American politics captivates the interest of people far beyond the shores of the United States. There are series based on political intrigues, documentaries about larger-than-life figures, and even podcasts with rambling politicians on the road with their favourite artists. And despite all of that, nothing quite trumps the real thing.
As America heads into the midterms, the rest of the world is reminded of just what they are in for in a couple of years. The Presidential Election welcomes the stampede of Elephants and Donkeys, along with their latest companion the “RINOs” – an acronym for Republican in Name Only – all packaged in a TV-ready popularity contest. It’s all highly amusing if it wasn’t so dangerously serious. It’s hard to tell whether culture amplifies what is already there, or whether culture has stoked the flames of political drama. In the forthcoming election, Catholics will play a decisive role in the political spectacle. A recent poll shows Catholics supporting 11 of the 12 Republicans running for Senate and governor in six key swing states. These are votes no contestant can do without.
Perhaps the consummate drama is the US version of “House of Cards” which I have recently been re-watching. Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) epitomises the ruthless politician, ready to stop at nothing to achieve his ends. Yet even Frank knows that it’s a farce and a popularity show, saying “we are nothing more or less than we choose to reveal”. There is a high level of cynicism behind the remark, but viewers know his preoccupation with keeping the narrative under control.
This lesson is also carried out in real life by the likes of Roger Stone. In the Netflix series “Get Me Roger Stone” the absurd and outrageous figure, dressed as a camped-up version of the late author Tom Wolfe, speaks about wanting to cause outrage. “I revel in your hatred, for if you didn’t hate me, I wouldn’t be effective,” he brags. Nevertheless, like him or not, Stone is one of the most effective and successful political thinkers in recent American history, having worked for Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes, and Donald J. Trump. He identified the “Catholic voter” which landed Reagan his landslide election victory. To the rest of the world a person like Stone might come across as an obnoxious oddity, but he knows his crowd. He has always known American politics is a race, and the best, fastest, most beautiful horse wins. That’s how he puts it, and that’s why he claims he asked Trump to run already in 1988.
Not everybody is as outlandish as Stone, and even in America, there will be quarters that find him too much. Enter the moderate coolness of Barack Obama. He recently produced a podcast and book with Bruce Springsteen speaking about their fathers, the role of masculinity, and their love of cars. It’s a frank conversation and presents itself as a reasoned and reasonable encounter. It may seem entirely different to the noise of the Trump campaign, but it is exactly the same phenomenon. At the heart of it stands the culture of “me”, where a politician seeks to gain popularity and admiration by being seen to be in tune with “the people”.
Of course, politicians can’t be expected to leave their personality in the shadows – they are, after all, people. It seems to me, however, that America has inflated this cult of “me” to make everything a matter of celebrity. This has the inevitable consequence that politics becomes a contest for the most popular person. Britain is tending in the same direction today, especially following the leadership contests of the Conservative Party. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this extremity has increased in the years leading up to the death of Her Majesty the Queen, who always rose above the pastures of mundane politics.
A salutary warning for British politicians has arisen in the ongoing senatorial race in Pennsylvania between Fetterman and Dr Oz. In Fetterman, forces outside of politics have created a political persona that represents neither him nor the electorate, but rather the views of a narrow interest group that remain marginal among real people. It is a remarkable feat of the cult of “me” that in this race it is Dr OZ, a famous Television personality, who comes across as the more authentic figure.
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