We drove down Buena Vista’s Bradford Drive after our Labor Day breakfast with the Democrats. The Republicans, too, had just finished their breakfast at the American Legion hall. The parade on Magnolia Avenue was about to start. Just then a good Republican friend of mine spotted a big blue Dem sticker someone at breakfast had slapped on my back.
“I thought you were a Republican!” she yelled. Before I could say anything reasonable to her such as, ‘Well, yes I am, but I am principally a conservative and there are candidates of the other party who I wanted to hear,’ she walked off in total disgust. I may have lost a friend.
Welcome to today’s politics, when you are judged by the stickers on your back, not by what’s up front on your mind. We are a brand society. We slap labels on everything, from products to people. This means that when you decide to switch brands, be careful. It may be okay for a Chevy guy to try a Ford, but don’t even think about choosing candidates from different political parties. That requires throwing away labels. And it deprives us of the anger we so love.
Consider Ronald Reagan. He switched from being a Democrat and the head of the Screen Actors Guild to another party and another job. Somehow he got away with it. Maybe ending the Cold War helped.
Party principles have gone with the wind. Anger has filled the vacuum. What we have here is more than a failure to communicate. It is a failure to be civil. Watch a television ad by any candidate. Most likely it has percolated up from a campaign staff brewing with anger.
Everything seems to make us angry these days. Especially if you are of my generation. Oldies get confused. Labels help to clarify our lives. But truth be known, life is never simple, including political life. Life and politics are subject to the universal explanation of why things happen: It all depends.
Yes, there is anger in the land. What was last week’s big story? No, it was not the president’s address on health care before a joint session of Congress. It was some angry back bencher shouting “You lie!” ABC, CBS and NBC, each devoted the first six minutes of their 23 minutes of evening news to this exhibit of bad manners. Anger sells. (I just received a fund raising email from Mr. Wilson. Apparently anger also helps to raise campaign money.) As to whether the Congressman’s angry claim is correct, I will try to be civil. Some of what we heard last Wednesday night may not bear much relation to what is true.
Having heard anger from both sides now it is time to move on. How about to silence? There is much to learn from what is not heard or said. Sherlock Holmes solved a crime knowing that the dog did not bark. And a division in a political party can be spotted when nothing is said.
This past Labor Day 155 Democrats gathered in Buena Vista for bacon and eggs. Just 365 days earlier the same crowd gathered and talked mainly about one person. His name was rolling off every one’s lips. Not this year. Only the party chairman, our part-time governor, made a reference — and that was by title, not by name. I’ll do the same. I thought that the President of the United States was a Democrat. I guess I was wrong. But I guess that giving the silent treatment to the leader of your own party beats getting angry.
Has the comet fallen to earth? Can a falling national star affect a rising state one? I hope not, but I fear it will. Check out McDonnell’s ads. Bob can read the poll numbers.
Disappointment and anger can take wide sweeps. Its all in the label, the party label. If the public believes you have the wrong label, well, we will just throw you out with the other rascals.
And where was Mark? He always has his Labor Day breakfast in BV. Maybe he was at the Alexandria SPCA, checking out those blue dogs. Mark just introduced major legislation. With a Republican no less! Be careful, Mark. It is a good thing you are not in the House of Representatives.
No one expected Virginia’s other U.S. senator to show up. Jim marches to his own drummer, whether he is alone on the other side of the world, or alone writing a novel. Don’t be surprised if you can’t find Jim Webb on your 2012 ballot.
I am sorry. I’m getting off the subject. But that’s okay. My editor is telling me that my time is up. As always, I thank you for yours.
– Column by David Reynolds
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