Frederica Freyberg:
In the midst of hotly-contested elections, a reality check and this quote from a new book that say, Today both Democrats and Republicans are captive parties that cater to narrow interest groups. Where does that leave those outside the select in-crowd? The director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Mike McCabe, tells us in his newly released book, “Blue Jeans in High Places, The Coming Makeover of American Politics”. He joined us on the set last week to talk about it.
Frederica Freyberg:
Mike McCabe, thanks a lot for being here.
Mike McCabe:
My pleasure.
Frederica Freyberg:
Congrats on the book.
Mike McCabe:
Thank you.
Frederica Freyberg:
I wanted to ask you first if the symbol for Democrats is the donkey and the Republicans it’s the elephant, what is the symbol for your new so-called First Party movement?
Mike McCabe:
Blue jeans.
Frederica Freyberg:
Why?
Mike McCabe:
The title of the book was actually inspired by an encounter I had at the Wisconsin Farmers Union State Convention. I had about 250 farmers in the audience. I don’t know what possessed me to ask this, but I asked them, you know, how many of you own a donkey? And not a single hand goes up. I was a little surprised. I thought, come on, one of you must still have a donkey on your land, and nobody did. I said how many of you own an elephant and no hands go up, of course. I said how many of you own a pair of blue jeans, and every hand or virtually every hand in the audience goes up. I said, so what would better represent us as a people, an elephant or donkey or pair of blue jeans, and what would better distinguish us from the suits on Wall Street or on K Street where all the lobbyists hang out, or on Capitol Hill, what would distinguish us from the folks who are lording over us, a donkey, an elephant or a pair of blue jeans? And the reaction I got from that audience is what inspired the title of the book.
Frederica Freyberg:
The through thread of your book is money, and kind of vast sums of it being spent to elect politicians who then are not representing the people, but the rich contributors’ interest. You say in your book, You and I can’t buy politicians. We can’t even afford a good down payment on one. You also say, If money is speech as the Supreme Court insists it is, then never before have so few spoken at such a deafening volume, and what we are left with is the best governing money can buy. Are both most major parties guilty of this?
Mike McCabe:
Both major parties are guilty of this. The two major parties are very different in some ways. They’re not one party, they’re not the same. I’m not one of those people who believes the two parties are really just one. They have their differences, but they have some things in common. And one of those things that they have in common is that they’re joined at the billfold. They both have bought into a money game that ends up alienating the vast majority of citizens from both the major parties and from the political process in general. That’s something that we as citizens have to come to terms with and then fix.
Frederica Freyberg:
You say that we have one party that’s scary and one that is scared. Can you put a little more meat on that?
Mike McCabe:
You know, I’ve used that line many times with many, many different audiences and I’ve never yet been asked to explain which is which. People instantly know which party I’m talking about. You know, I think with the Republican party, there’s a party that was the party of Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of Dwight Eisenhower. It was a party that was dedicated to creating opportunity for all. And it really now has become a party viewed as dedicated to protecting the rich. And it has become a more and more and more extreme party all the time. And so that’s what I mean when I say that we’ve got a party that’s scary. The Democrats, on the other hand, really have almost become the true conservative party in America. They are simply trying to defend old accomplishments like Social Security or Medicare. But what’s the modern day policy equivalent of rural electrification or the GI bill or the construction of the interstate highway system or Social Security or Medicare? The Democratic party is not a party that has an ambitious vision for America or sees a clear path of what we need to become in the 21st century. They’re afraid to be bold. They’re very– become a very timid party.
Frederica Freyberg:
So it seems as though many voters are disenchanted with both parties. You hear that all the time. I hate em all, throw em out, right? Is that an example of being politically homeless?
Mike McCabe:
Yes. The percentage of Americans– I mention this in the book. The percentage of Americans who refuse to identify with either major party is at its highest level in three-quarters of a century. To me that’s what I describe, is the condition of being politically homeless. They really feel that they don’t have a place or a voice in either major party. And those kinds of conditions have existed before in history and people found really imaginative and ingenious ways to get out of that rut.
Frederica Freyberg:
And what is that way now?
Mike McCabe:
Well, you know, we’ve been trained to think that, you know, you either have to take whatever the major parties offer or maybe you can start a third party. Whether it's been Ross Perot one time or Ralph Nader another that's been a dead end. And the third option is really withdrawal, it's resignation, it's heading to the sidelines, throwing up your hands and saying, I’m out. But actually our great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents realized that there was a fourth door. And when they opened that door, what they found behind there was transformational, it changed the landscape of American politics. It’s what I call a First Party Movement. Instead of trying to organize to the left of the Democrats or to the right of the Republicans, instead of trying to clip their wings, they went straight to the heart, they competed for the affection of all voters. And their first act was to create a new political identity. And that was the beginnings of movements that did alter the landscape of American politics. If they could do it, I just refuse to believe we’re less able than our great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents. They were successful using a First Party strategy. I think it’s time that maybe we think about opening door number four and seeing what’s behind there.
Frederica Freyberg:
Has anyone ever suggested it seems kind of naive that we could do this?
Mike McCabe:
You know, it’s bizarre to think that it’s naive that we could pull this off because our great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents did. So the ideas I have in the book are not untested theories. These are practices that have been put into operation. And when this kind of reform movement or transformational movement was tried, it succeeded on more than one occasion. So I’m not suggesting that we try something that’s never been tried before. What I’m suggesting is we need to think about how we can adapt those successful strategies to modern conditions and modern circumstances.
Frederica Freyberg:
I must suggest to the viewers that they’re going to have to read the book to find out how. Mike McCabe, thanks very much.
Mike McCabe:
Thank you.
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