Political strategists are the chess players behind a candidate’s campaign. They analyze voter data, craft the candidate’s image and message, they run the campaign. Political strategists and consultants decide what public appearances the candidate will make, who the candidate will see, what the candidate will say, they often write the speeches or co-write them, they leak things to the press, they facilitate fundraisers. Strategists are the masters of the game that is a political campaign. A Civil Citizen can often tell the priorities of a candidate more from the candidate’s political strategist, than one could from any of the rhetoric or propaganda the candidate relays to the public.
Names like Karl Rove, Dick Armey, David All, David Axelrod are the big players in the national political game. As Civil Citizens beging to learn what these men and the organizations they represent stand for, the endless amounts of bickering bull in DC starts to make sense. It’s also important, even more so, to know who local political strategists are, because they run your town, your State and some have national and global influence as well. These strategists for the most part are able to live with a level of anonymity and lack of accountability for the information or in many cases mis-information they are responsible for leaking to the press and social media.
Political strategists make and break political careers. They hold a lot of political power but are able to avoid much of the public scrutiny that would normally accompany a position of power.
If we are to take our country back for individuals, it would make sense to bring these influential participants into the public arena and hold them to ethical review. This is something the public has not imposed on these strategist who impose their will and policies on the public. It would be good to apply more public pressure to these political groups and their representatives to prevent the political world from sinking ever deeper into the mud-slinging political pit. If these people, these groups,are to be given a stronger voice than the constituents of an area perhaps they need to be vetted in accordance with the power they hold.
Civil Citizens need to ask the important questions. Who are these people? What’s their agenda? Is it good for the community? Does it represent the needs and wants of the community? Or are they self-serving and possibly destructive to the community? As responsive and responsible Civil Citizens we need to know the answers to these questions. We need to bring this information to light in public discourse and personal discussions. We need our fellow citizens and voters to know who they are dealing with and what that person stands for. It won’t be done by traditional means, we the Civil Citizens must do the homework and make the media and others pay attention. If we do, then the “regular citizen” may just be able to have a louder voice and have their opinions taken into more meaningful account by elected officials.
