Are we as citizens behaving as constituents or fans in our politics?
This is an opinion article from the editor, taken from a segment of the November 3rd Issue of From the Hawk’s Nest, a bi-weekly newsletter.
Last August, as I was sitting next to the campfire after a morning of deer hunting, I noticed something a little peculiar about some of the side-by-side ATVs driving by on the nearby dirt road. A handful of them had enormous Trump-Pence campaign flags attached to them. As I watched the blue fabric ripple in the mountain breeze, I was struck by the way in which these Trump supporters’ overt demonstration of patronage symbolized a key way politics has changed in the era of Trump.
And I’m not just talking about the right. For how hyper-partisan our nation has become, there really is very little substance in our political dialogue. The great political battles of our time are fought largely over symbols, brands, talking points, and various flavors of demagogue.
Take twitter trolls for example. I’ll get retweets and likes from the left and the left-of-center all day long when I call out Donald Trump for his trollish behavior. But as soon as I make similar observations about AOC, boy do I feel the ire. I’m told she’s on the people’s side, she’s speaking “truth to power,” I just “can’t handle a strong female”, I’m white so how dare I comment on a minority’s position, etc.
For so many today, the first step of any analysis isn’t the actual behavior itself, it’s who the behavior is coming from. This informs the response and level of outrage. This brings me to my question: is all of this the behavior of constituents or of fans?
As a college football fan, and a near-rabid supporter of BYU, I stick with my team through thick and thin. I might not like a given coach, certain starting players, the scheme, past uniform choices, and I may have rolled my eyes when I couldn’t have a Coke with my cougar-tail (it’s a long story). But no matter what, at the end of the day, I’ll always be, “Dyed in the wool, true blue, through and through,” BYU.
But hey, a little over-indulgent, semi-maniacal fandom makes sports fun. In politics though, this kind of “my team no matter what and I hate those guys” attitude not only makes for bad policy and unhinged leadership but decays the body politic into little more than a bunch of cheering sections.
Political engagement, once upon a time, was reading the political section of the local newspaper, hawkishly checking for deviation from campaign promises. It wasn’t thumping chests, waving campaign flags as a symbol of identity, and declaring undying loyalty.
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