THE YEAR OF THE VULCAN

Last year I wrote a published commentary about the American electorate.  Borrowing from an excellent book Against Democracy, authored by Jason Brennan, a political philosopher from Georgetown I made the following comments: 

“Mr. Brennan divides the electorate into three groups.  First, are the hobbits that do not bother to learn about politics.  Second are the hooligans who follow political news with the partisan zealotry of sports fans.  Hooligans support their candidate or party under any and all circumstances. Lastly are the cream of the voter crop, Vulcans, who investigate politics with rational objectivity, respect all views and adjust opinions as the facts warrant.

 The problem is that there is no strong evidence that Vulcans exist in great numbers or that they would actually do a better job in choosing elected officials.”  

After the recent special elections in Alabama (for a Senate seat) and in our own 18^th District (for the House of Representatives) I have changed my mind.  Vulcans are alive and well in greater numbers than our political culture would suggest and are capable of making wise, informed choices.  What Mr. Brennan did not investigate in his book and what I did not consider is that we need Vulcan candidates for office as much as we need Vulcan voters.  Where was Mr. Spock when we needed him to explain such an obvious logical point to us?

What does a Vulcan candidate look like?  Examine the Connor Lamb campaign and the answer is clear. A Vulcan candidate does not identify with the lightning rods of his party. Nancy Pelosi was rejected outright and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were not invited to speak at rallies. Joe Biden was welcome.  A Vulcan candidate puts his ear to the ground of his district and listens to what the voters are saying.  He takes to heart the sage words of Tip O’Neal that: “All politics are local.”  He does not criticize the President, sticking with local issues.  He carefully articulates his moderate positions.  He refuses help from Super PAC propaganda machines because to accept their help is to lose his message. 

Conor Lamb was all these things and more.  Because the special election did not involve a primary challenge, local Democratic leaders were able to carefully vet and choose their candidate.  They wanted a Vulcan moderate to enter the contest in what was largely a Republican district.  It helped that the opponent, Republican Rick Saccone, was a right wing hooligan, claiming that he was “Trump Before Trump was Trump” and relying on visits from the White House to put him over the top.

Of course under normal circumstances the bane of Vulcan candidates (and Vulcan voters) are the primaries. To return to Mr. Brennan’s terminology, primaries are controlled by ideological “Hooligans”.  It is difficult for a candidate to maintain a moderate, measured portfolio in a primary race that includes tea party candidates in Republican races and progressives in Democratic ones.  The hooligans control the process and the message.

I would argue that an excellent example would be Hillary Clinton who started out as a candidate acceptable to Vulcans but who was forced to the left because of the Bernie Sanders primary challenge.  As a result, she lost Vulcan voters to Trump.  Only 14 months later, the same voters refused to be swayed by two Trump visits to the District. Vulcans voted for the Democrat, Conor Lamb, because he better represented their views.

 Vulcan voters are turned off by the ideological battles that surface in the primaries. Because many are registered Independents, they could not vote anyway.  As a result, general elections often feature Hooligan candidates that are not attractive to Vulcan voters.

So what are Vulcan candidates and voters to do?  The 2018 mid-term elections are shaping up to make this the year of the Vulcan.  If Democratic leaders are to learn from the Conor Lamb experience they must rethink the primaries and offer grassroots support to those candidates who are a good fit for the local Vulcan electorate, not the Hooligan ideological base.

After watching progressives support Conor Lamb in large numbers I believe placing moderates in general elections will garner more votes than any alternative. Constructing a congressional ring-fence around the Trump presidency and not ideology must become the primary goal.

I am mindful that because all politics are local this is not a winning prescription in traditionally progressive Urban areas. But for the rust belt congressional districts that saw Trump capture a majority in 2016, the Conor Lamb formula may be the only way for the Democratic Party to regain a majority in the House of Representatives.

To my progressive friends, I would remind them that I share their pain that the independent electorate is not yet ready to be “all in” with progressive positions.  Our time will come as the country’s voters continue to change in age and ethnic composition.  For now, the social and economic havoc caused by the Trump administration must be curtailed and every moderate Vulcan must be given a reason to join the cause.  While progressive hooligans may be our favorite voters, Vulcans are not far behind.