worried about hot button issues, and to stop spreading the word. However, if Republicans turn out to vote for a state hot button issue, and Democrats read your blog and think we are ok, and so we don't spread the word about hot button issues and don't turn out to vote...then we are all screwed, because the wrong person will be elected to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, these hot button issues do matter. See also http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/13/politics/health-bill-abortion/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[amenirdis]

Oh that's an essay! I could seriously write a book about the strategic decisions in the last fifteen years, and I've actually considered doing so

[aubergineautumn]

Yeah, but it seems like the Republicans are winning the calm debate thing too. I mean, these Republicans debates are kind of interesting. I don't think the Democrats are doing anything. But maybe that's ok, as there is no need to waste $ on a Dem primary, we all know Obama is the one. Maybe the way to win the presidential election is not to campaign at all, like the Repubs are no threat at all. Might work.