Top-Down Blowback; The GOP Discovers That the Grassroots Bites Back

Sometimes it's not wisdom of the crowds, it's madness of the crowds. What happens when a top-down organization which has exploited the grassroots finds that the grassroots won't take it any more and starts to bite back, to take control?

For years, the GOP was a totally top-down organization. It exploited the fears, faiths and foibles of its core constituency. Paul Krugman, , described it in his November 2009 NY Times Op-ed, Paranoia Strikes Deep. He discusses how a major protest in Washington D.C., officially sponsored by the House Republican leadership, which he described:

...including large signs showing piles of bodies at Dachau with the caption "National Socialist Healthcare." It was grotesque -- and it was also ominous. For what we may be seeing is America starting to be Californiafied.

The key thing to understand about that rally is that it wasn't a fringe event. It was sponsored by the House Republican leadership -- in fact, it was officially billed as a G.O.P. press conference. Senior lawmakers were in attendance, and apparently had no problem with the tone of the proceedings.

True, Eric Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican, offered some mild criticism after the fact. But the operative word is "mild." The signs were "inappropriate," said his spokesman, and the use of Hitler comparisons by such people as Rush Limbaugh, said Mr. Cantor, "conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.

What all this shows is that the G.O.P. has been taken over by the people it used to exploit.

Krugman describes how paranoia has seeped back into the Republican party, a paranoia that Hofstadter described in 1964. He discusses how, with the election of Reagan, Republicans began pandering to the passions of the angry right, but how, until recently

...that catering mostly took the form of empty symbolism. Once elections were won, the issues that fired up the base almost always took a back seat to the economic concerns of the elite. Thus in 2004 George W. Bush ran on antiterrorism and "values," only to announce, as soon as the election was behind him, that his first priority was changing Social Security.

Then, Krugman observes:

But something snapped last year. Conservatives had long believed that history was on their side, so the G.O.P. establishment could, in effect, urge hard-right activists to wait just a little longer: once the party consolidated its hold on power, they'd get what they wanted. After the Democratic sweep, however, extremists could no longer be fobbed off with promises of future glory.

Furthermore, the loss of both Congress and the White House left a power vacuum in a party accustomed to top-down management. At this point Newt Gingrich is what passes for a sober, reasonable elder statesman of the G.O.P. And he has no authority: Republican voters ignored his call to support a relatively moderate, electable candidate in New York's special Congressional election.

Real power in the party rests, instead, with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin (who at this point is more a media figure than a conventional politician). Because these people aren't interested in actually governing, they feed the base's frenzy instead of trying to curb or channel it. So all the old restraints are gone.

In the short run, this may help Democrats, as it did in that New York race. But maybe not: elections aren't necessarily won by the candidate with the most rational argument. They're often determined, instead, by events and economic conditions.

Krugman is describing the power of bottom up passion. Limbaugh, Beck and Palin tap the energy and emotions of the masses, and flame their biases and bigotry. This is the "madness of the crowds" that was always to be feared. It is a potent force that, if effectively tapped, can be very destructive.

Krugman looks at how the teapartying far right acolytes of Beck and Limbaugh could literally gain enough power to do what Republicans in California have done, saying:

In California, the G.O.P. has essentially shrunk down to a rump party with no interest in actually governing -- but that rump remains big enough to prevent anyone else from dealing with the state's fiscal crisis. If this happens to America as a whole, as it all too easily could, the country could become effectively ungovernable in the midst of an ongoing economic disaster.

The same thing could and may already be happening with the Democratic party. Obama either promised or allowed people to develop expectations that he would make big changes happen. Who would have thought that would mean reducing women's access to abortion -- an issue central to the women who make up at least 60% and probably closer to 65% of the Democratic party?

Who would have thought that Obama's health care plan would enrich big Pharma and raise profits for health insurers while raising taxes on small businesses and threatening to jail people who were uninsured?

It is not surprising that both major parties are facing either backlashes or major groups within their constituencies who are raging and leaning towards operating as independents, or even towards starting third parties. Already, there's a "Tea" party being discussed and there are more people who identify themselves as independents than as either Democrats or Republicans.

The fact is, the web and the media have changed the basic rules. The grassroots are connected in new ways, like never before. Glenn Beck's madness can be reinforced on right wing blogs and media sites. Tea partier activities can be shared by listserves and e-mail blasts, whereas in the past, it took money and much more time for bulk mailing via the post office, by conservatives like Richard Viguerie, to get the word out.

