[ad_1]
MINOT, N.D. — Politics is the art of persuasion. Or so the old saw goes, though it can be hard to discern the truth of that saying at a time when politics seems to have become the art of destroying those who disagree with you.
Is anybody trying to change minds anymore? We tend to think of electoral politics as the process through which a candidate wins over voters, but in reality, it’s become an exercise in getting your people to the polls while convincing the other side’s people to stay home.
At the personal level, millions and millions of Americans make the sum total of their contribution to the debates at the heart of our democracy some indignant social media posts and meme-sharing. Actions not calculated to win over hearts and minds, but to advertise the poster’s feelings, while often disparaging the views of others.
Is it any wonder that our politics have become intractable? Our political institutions dysfunctional?
I was thinking about this over the weekend while having a back-and-forth on Twitter with Katrina Christiansen, the candidate for the U.S. Senate currently running unopposed for the Democratic-NPL’s endorsement.
This long-shot candidate — who promised during her speech at the Democratic-NPL convention this spring to make incumbent Sen. John Hoeven hear her “footsteps” — has a lot of persuading to do in North Dakota’s electorate.
Hoeven is a long-time and extremely popular incumbent who has the advantage of being a Republican in a state where most people are Republicans.
Winning a statewide election here as a Democrat isn’t impossible — Heidi Heitkamp was senator as recently as 2018 — but voters need to be convinced.
Yet how is Christiansen spending her time?
on Twitter about
my column
calling for moderation in the abortion debate. A thread in which she described the overturn of Roe v. Wade as
I don’t begrudge Christiansen her feelings about abortion, which is about as complicated and emotional an issue as we tackle in politics. I welcome interaction with my readers — I’m always up for a debate.
But this is a U.S. Senate candidate we’re talking about. One who, through the end of March, had raised less than $9,000 for her campaign. One who seems to be doing very little to put herself and her arguments in front of North Dakota voters. One without the presence of mind to consider that her fellow Democrat, U.S. House candidate Mark Haugen, who was endorsed at the same convention Christiansen was,
supports overturning Roe v. Wade and making most abortions illegal
.
This seems a microcosm for this moment in American politics.
When you’re passionate about a political issue, what are you doing about it?
Are you engaging in some meaningful, thoughtful way? Or are you merely advertising how angry you are about it on social media and disparaging those who disagree?
If the latter, that’s not great, but you’re also not alone. Even the politicians are doing it these days.
[ad_2]
Source link
