Democracy and Power 107: Counting votes

Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.
– Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

In a democracy the politician must favorably influence the majority of their voting constituents. In all political decisions the politician calculates how many votes are gained by voting money spent on an interest group versus how many votes are lost.

America‘s Insurgent Pollster

Understanding the tea party is essential to predicting what the country’s political scene will look like.

Scott Rasmussen polls America everyday and finds a division in American politics between the political elites (believers in government) and those wanting a small and limited government (mainstream America). Two years ago approximately 10 percent of likely voters in America were classified as government elites. Today the number is less. Most interesting is that the majority of likely voters – Republican, Independents and Democrats – want a small and limited government. John Fund, of the Wall Street Journal, quotes Rasmussen:

“Americans don’t want to be governed from the left or the right,” Scott Rasmussen tells the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conference of 1,500 conservative and moderate legislators. “They want, like the Founding Fathers, to largely govern themselves with Washington in a supporting—but not dominant—role. The tea party movement is today’s updated expression of that sentiment.”

“The major division in this country is no longer between parties but between political elites and the people,” Mr. Rasmussen says.

The division between elites and mainstream is rapidly increasing. Remember less than 10% of likely voters consider themselves political elites. Fund states:

His recent polls show huge gaps between the two groups. While 67% of the political class believes the U.S. is moving in the right direction, a full 84% of mainstream voters believe the nation is moving in the wrong one. The political class overwhelmingly supported the bailouts of the financial and auto industries, the health-care bill, and the Justice Department’s decision to sue Arizona over its new immigration law. Those in the mainstream public just as intensely opposed those moves.

The Democracy and Power lesson: 107: Counting votes

Why are the elites misreading mainstream voters? Transparency. Never before have the voters received more information from more sources about the actions of government. The political elites are operating in an old paradigm. Previously, the elites exploited double-speak and secret deals to bamboozle the American voters. Not today. Rasmussen explains the failed selling of ObamaCare:

“He (Obama) kept citing Congressional Budget Office projections that his plan would save money and cut the deficit. But our polls showed people didn’t trust the elites: 60% thought it would raise the deficit and 81% thought it would cost more than CBO projected.”

Unfortunately the elites hold enormous power. They control the coercive power of government. Additionally, special interest groups supply gigantic campaign contributions to the elect the elites. The Tea Party movement is the countervailing power. This election cycle offers an opportunity to vote out the elites of both political parties. After the election, the Tea Party activists must monitor and limit government. For freedom to thrive, mainstream America must persistently expose and challenge the corrupt politics of the elites.