“The Sunday Political Brunch”—January 8, 2017

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Mark Curtis, GoLocalProv Contributor

 

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I have mentioned from time to time on my website that I am not a member of any political party. Over the years – for personal, practical, and professional reasons – I have registered as an independent, non-partisan, or declined-to-state, depending on the options offered in the six states in which I have been registered to vote. With that independent streak in mind, let me offer some non-partisan advice to people who may find themselves in the party out of power: “It’s not the end of the world!”. Let’s “brunch” on that this week:

“The Ebb and Flow” -- In 2008, when Barack Obama won the White House and Democrats held control of the House and Senate, there was the usual pundit question: “Is this the death of the Republican Party?” But the GOP took control of the House in 2010, and the Senate in 2014, and the “end” never came. After years of Democratic control, Ronald Reagan won the White House in a 1980 landslide, swept control of the Senate for the GOP, and - with conservative Democrats and Republicans - held a “philosophical majority” in the House. Just know that the pendulum swings both ways.

“From the Ground Up” – One of the most critical lessons I teach my students is that “Political movements are built from the ground up, not from the top down.” Swings in the national influence of both parties have often been launched years earlier with wins at city council, county commission, and state legislature levels. For example, President Obama never would have been the first African-America president had others from his demographic base not first won a significant number of seats in city halls, state houses, and then in the halls of Congress.

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“Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” – With the two above premises in mind, some of my advice to people in the party out of power is this; Put your name on the ballot! Talk is cheap. You can find people complaining in bar rooms, at the workplace water cooler, and now on social media when their side loses an election. If you don’t like the political tide, then put your name on a ballot and run for office. Whining accomplishes nothing; but action can!

“Door-to-Door” – Two of the most politically savvy women I have ever known – one a progressive liberal, and the other an evangelical conservative – always impressed me with their political passion because they embraced door-to-door campaigning. They knew from the outset that they would face some hostility and rejection, but they believed in their causes so they went door-knocking anyway, handing out political leaflets and information because they were committed to their beliefs. As we’ve seen many times in elections, the “ground game” is critical to winning. Get out there and walk precincts for your side – even in the face of opposition.

“Become Media Savvy” – Build media relationships. Don’t view the media as the hostile enemy or as unapproachable. Reach out, and you may be pleasantly surprised. Here’s a case in point. In 2010, I was assigned to live coverage of the State of the City Address by then Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor David Cicilline (a Democrat now in Congress). After the speech, a man came up to me, handed me a press release and asked, “Would you be interested in the opposing point of view?” He was Dave Talan, Chairman of the Providence Republican Party. About ten minutes later, he was ‘live’ on our station, expressing his party’s views. It was the first of many interviews I had with him over a six-year span.

“Embrace Rejection” – I was doing my frequent “man-on-the-street” interviews the other day; and after a woman turned down my offer to share her opinion, she said, “You must face a lot of rejection!” My response was, “Yes, it’s kind of like dating in igh school; you ask often, but get lots of ‘no thanks'!” It’s a standard line I use, and it always gets a laugh. I’ve seen good retail politicians respond to rejection by politely saying, “Well you may disagree with some of my positions, but I’d be honored to have your vote on election day.” It can be persuasive.

“Talk to People; Listen to People” – If you take my challenge above and decide to run for office, here is one of my most crucial pieces of advice: “Shut up and listen!” Don’t give endless speeches, but instead seek the opinions of your constituents and solicit their advice. In many ways, the 2016 campaign was a rejection of politics as usual and a thumbs-down to the status quo. Republicans embraced a rebel Donald Trump over the establishment’s Jeb Bush; many Democrats rejected the establishment’s Hillary Clinton in favor of rebel Bernie Sanders. The lesson – listen to the public’s moods and concerns.

“Paradigms Change; Parties Change” – In 1960, Democrat John Kennedy won on promises of cutting taxes, smaller government, and having a stronger national defense. In 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan won by promising tax cuts, smaller government, and having a stronger national defense. Now how can two parties have two similar results, in two different elections? Well, times change, parties evolve, and public moods shift. As I said above, listen to people and be tuned in to what the public wants and needs.

“Be the Loyal Opposition” – As mentioned, politics is a business of ebb and flow. One decade your party is in; and another you’re on the outs. The minority party always claims it has little clout, but it does. Practice being the “loyal opposition” by actively advocating for alternative programs, budgets, policies, and candidates. You have to create a well-publicized agenda that says, “Look, here’s another way!” People - like choices and priorities - change. For example, student loan programs were immensely popular when first offered years ago, but now - with exploding student debt - people are rethinking the whole policy. Why do you think “free tuition” pledges – whether plausible or not – caught such popular fire this election year?

