What Every Politician Knows...

Here we go.  We are beginning a presidential campaign year, and I'm not sure I will survive it without shutting off the TV and not looking at Facebook.  My blood pressure goes up significantly when I hear about insane commentary from people who would be president.  And I wonder, "Is this for real???"

Before I became an adult, the only things I knew about politics came from my parents.  We were not a political family.  The first lesson came from my dad who stated, without question, that the Commander-in-Chief of the nation was The Boss, regardless of political party.  Dad was an officer in the Navy.  He never, ever, voiced his displeasure at decisions coming from The Boss.  (At least not in front of us kids.)  Long after he retired and the rest of us became adults, he would defend presidents under attack by saying, mostly, that the Prez didn't do anything that others hadn't done, etc.  It seems that Dad's whole "thing" in life was about respect.  I understood.

The second lesson came from Mom when I was running for JCL (Junior Civic League) President at my elementary school.  At first, I was just going to run for secretary, but Mom urged me to go for the gusto...so I did.  In the process of campaigning against several other candidates--all boys--she advised me that I would win.  When I asked her how she could be so sure, she said, "The girls will all vote for you, but the boys' vote will be split among the male candidates."  She was right.  At least she was right in the notion that I would win because I did, although I never was privileged to know exactly how the vote went.  That was, however, my first clue that election results are not merely based on the merits of who is the best person for the job.

I was a sheltered and naive kid, raised during the Cold War with the USSR.  I believed that God was on our side and that "right makes might".  MY country would never be involved in espionage.  MY country would never torture prisoners.  MY country would not use propaganda to tweak the public's thinking.  See where I am going with this?  I was a patriot, and still am, although I'm not as oblivious now.  It never occurred to me back then that people in other countries felt the same way about their own governments and wanted the same things that Americans did/do.  Duh!

And now I am learning what every politician already knows:
1.  Take advantage of the media.  Every chance you get, use it to your advantage.
2.  Religion and patriotism gain votes.  If you use God and Country in your campaign, you will find an audience, regardless of what that means.
3.  Find out who your supporters are based on whose ox is gored.  Big money lobbyists hold a lot of power.  The NRA and the NEA, et al, are forces to be reckoned with.
4.  Use every single bit of dirt that you can find on any opposing candidate and play it out in the media.  Make a big deal out of it.
5.  Do whatever you need to do to disarm the voting public so that they are forced to do their homework, knowing that most won't.

Yesterday, I read with interest the brain dribblings of Donald Trump, would-be presidential candidate for the Republican Party.  He has shot off his mouth over illegal alien issues in the past.  (A knee-jerk domestic topic.)  Yesterday, however, he said that John McCain, a veteran and former POW and former presidential candidate, was only a hero because he got captured during Vietnam.  This from a candidate who claims to be standing up for veterans.  And it occurred to me that he was doing more damage to the GOP than they would probably allow a candidate from their party.  I mean, no one in their right mind would vote for the dude, but he is at the top of the polls for GOP candidates.  (Not sure how many others have thrown their hats in the ring yet.)

And then it hit: the GOP is letting Loose-Cannon Trump do his thing because he is bringing free media attention to them.  He is the decoy against whom the other potential candidates can claim reason and logic.  He is "drawing the foul" for the rest of the team.  There is no way he could  win the GOP's nod as their candidate because there is no way that he could win the election.  But can he create diversions and make the nation focus on domestic issues rather than international ones?  You betcha!

What else do politicians know?  They know that the voters will not do their homework and vote for someone who actually stands for their issues.  I'm not assured that voters actually know what their issues are!  I know mine.  I consider myself a political independent, but I have seen enough of the GOP to know that I will not vote Republican again until they address my issues.  What are my issues?  I am female...was a single parent...mother of a female who was sometimes in need of welfare..and grandmother of a female.  A woman who wants abortion rights...retired teacher in American public education under attack...supporter of female-led families who can't make ends meet.

God blessed me with a brain.  Come election time, I intend to use it.  Not every politician knows about me!