The grass roots are the ultimate "bottom" and they have more power than perhaps any time in history. But they can be influenced, aggregated, coalesced and whipped up by top-down powers, forces and entities. Top-down groups that thought they had control of bottom-up groups and energies will more and more find that they have created powerful new coalitions that they have no power over. It's unlikely this will stop top-down organizations from creating, encouraging or exploiting these groups. But it will, or at least should get them to change their expectations and the way they handle these forces of nature that are no longer in their control.

That doesn't seem to be happening with the Republican party today. It may be because the forces of wildness -- Limbaugh, Beck, Palin and their imitators -- have become more powerful than any of the top-down leaders, like Michael Steele, who in some ways, has echoed the sentiments and messages that have emerged from the grassroots teapartiers.

What happens when the bottom causes the top to adopt its ideas and issues? Sometimes craziness, but sometimes democracy, and maybe even elected officials actually representing the true interests and concerns of their constituents. Or those elected officials could just represent the loudest voices. That's also a bottom up consideration. Squeaky wheels will always get the grease.

Crossposted from OpEdNews.com

 

Follow Rob Kall on Twitter: www.twitter.com/robkall

Comments

[Humanistic]

People are like sheep being led off a cliff. The power and money will remain at the top, and their highly organized police state will maintain "order" so they can keep the masses at bay. Elections mean very little, because as we've seen with Obama and Congress, the same old agenda is being pushed by the elites who influence and control the government. Both the GOP and Democratic Party are merely public relations arms of the cabal that has a tight grip on policy decisions. They will throw a few crumbs to the masses to quell the uproar, but no substantial change will be permitted. The notion that "grassroots" organization through the Internet or by any other means will bring about any significant change in economic inequality or social justice is a delusion.

[liberalOrgonian]

I am so surprised how not pro life these crazy folks are.
I guess they have their own insurance, so screw everyone else.

reminds me of the Beatles song:

I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.

[AllShookUp]

We're all frustrated. On both sides. People have a limited amount of patience, and after the busload of kimshee we've had to shoulder, while being told to wait for good to come and things to change over all these years, has finally come to a head. In the absence of real leadership, the people revolt. What's so surprising about that?

Congress is Lucy and we're Charlie Brown, hoping to grab onto that football. Just when we think it's within reach, it's pulled out from under us.

This has gone on both sides -- it's cumulative --, and WE the PEOPLE are collectively at fault. How about we stop complaining and come up with some constructive answers for a change? We need to learn how to play a different game of football if we're going to get anything done in this country. We have options. We can keep letting Lucy pull the football out from under us, or we can sit around and wait for the country to turn into California.

Ball's in your court. Good luck.

[Averal]

Politicians on both sides of the issues seem to have two agenda's. First self promotion for power and monetary gain. Second, the party, since they are the ones who provide the money and organization that gets them elected.

Contact your voter registration bureau and change your affiliation to independent. If enough people would do that, maybe the powers that be in both parties will take notice.

[liberalOrgonian]

The craziness of it all is mind boggling. These hate-filled signs, and chants.
The anger of having a half black prez is making this group turn into goons and lunatics.
Watching it unfold, I am personally shocked the GOP did nothing to tone down the horrendous signs and inaccurate propaganda . Do these folks even know what they oppose?
Makes me wonder where all this will take us as a nation.
We have been fed a steady diet of lies, distortions and fabricated nonsense.
Fear was used on us daily during the bush/cheney years.
Surely we are proving to be a very bigoted intolerant people.
The GOP have already lost power, for it is now in the streets.
With no one in the GOP willing to stand up and create order to the un orderly masses.
It is very sad and frightening thing to watch.

"in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" George Orwell

[saveal]

You can also call Bho half white, and there were goons and lunatics that voted for him. Lets be honest , virtually all politicians are corrupt.

[iMissMollyIvins]

All politicians are compromised, not all of them are corrupt. Just most of them.

[wikwox]

The real meat of this article was at the end: Will the same thing happen to the Dems as has already rolled over the 'Pubs? I'd say theres a good chance it will and The Stupak Anti-Abortion Amendment may be just the catalyst needed. The real question, Is America becoming ungovernable? And is that a portent of civil strife in this country?

