This Week in Thesis Learnings

Another week has passed in my thesis journey. The Kavanaugh circus seems to have receded into a distant news cycle although reports that the right wing seems to be more galvanized now because of the hearings and the so-called ‘rough treatment’ of now-Justice Kavanaugh once again proves that this country is as divided as ever. The idea that this questionable candidate with a decidedly (and publicly demonstrated) un-judicial and partisan temperament has somehow given the Republican Party even more momentum heading into the all important mid-term elections is infuriating and has gotten some of us on the left feeling down. Somehow the Republicans can take any rotten lemons chucked at them and make potent life-extending lemonade. It’s a testament to their formidable abilities to twist anything around to their favor. I continue to have my misgivings but I am sticking with politics as my topic. It’s not time to give up and too many people have told me that whatever I do, it will be meaningful and matter.

Last Friday I had the great opportunity to speak with a political expert named Ruby Shamir. Her political experience has centered around working with Hillary Clinton, starting from interning at the White House in 1994 under the First Lady to working there through the end of the Clinton/Gore administration to eventually leading her Senate Office in NY. Ruby also worked on Hillary Clinton’s memoir ‘Living History’ as well as books with Tom Brokaw, Chelsea Clinton and Justice Sotomayor on children’s books

We discussed a great many things, with my goal to gain some insight as to what could possibly make a difference in future elections. The first thing that she said that struck me was this:

“Engaging people on things that they care about is what gets them out to vote but more importantly what they’re angry about gets them out to vote. That was something that Trump did very well. He found something that people are very angry about and you can say the same thing about the mid-term elections now. People on the left are angry and more energized. I think that those two things are significant.”

We discussed local vs national government and how our lives are so much more directly connected to local government actions than on the national level. For instance, the general misconception that Obama’s presidency did very little to help his more low-income supporters can be directly attributed to the fact that in many cases, their local elected officials ended up being Republicans. She discussed:

“If you look at the state of Wisconsin, right after the election there were all these interviews in black neighborhoods in Milwaukee and many of them didn’t come out to vote. Many of them said my life didn’t improve under Obama. But part of the reason their lives didn’t improve was Scott Walker was their governor. So their representative in the state legislature. They turned around and blamed the Democratic president.”

And so she suggested that perhaps my focus shouldn’t be solely on voting but on local civic engagement and “the connections between one’s life and their elected officials and their elected government, especially at the local level. That’s where the rubber meets the road. If they have potholes, crappy schools, toll roads increasing, playgrounds that are falling apart. So they didn’t want to vote for Hillary because life didn’t get better for them. But that has a lot more to do with Scott Walker and their local state elected rep than Obama.”

This is true invaluable insight, but part of me wonders in this day and age of political disillusionment, can I expect ordinary citizens to rise out of their sofas and want to actively engage in unsexy local issues? I understand the importance, but I am also all for practicality. These are things I will debate endlessly and hopefully gain further insight on as I further ideate and speak with more people.

We spoke about some of the rising stars on the left, such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Beto O’Rourke whom she aptly described as keenly able to “telegraph authenticity”. This is an important point that she brought up.

“I think in part it’s because they telegraph authenticity. That’s probably the most significant difference. I use that word telegraph because I don’t know what it means to be authentic. I know what it means to look authentic. I mean, they don’t look staged. They don’t look careful. They don’t say things that are careful and by the way, guess who else doesn’t do any of those things? Donald Trump! He says the most outrageous outlandish things. He does not worry about the backlash. In fact, backlash helps him. And you’re seeing the same things with Ocasio Cortez. The fact that she’s embracing her socialism is crazy. It would never fly. Now in part she can do that because she represents such a liberal constituency, but the fact that she’s able to take it national is so attributable. They seem unafraid to court criticism. They seem willing to defend their beliefs and positions even if those beliefs might get them in trouble.”

“Beto talking about police brutality in a Texas state would be political suicide, but it works. I mean the telegraphing of authenticity..I don’t know if you saw recently, Emma Gonzalez, she’s a perfect example of what this younger generation wants. There’s gender fluidity which is huge and it’s something our generation and up can’t get our heads around and certainly can’t embody. There’s a certain fearlessness about your positions and stances and a welcoming ability to observe and court a fight.”

She also mentioned something we shouldn’t ignore:

“Oh, and by the way, both Ocasio Cortez and Beto O’Rourke are really good looking. They’re thin, pretty, super articulate.”

So this got me thinking about how the younger voter seems to be more in tuned with these types of ‘authentic’ telegenic candidates. It’s not only the right that has become more extreme. The rise of Trumpism has also beget the rise of exciting young TRUE progressives. Is this the key to the future? Unapologetically authentic and not willing to back down.

What does this mean for my thesis? These are questions I’m seeking answers for:

Another thing I did this week was analyze the finding from my 1st Survey, for which I received 23 responses ranging from nine Millennials, twelve Gen-Xers and two Baby Boomers. I learned a great deal about their frustrations and hopes regarding politics and voting as well as the issues that matter most to them.

All of this is helping me chip away at something I still find pretty overwhelming. But every day, I feel more hope that I’m getting closer to a break-through.

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