There are a number of members of our political celebrity class on the MAGA right that have an important role to play—such as fighting in the information war (reaching as many people as possible with the facts). They make it easier for those who support MAGA policies to get good information about what’s happening in the country.
But that celebrity class has mostly ignored real ground level political work—the only work that wins elections. A few have dabbled, such as promoting the Republican Precinct Project, a nationwide effort to get America First supporters to engage in the GOP at the state and local level.
Some of us were calling for that within weeks after the first Tea Party events in 2009, but better late than never. As important as the Precinct Project is, it is a long term effort that will take another decade or more to make a sizable difference in national and most states’ party politics.
Along with that effort, a few well funded “Political Action Committees” (PACs) have finally discovered the meaning of the word “action,” and are finally participating in actual political action. Some PACs have fielded small, but impressive efforts on the ground in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Arizona.
Wisconsin’s recent state Supreme Court race loss shows we have a lot of work to do in that state. Same with Arizona, where despite Trump’s winning its electoral votes, the state experienced its third terribly embarrassing down-ballot election in a row.
Speaking of President Trump winning, for all the new ground level work that was accomplished last year, he won because of the strength of his candidacy and the incredibly weak candidacy of Kamala Harris. The other efforts were not unimportant, but they were hardly the cause of the victory.
There are several things I have always marveled at—one of them is that God created enough of a variety of types of people so that there would be those willing and able to do the lousy work that civilization requires. The MoneyInc.com article referenced at the end of our last article lists some of those lousy jobs—here are the first two they list:
1. Sewage Worker
Sewage workers face some of the most challenging conditions in the labor market. They often work in confined spaces underground, surrounded by hazardous waste and noxious fumes.
Having been around politics in several capacities since the 1980s, that opening description has a definite parallel when it comes to the political arena. It is not surprising that most clear-thinking Americans prefer to avoid politics like they do other noxious environments.
2. Slaughterhouse Worker
Slaughterhouse workers face demanding and often distressing conditions in their daily tasks. They are responsible for processing animal carcasses in industrial meat production facilities.
As a person who enjoys meat, I have to block out the reality of what brings those steaks to my plate…and I certainly understand those who cannot bear that reality and choose to be vegetarians.
A lot of the work that must get done in the political field is not getting done because our political celebrities, who have the power to help make sure it gets done, fail to effectively use their influence. Among the possible reasons for this failure are 1) they prefer not to deal with or face the enormity of ground level political work, or 2) they are too ignorant to know that it is not getting done at the scale needed or that it must get done if our state and country are to be saved.
There is more to be said on this topic next time.
Image credit: Sewage workers, MoneyInc.com photo.