What are your alternative ideas? Just click the comment button at www.MarkCurtisMedia.com.

 

Related Slideshow: Trump’s Win - What Does it Mean for Rhode Island?

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Jennifer Duffy

Cook Report

"We don't really know what a Trump presidency means for the nation, never mind the smallest state.  One of the unintended consequences of last night's results is that Sen. Jack Reed won't be chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Chalk that up as a loss for RI."

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Pam Gencarella

Head of Ocean State Taxpayers' Association

"Trump’s win means that his signature issue, illegal immigration, could have a big impact on RI, hopefully reversing our course as a sanctuary state and saving the state taxpayer millions of dollars.  While we agree with his 'repeal and replace' Obamacare stance, we have no idea what that means to the RI debacle known as UHIP.  It is not a stretch to believe that federal funding for this kind of system will be off the table so, will RI be stuck with this massively expensive system that still doesn’t work and that is expected to cost another $124 million to fix?  

Trump's belief that there is significant fraud in the Food Stamp program and the policies that may come from that belief could have a negative impact on RI's local economy since there are businesses in certain cities that rely heavily on this program, fraud and all. On the upside, we may be able to ditch the UHIP program if there is significantly less need for processing welfare program requests (ie. Medicaid and food stamps) resulting from fewer illegal immigrants and less fraud.  While we are ambivalent about his touted child care policies, if enacted, it may force our legislators to revisit the ever growing state cost of subsidies in this area and possibly reduce the fraud and abuse in this system." 

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Kay Israel

Professor at Rhode Island College

"With a Republican President and Congress, Rhode Island will probably be excluded from the 'fruits of victory."  

The congressional delegation will be able to vocally make their presence felt, but in the long term it's more symbolic than substantive.  

For Rhode Island it's a matter of holding on and waiting until '18 or '20 and a surge in Democratic influence."

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Jennifer Lawless

Professor at American University

"The RI congressional delegation just became even less powerful than it was. With unified government, Trump doesn’t need to quell Democrats’ concerns or acquiesce because he’s worried about a Democratically-controlled Senate.

His appointments will reflect that. His executive orders will affect that. And the conservative policy agenda he puts forward will affect that."

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Len Lardaro

Professor at University of Rhode Island

"Well there's a few things -- because there's not going to be gridlock, that's a big difference if it had been Hillary and a GOP Congress, in which nothing would got done. We'll at least get a half a billion in infrastructure that's going to pass which will have an impact.

I think you'll see there will be reduced reliance on government nationally -- and that's where we'll stick out like sore thumb. We've relied way too much on government -- and our government is highly inefficient and ineffective.  Maybe, just maybe, in this who cycle of things we might be forced to be small and more efficient for once.

A couple of other things -- interest rates jumped. The one to follow is the ten year government bond rate -- which is tied to mortgages. It went from 1.7% to 2.05% in one day. The point is -- if the ten year stays high, mortgage rates will start going higher -- and in the short time people will run to re-finance. 

That's the short term impact -- but then if rates stay hight, that will make mortgages more out of reach. And we just passed a bond issue to limit open space -- housing has limited upside here.
The next thing -- the Fed Reserve will go ahead with tightening next month. A strong dollar will hurt manufacturing. When the dollar is strong our exports become more expensive overseas. 

Our goods production sector -- manufacturing and construction -- in the near term will do a little better, but as time goes on will be more limited. But something you won't hear, is there are lags in fiscal policy, of six months to year. So we won't really see the effects until the third our fourth quarter of 2017, going into 2018."
 

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Mike Stenhouse

RI Center for Freedon and Prosperity

"As the unbelievable turned into reality this morning, it struck me that the presidential election was not really all about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was about a fed-up people, revolting against a corrupt system - the "beast" - that relentlessly favors insiders. Hillary personified the beast, while Donald personified the slayer.

Sadly, based on election results in our state, Rhode Island's version of the beast lives on. I fear our political class has not learned the lessons from the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump movements - and will continue with their government-centric, anti-family, anti-business status quo."

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Kristina Contreras Fox

VP of Young Democrats of America

"A Trump Presidency means the validation of the ugliest part of America. In RI, as with the rest of the country, the hammer of his hatred will fall hardest on minority communities. Being a blue state doesn't make us immune from this danger.

Trump won over 35% (39.5) of the vote here! We need to look in the mirror, and not lie about what the reflection shows us. No more hiding underneath a blue blanket. I expect those who claim Democratic values to be true to those values. The gulf between words and actions have turned into fertile ground for Trump's message to grow here in RI. If you call yourself a Democrat, if you claim to stand in opposition to Trump, now is the time to prove it. Show up and fight back."
 

 

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