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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2009-08-09

When You Can't Control the Battlefield . . . 

Sun Tzu wrote about the importance of picking where you want to fight, if you have to. The Left has learned that lesson well.

Learning that they have no control over town hall-style meetings (even when it's not intended as a town hall but a series of one-on-ones, as Reps. Perlmutter and Polis tried in the past couple days), the Left has decided to change the parameters of the debate.

[by the way, this "intel" is because I signed up way back when to get emails from the Obama campaign: every once in a while it pays off]

Insurance companies and partisan attack groups are stirring up fear with false rumors about the President's plan . . .

So we've cooked up an easy, powerful way for you to make a big impression: Office Visits for Health Reform . . .

We'll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit . . .

Across the country, members of Congress who support reform are being shouted down, physically assaulted, hung in effigy, and receiving death threats. We can't let extremists hijack this debate, or confuse Congress about where the people stand.


This is an interesting tactic which plays into the Left's hands on a number of levels. First, it puts the debate on private property, which lets the CongressCritter control who gets access. Second, it insulates the CC from having to field questions they don't want. Third, it shields the actual interaction from the eyes of the public. In other words, the CC can say 4 million of their constituents showed up in support, and LOOK! how many of them dropped off flyers!

And fourth, it eliminates the spectacle of a busload of supporters being dropped off to counter-protest . . . paid for by the SEIU. If you have to disguise the origins of your own support, then what better way to do it than by controlling the battlefield?

The Left is, I think, genuinely surprised by the resurgence of political passion from the Conservatives, and it scares the Hell out of them. Even the backing of George Soros' billions, and $150 million from the pharmaceutical companies, plus the unwavering and violent support of the SEIU and AARP (in what crazy world do these groups not count as "well-funded special interest groups??!?!) can't shield them entirely from a genuine grassroots movement. Perlmutter has announced only one townhall to date, and I wouldn't expect any more--he can accomplish his propoganda purposes from the comfort of his district offices. Sure, it's cowardly, but that's no surprise.

So, does Sun Tzu have any advice that Conservatives can heed? Surprise. Time to change the tactic--or use the old as a disguise--to create the public spectacle that the Left so desperately wants to avoid. To break through into the news media will require something extraordinary, and it has to be done "inside the OODA loop," as the soldiers say. What would that be?

Well, now, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I announced it here, now would it?

Actually, I got nothin'. But I do know that we need something . . .maybe that counts, eh?
Posted by: Michael / 8/09/2009 11:24:00 PM

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