[CaliGrown78]

Let's get together & find a strong 3rd party & back them & send a message to Dims & Repugs that we are done playing both of their games. Neither of them have a clue & Obama who I had huge hope for just con't to dissappoint. I know I know he inherited these problems & it will take some time to untangle what Clinton started & Bush feverishly continued & blah, blah, blah it's time to stop leaning on that logic & attend to the business @ hand. We should ALL be working together no matter if you support a D or an R because when it's all said in done Main St is the one getting screwed & when we waste time on the partisan bickering it's counterproductive to say the very least.

[Wendy Johnson]

The frustration is quite reasonable, on both sides. For too long, voters have been given empty promises, by candidates who played to the base when getting elected, and to their contributors once in office. As for the solutions being put forward however, they are less satisfactory. What I see, is people on the right, getting their talking points, as they used to get their politicians, from the top down, and ending up just as far away from their real needs as ever. As for what I see on the left? Well, there really isn't much of a left in the US is there? On the one hand you've got Limbaugh and Beck, fomenting racial discord and comparing everyone to Hit Ier. On the other hand, you've got ...who? Olbermann, maybe, saying mildly that Ob@ma's a good guy, but really, we could have managed this healthcare thing a little better? That's our lef twing? It would make you laugh if it weren't so sad.

[pyro]

Yes, Olberman. And too, Rachel. And of late, Dylan Rattigan (sp?)

But they are all on MSNBC, one little, not to much watched cable channel.

Not enough. Not nearly enough. If only mainstream network news would bother with the truth as well, we might have some hope. But it is hope many of us are losing. No where to turn, while millions are are left homeless, jobless, hungry and powerless.

I see a dim future as a serious possiblility for America.

My little town in Central Oregon is drying up and blowing away.

The dream of America is dying.

Come on Obama, your running out of time. Or maybe it's too late, I don't know.

[Wendy Johnson]

"I see a dim future as a serious possiblility for America...­"

You are not the only one, pyro. I've got kids, and sometimes it scares me, to think what kind of a home they're going to inherit.

Obama needs to do more -- WE need to do more. How did people used to organize to protest these things? I hear about protests online, but they're never in my area (Central CA; even the Dems here are right of center).

[wifitekman]

Still don't get it? The Grass Root Conservative movement is not about dissent from the GOP or discern of the Democrats. It is about disgust of the exploitation of good Americans being played in congress. It doesn't matter if they have a D or an R behind their name. If either party, is failing to uphold traditional values, and fails to uphold the Constitution, than the Tea Party will vote them out. Just as many R's are as disgusting as the D's.

[azind]

Who are you kidding? Your argument might hold some value except for the insane accusations made by tea partiers of Obama being a Communist, Socialist Fascist ,Stalin , Hitler on and on and on. Oh, please explain how's he's not upholding the Constitution. Your rallies are filled with Republican speakers, financed by Republican lobbyists and promoted by FOX news. It is true that many on the left are as alienated as many on the right. We should be together but I'm afraid your side has just become pawns of big money. Forget your biases and remember what's in the best interest of the People and maybe we can talk.

[jeff90125]

Well put.

It seems to me that both Ds and Rs are on the same track, it's just the speed at which they go there.

We do need to see to it that the Consitution is followed. it should go without say since they swear and oath to uphold it. I guess that just doesn't mean much anymore.

[Ameriki]

The people behind the tops of the GOP have not lost control. They are trying to incite sufficient civil strife to justify implementing martial law and cement their ownership of the USA.

Everytime my wife says my take on politics is crazy, the GOP goes and proves me right.

[Eykis]

The GOP and their Faux Following Teabaggers are trying to de-legitimize POTUS saying he is not President, has no power and they FAIL TO UNDERSTAND they have it BACKWARDS.

There are many in the GOP (Teabaggers from last Thursday) who should be arrested for incitement to overthrow the government. By the GOP, I mean Teabaggers like Bachmann, Boenher and even my own C-Streeter, 912er, birther, deather and Teabagger Marsha Blackburn.

The thing to do is VOTE THEM OUT in 2010. There will be no revolution or martial law except in their own minds,

[KangKodosOfQueens]

I"m waiting for the base Dems to get moe influence, instead of just voting and hoping this year will be different.

Can't believe mine is the first comment.