When the annals of the 2020 presidential nominations process and general election are written, the role of the Illinois Primary, along with its counterparts in Florida and Arizona on the same day, will be marked as uniquely important turning points in the long and chaotic road to the White House. Understanding that role depends on…
Almost every U.S. schoolchild knows that democracy means “the people rule” or “government by the people,” or some variation on that theme. Right? Well, not really. The world is a lot more complicated than that and includes the fact that intense and mobilized minorities exercise an impact on public policy far in excess of what their numbers of members or sympathizers would justify. Nowhere is this political weight and outsized impact on public policy more clearly evident than in the debate and conflict over guns and gun legislation. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is one of the most powerful and well-financed interest groups in Washington, or in any state capital. It works consistently and effectively to define the framing of the gun control debate, and to ensure that federal and state policies reflect its preferences.
The most appropriate aphorism for the 2012 general election may be, “Never has so much money and effort been spent on so few people with such uncertain effect.” This brief summary of the fall campaign results from the confluence of two quite different electoral developments. The first is the recent – and growing – ideological and partisan polarization of the American electorate. The second is the vast and growing amounts of money being poured into the effort to elect the next president of the United States. The result is an enormous amount of money being spent by both parties – and all the outside groups supporting them – to convince a relative handful of undecided voters. By Election Day, both camps are projected to raise $1 billion.
America’s national political conventions are actually two big productions presented simultaneously for two quite different but interrelated audiences – the convention-goers and the mass audience reached through the media.
First, there are thousands of convention delegates, alternates, media people and camp followers inside whatever big arena the national parties have chosen to host their conventions. It is critically important to keep all parties occupied, entertained and happily participating in the proceedings of the convention as they are the most immediate object of the events on the platform and they provide the backdrop for whatever drama may be playing out behind the scenes.