| Glue politics is that below the surface relational aspect of politics that gets very little attention compared to speeches, debates, or ads, but is actually quite important- to a modest extent in getting elected, to a huge extent in governing. Relationships and a sense of mutuality between people in politics are the source of many of the political establishment's problems, but they are also important in actually getting things done.
Now, I know that glue politics is a pretty insidery thing to be discussing, and that many denizens of the blogosphere may not be too interested in it. But it is a real factor in getting things done in politics, and even a system like the blogosphere has its own kind of glue politics- bloggers who defend each other, look out for each other, coordinate tactics and strategies, etc.
In the hall of Congress, glue politics is a huge reason, for good or ill, why things get done or not. Ted Kennedy's effectiveness is partly because of glue politics; Steny Hoyer's easy defeat of Murtha, in spite of Pelosi's support, was almost all glue politics; lobbyists use glue politics as well as campaign money to grease the wheels.
As I said above, glue politics also matters in campaigns. How much local elected officials help Presidential candidates depends a lot on glue politics. The same is true with organizational leaders, people good at fundraising, reporters, and all the other people who make an impact on campaigns. And let's face it- if the Obama campaign had a more senior and friendly staffer dealing every day with the blogosphere, the blogosphere would have been far more involved and excited in doing things on behalf of the campaign.
While I do some blogging, and raise money for different causes and candidates, and have produced my share of ads and mail and phone calls, I am at core a glue politics guy- keeping in touch with lots of different kinds of folks, helping people I think are doing good things, introducing folks from disparate communities, being a catalyst for interesting ideas that friends come to me with. So I have a pretty strong feeling about all of this, and it's an area where I feel like the Obama team doesn't do very well, for the most part. I think they have been so good at many of the big things, frequently able to organize around establishment players through their technological and inspirational ability, but that they discount glue politics at its core.
The Convention was a classic example. The big things the Convention needed to do message-wise got done, which means the Convention was a big success overall. I am thrilled about that. But a couple of levels below the surface, my sense was that a lot of key people- national and local electeds, organizational leaders, bloggers, even some money people- were feeling blown off. A personal example: I always spend a huge amount of time trying to get credentials for key progressive leaders who aren't normally taken care of by the party bureaucracy, and that role has always been respected by Presidential campaigns in conventions past, but it wasn't by the Obama folks this year. I honestly thought maybe it was just me this time- that my best friends on the inside had other fish to fry, that the outside progressive world I walk in just wasn't a big priority for them in general. But in talking to others the last couple of days of the convention, I got the sense that a lot of other really important folks were feeling the same as me.
Look, this is unlikely to cost Obama the election. When you do the big things right regarding message and fundraising and field work, glue politics matters less (although I hope the folks who can help deliver the most votes in key swing states are being taken care of better than it sometimes seems). But assuming Obama wins, he's going to need to get better at this aspect of politics. I am haunted by stories of Jimmy Carter's team blowing off people like Tip O'Neill at the 1976 Convention and the inaugural, and paying for it dearly throughout the Presidency. The Obama team, preferably now but sure as hell if they win, need to bring people in who are good at this kind of politics. Obviously, there are some aspects to all of this that are understandable, and if a bunch of the usual insiders get screwed on credentials, I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. But I hope there are at least some folks in the Obama world who they are thinking about being strategic about, who they are pissing off and who they are making friends with, who will help get done the big things that need doing in 2009. |
