All Politics are decided by pop culture, and what’s more to the point, this is nothing new. They always have been. That Barack Obama won two presidential elections based on winning the pop culture should surprise no one. Our side was busy making cogent arguments based on facts, and their side came up with the coolest graphic icons, the catchiest slogans, the easier to remember platitudinous soundbites, and utilized social media in a manner that we are still trying to read the license plate on the truck that hit us.
The majority of people in our nation believe that Christopher Columbus had to prove to his Eureopean friends that the world was round, despite the fact that the first globes were sold a full year prior to his voyage. They believe this because Washington Irving, a pop culture icon in 1819, wrote it that way in his book. Over 99% of our fellow citizens believe that Paul Revere warned the colonists of the main British invasion of April 12, 1775, despite the fact that he made it only 19 miles before being captured by the British, spilling his guts as to what the colonists were doing to prepare for that invasion to his captors, and being sent home after the first battles were over. Israel Bissell was the name of the actual man who rode 376 miles to warn the bulk of the colonists. They believe this because Henry Wadsworth Longfellow needed to cast someone with a cool name as the hero for his epic poem designed to stir up sentiments of patriotism ahead of a possible civil war. Israel Bissell rhymes with nothing, and ain’t inspiring anybody with its pronunciation. Franklin Pierce won his election to become the Fourteenth President of our nation solely on the strength of the almost entirely fictitious book written about his life, penned by none other than Nathaniel Hawthorne, the greatest pop culture figure living in 1852 America.
This is all about how we counter that, and how we defeat that. The answer of course is all about how we use this to our advantage. How many of you remember that whole, “Life Of Julia,” insult to our intelligence? In this official, and by the way completely, “apolitical,” piece of sophistry placed on the official White House website, a woman named Julia became the star of pop culture tale describing the life of a girl from cradle to grave who became the beneficiary of government largess at every phase of her existence. Her life needed no involvement by parents, no spouse, was bereft of obstacles, and big brother, meaning Barack Obama, was there at every single point to gift her with every thing a person could seemingly desire. Small wonder the the cartoon world of Julia was featureless and creepy, which by the way was the bit of pop culture counter measure that we should have seized upon.
Take another look at the cartoon at the top of this post. That’s part of a winning message, and one that will resonate. When the youth of America, AKA the Bamster’s main voting block, made their decision, they believed that they’d be dining on some fine vegan Five Star Chef’s delicious bill of fair so to speak, it never dawned on them that when the government takes over the food preparation for all of us, for our own good, our elites will be dining on what they wish while telling us to enjoy our gelatinous taste free synthesized protein based industrially produced food pellets.
Freedom is cool. Fast cars are cool. Skydiving is cool. Electricity used in large amounts is cool. Being able to enjoy air conditioning during the hot summer days is cool. Eating what we like, when we like it is cool. Limousines are cool. Hot dog eating contests are cool. Speed boats and water skiing are cool. Being able to decide for yourself how you would like to earn a living is cool, and the government not being in your way when you do it is cool. Being able to make your own decisions and not having your choices stripped away from you is the ultimate in cool, and the converse is most definitely not.
Imagine a commercial where two people are walking through their daily routines in a split screen vision of two competing universes. One shows somebody living in the universe where the conservative vision dominates, and the other person is living in the gulag style of governance offered up by the other side, (and right now having the impact of Obamacare in their universe would be brilliant.) Our hero gets to eat Steak and potatoes, while the other dines on a red disk. Our hero gets to hop into a Ford Mustang and jet off with the top down and wind flapping, while the other fellow unplugs his car and is beaten to the corner by kids on bicycles or an old man with a walker. Our hero could be seen flying down the side of a mountain on skis, while his counterpart gets to read a message that due to a lack of doctors and for his own protection, dangerous sports such as skiing have been declared to be illegal, under the same authority that banned sugary drinks, trans fat foods, convertibles, football, skydiving, swimming in any pool of water deeper than three feet, recreational boating, white water rafting, ………..
This defeatist attitude that because we tend to be older, we will never again win this battle disregards completely not only history, but even recent history. Ronald Reagan won the pop culture in 1980, and most of us are old enough to remember that, and more importantly, most of the people on our side possess an adult memory. Conservatism is cool, while being kept is not. That’s the point that we need to remember, and that’s the message we need to start projecting. People want to see themselves as necessary, vital, strong, rugged individualists, and not as dependent, needy, kept, Barco Lounger sitting wads of useless waiting for a handout in order to survive just one more day. Successfully draw that parallel, and we never suffer another loser’s civil war.
During the 2012 campaign, Barack Obama’s motorcade drove within 200 yards of my home and lunched at a restaurant called Ziggy’s. The owners of this establishment are friends of mine. I asked them if they enjoyed the President stopping by for lunch, and they were ecstatic. I really can not blame them, as having any President stop by and eat at your restaurant can only be a positive experience for an owner. I then asked them how they felt about the fact that Michelle Obama’s contribution to the enforcement of the newly inflicted Obamacare law would see about 90% of their menu banned. Come on out to Ziggy’s for an evening with good friends while enjoying a protein pellet and a brewski just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.
