Why the purists are necessary!
This could also be titled "The problem with pragmatism" because that fits just as well. I will admit, flat out, that I am a pragmatist. I tend to see the big picture - sometimes to a fault! I can see the merits of all of the core Republican/Conservative issues. However, there are problems that.
My friends all know about the "world’s best border collie" (patent pending). Border Collies are amazingly intelligent dogs who work hard, play hard and sleep hard. When it comes to herding, no other breed can compare to border collies. They focus their attention on the herd with laser like precision. Nothing except their handlers command should ever pry the border collies attention off of the flock. Pragmatists can be like a border collie on crack - we can flit from issue to issue in a split second. The purists are the ones who bring the pragmatists focus back when needed.
Right now, political consultants are telling the both parties to "ignore the purists" but that is suicide. Take a look right now at what is happening to the Democratic Party. In 2006, they swept into power in St. Paul and Washington DC simply by catering to their anti-war base and all those who were dis-satisfied with the war. Now that base is rapidly defecting because the Democrats in DC got pragmatic and realized that they could not come straight out and defund the war.
Today if you ask certain people within the MNGOP why we lost last fall, they will say it was because of dis-satisfaction with the war. However, that is not entirely the case! Large numbers of the Republican base - mostly the purists stayed home because the party was ignoring them. The sooner that the state and national GOP parties realize that, the better off that they will be.
So what's the solution? The pragmatists and the purists need to realize that they need each other. The purists help us define the issues of the day and the pragmatists help us to get the issues acted on. Winning an election is like sailing across a lake. Pragmatists will argue about which mode is best to get across the lake - do we walk around, fly over, take a sail boat/row boat or do we swim across? Purists help us decide which mode of transport is best - however they will want to sail in a straight line across the lake when sometimes you need to tack across.
Pragmatists and Purists compliment each other. We are two pieces of a greater whole. When the parties and politicians realize that, we can do great things. When they (and we) ignore one for the other - we lose elections. It's that simple!
My friends all know about the "world’s best border collie" (patent pending). Border Collies are amazingly intelligent dogs who work hard, play hard and sleep hard. When it comes to herding, no other breed can compare to border collies. They focus their attention on the herd with laser like precision. Nothing except their handlers command should ever pry the border collies attention off of the flock. Pragmatists can be like a border collie on crack - we can flit from issue to issue in a split second. The purists are the ones who bring the pragmatists focus back when needed.
Right now, political consultants are telling the both parties to "ignore the purists" but that is suicide. Take a look right now at what is happening to the Democratic Party. In 2006, they swept into power in St. Paul and Washington DC simply by catering to their anti-war base and all those who were dis-satisfied with the war. Now that base is rapidly defecting because the Democrats in DC got pragmatic and realized that they could not come straight out and defund the war.
Today if you ask certain people within the MNGOP why we lost last fall, they will say it was because of dis-satisfaction with the war. However, that is not entirely the case! Large numbers of the Republican base - mostly the purists stayed home because the party was ignoring them. The sooner that the state and national GOP parties realize that, the better off that they will be.
So what's the solution? The pragmatists and the purists need to realize that they need each other. The purists help us define the issues of the day and the pragmatists help us to get the issues acted on. Winning an election is like sailing across a lake. Pragmatists will argue about which mode is best to get across the lake - do we walk around, fly over, take a sail boat/row boat or do we swim across? Purists help us decide which mode of transport is best - however they will want to sail in a straight line across the lake when sometimes you need to tack across.
Pragmatists and Purists compliment each other. We are two pieces of a greater whole. When the parties and politicians realize that, we can do great things. When they (and we) ignore one for the other - we lose elections. It's that simple!
Labels: Political Purism, Pragmatism
posted by The Lady Logician at
7:27 PM
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