RANCHO SANTA FE, Ca., January 10, 2014 – If the title seems absurd, just pretend I’m a political Party. I am often amused by the fundraising tactics of the two major Parties. I am also bitterly disappointed that so many Americans continue to fall prey to them.
The Parties have established a rich tradition of stooping to new lows to extract money from the hyper-partisan elements of their respective bases. Of course, they occasionally try to sell hats and t-shirts to raise money. They also like to play upon our need to feel connected with our Presidents by invoking us to “sign a birthday card” to the President or former President (or one of their next-of-kin) or by suggesting that “the President wants to have dinner” with us. However, there’s always a monetary solicitation attached at the end.
The Parties also like to beg for money when “the FEC-mandated end-of-month (or quarter) deadline is coming up.” They apparently hope we won’t recognize that there isn’t anything particularly compelling about the deadline; it just ends one reporting period before the next one begins. Yet, we’re led to believe that a cataclysmic disaster is about to befall the Party if our check doesn’t clear in time.
However, the most distasteful tactic is when the Parties choose to flagrantly exaggerate or misrepresent facts to conform to their chosen narrative. The rhetoric is predictably disgusting and disingenuous.
The DNC’s “War Room,” along with Organizing for Action (OFA) and MoveOn, have trotted out the following within the last few months.[1] Some represent timer-honored phrases; others are new and particularly appalling. Each is designed to strike a nerve.
- Tax breaks for the rich…
- Leave millions of Americans uninsured…
- Disgraceful attack on thousands of patriots by a coward…
- Launched an all-out assault on our right to vote…
- (From) Trump’s Muslim ban to his deportation raids to health care repeal…
- Brutal deportations are tearing apart families…
- This…is the latest Republican attack on working families…
- Trump has refused to use the term white supremacist or to condemn white supremacist violence…
- It’s become clear that Donald Trump has allowed white supremacists and Nazis to find a home in the Republican Party…
- Trump must fire the white supremacists who work for him…
For its part, the RNC hammered on phrases that are designed to elevate conservative angst.[2]
- This is our chance to fire liberal Senators running in ten states the President won…
- Democrats are doing everything in their power to obstruct our AMERICA FIRST agenda…
- The Fake News Media has done everything in its power to distort our actions, criticize our every move, and even stoop so low as to deceive voters…
- Liberals in the Senate have made it their sole mission to OBSTRUCT the Silent Majority…
- Let’s remind every single Senator the American VOTERS want this beautiful, impenetrable wall constructed…
- Together, we’re DRAINING THE SWAMP and getting things done in Washington, even though liberals are trying to obstruct us at every turn…
- We need to keep fighting the liberal obstructionists who want to see the people FAIL…
- Our historic election was a referendum on the coastal elites who think they know how to run our lives better than we do…
- The media hates people like you and me…
While the RNC’s tone might seem slightly less aggressive, the Parties’ roles have simply shifted due to the change in Administrations.
During the Obama years, the RNC attributed “all things evil” to the President and his Administration. Every misstep or alleged scandal brought calls for a special prosecutor. According to the RNC, the man needed to be impeached for nearly every action he took. Almost without question, many Republicans would have readily applied the words “Not my President” to Barack Obama had they been clever enough to coin the phrase.
Correspondingly, the DNC’s mantra during those years was one of condemning “Republican obstruction.” After all, those nasty Republicans were on record as saying their original goal was to make Barack Obama a one-term President; something today’s Democrats would never say about President Trump (try not to laugh). Evidently, there is a political distinction between the words “obstruction” and “resistance” even when they are used in a synonymous manner.
Today, Republicans envision themselves as the maligned and oppressed Party that’s trying to do what’s right for America, which is exactly how Democrats viewed themselves for the past eight years. Each Party in power pretends that it would easily solve our Nation’s problems if it weren’t for the obstruction/resistance of the other Party.
What would happen if we no longer accepted the swapping of words and tactics when a change in Administration occurs? What would happen if we chose to ignore the Parties’ feigned outrage? What would happen if we saw their fearmongering for what it is; an attempt to manipulate our behavior?
More importantly, what would happen if we simply refused to fund them?
Perhaps, they would have more time to honor the responsibilities with which they’ve been entrusted. We might even learn what a representative form of government can accomplish when it focuses on delivering solutions that are in the public’s best interests rather than those of a political Party.
Let me know what you think… and please send money. If I’m not overwhelmingly rich by the end of this month, life as we know it will cease to exist and I may be compelled to call people names and hatefully smear those whose opinions differ from mine.
[1] All excerpts are taken from recent solicitation emails from the DNC or its affiliates.
[2] All excerpts are taken from recent solicitation emails from the RNC (with capitalization as it originally appeared).
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T.J. O’Hara is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and strategic consultant in the private and public sectors. In 2012, he emerged as the leading independent candidate for the Office of President of the United States and the first nominee of the Whig Party in over 150 years.
This article first appeared in T.J. O’Hara’s recurring column, A Civil Assessment, in the Communities section of The Washington Times.