Posted April 24, 2016
..we could probably discuss the Jedi Code at length, and I could tell you stories about the wars we've had lately that have cost people I know their lives for no other reason than domestic political stunts. I don't know. Could be interesting, I guess.
But as someone who has worked for a PAC, take this as a qualified observation: when so few people vote, what happens is that any political victory in a US election is secured by motivating the most consistent and conform minority group to vote for the same candidate. At several points since 2000 (and I know of other examples under the Clinton administration, even if they didn't take this to the level achieved afterwards), you would even have minorities violently and completely opposed to each other on the same practical and specific issue voting in concert, thanks to people who are quite good at their consultant jobs (if "good" could be used here). And what you essentially end up with is that the campaign (or the "perpetual campaign", to quote Gingrich), is that the actual issues (outside the comic book narratives) become irrelevant.
This creates a downward spiral - disenfranchised voters feel, rightfully, that their vote doesn't matter. Anyone with a minimal amount of observational power understands that voting is a blank check that the recipient will abuse. While a portion of the voting population will vote for Marvel Comics narratives. And because the semi-informed voters stay home (the actual percentage of people who vote in any given election in the US among people who could vote, not just among the registered voters, is down in 20-30%), these minority groups who vote with fervor for the most amazing haircut (not actually a figure of speech in this election) are therefore decisive. They're all-important. And this is, in spite of vicious attempts to change this among many people, in ways that I would never sign off on, what dominates the entire campaign, perpetually, from up to two years before the next election is held. This is what you see in the news, this is what the commentariat is busy with.
So if 50% of the voting population went out on the next election and voted for Mickey Mouse, wrote Mickey in on the ticket, the dynamic would change overnight. I'm not pulling this out of a hat, I'm telling you this as your very own expert insider. If you had just 60% of the eligible voters busting through the roadblocks and hindrances in place to vote, ahead of the election, or on the day, then the PACs would have to deal with an actual threat to the existing method of securing votes and seats. The candidate voted for would be utterly irrelevant in the short term (just speaking from a process-perspective here on the method the campaigns are conducted with), but the participation would be game-changing.
It's as simple as that if it's established that the Mickey vote could go an independent candidate, then the "largest minority" vote suddenly is not decisive. If that happened, all the action committees and campaign offices would instantly know that they could actually "succeed" at the usual media-storm offensive with a gold medal and a million bucks in special interest donations -- and they could still lose. Donors would flee for the hills, campaign offices would burst into flames, and political consultants would run around in the street with their hair on fire.
And try to understand that this is a scenario that the insiders, even though they dismiss it for good reason, are extremely afraid of. It'd literally be the deluge coming in our time, and there'd be nothing to stop it: It would literally upend 100% of the campaigns being conducted right now.
A sort of side-effect from playing by Marvel Universe rules, I guess, that things can actually be turned on the head in a very short time.
And the basic building blocks are in place, you know..? No one is stopping anyone from actually voting in the US. The cheating and the fraud is, however serious, also not large enough to turn a result upside down. But another 40% going out to vote for Mickey would really do it.
So when you despair over a lack of a Warren/Sanders ticket to vote for in the next presidential election - vote for Mickey. Vote for Banksy, vote for whatever.
But as someone who has worked for a PAC, take this as a qualified observation: when so few people vote, what happens is that any political victory in a US election is secured by motivating the most consistent and conform minority group to vote for the same candidate. At several points since 2000 (and I know of other examples under the Clinton administration, even if they didn't take this to the level achieved afterwards), you would even have minorities violently and completely opposed to each other on the same practical and specific issue voting in concert, thanks to people who are quite good at their consultant jobs (if "good" could be used here). And what you essentially end up with is that the campaign (or the "perpetual campaign", to quote Gingrich), is that the actual issues (outside the comic book narratives) become irrelevant.
This creates a downward spiral - disenfranchised voters feel, rightfully, that their vote doesn't matter. Anyone with a minimal amount of observational power understands that voting is a blank check that the recipient will abuse. While a portion of the voting population will vote for Marvel Comics narratives. And because the semi-informed voters stay home (the actual percentage of people who vote in any given election in the US among people who could vote, not just among the registered voters, is down in 20-30%), these minority groups who vote with fervor for the most amazing haircut (not actually a figure of speech in this election) are therefore decisive. They're all-important. And this is, in spite of vicious attempts to change this among many people, in ways that I would never sign off on, what dominates the entire campaign, perpetually, from up to two years before the next election is held. This is what you see in the news, this is what the commentariat is busy with.
So if 50% of the voting population went out on the next election and voted for Mickey Mouse, wrote Mickey in on the ticket, the dynamic would change overnight. I'm not pulling this out of a hat, I'm telling you this as your very own expert insider. If you had just 60% of the eligible voters busting through the roadblocks and hindrances in place to vote, ahead of the election, or on the day, then the PACs would have to deal with an actual threat to the existing method of securing votes and seats. The candidate voted for would be utterly irrelevant in the short term (just speaking from a process-perspective here on the method the campaigns are conducted with), but the participation would be game-changing.
It's as simple as that if it's established that the Mickey vote could go an independent candidate, then the "largest minority" vote suddenly is not decisive. If that happened, all the action committees and campaign offices would instantly know that they could actually "succeed" at the usual media-storm offensive with a gold medal and a million bucks in special interest donations -- and they could still lose. Donors would flee for the hills, campaign offices would burst into flames, and political consultants would run around in the street with their hair on fire.
And try to understand that this is a scenario that the insiders, even though they dismiss it for good reason, are extremely afraid of. It'd literally be the deluge coming in our time, and there'd be nothing to stop it: It would literally upend 100% of the campaigns being conducted right now.
A sort of side-effect from playing by Marvel Universe rules, I guess, that things can actually be turned on the head in a very short time.
And the basic building blocks are in place, you know..? No one is stopping anyone from actually voting in the US. The cheating and the fraud is, however serious, also not large enough to turn a result upside down. But another 40% going out to vote for Mickey would really do it.
So when you despair over a lack of a Warren/Sanders ticket to vote for in the next presidential election - vote for Mickey. Vote for Banksy, vote for whatever.