Power and Politics

I've had some real good opportunities to take a look at the subject of power and politics recently. I've tried to put something fairly simple together to give some indications of our abilities.

I believe that political power derives from a perception of power, actual power is more likely to involve physical force of some kind, so being perceived as having power is huge. I know money figures largely in political power, but I believe it is drawn to perceived power, it is a secondary factor in political power. Perceptions can be tricky to evaluate, SCC Delegate Joe Schmoe may see DPO as a tremendous power, while Editor @ Oregonian may have an entirely different perception of DPO. For my purposes, here, I want to talk about perceptions in Oregon in general. Realism leads to good plans, decisions, and utilization of resources.

To evaluate DPO's political power we need to look at DPO's public face. Does DPO attract sufficient interest to pay it's rent and run some campaigns? Yes it does, and that, in comparison to some previous history, is a large improvement and laudable. How extensive is the interest in DPO? There we begin to run into some some less impressive results. How many DPO press releases or actions have attracted media attention? When Democrats take action to recognize the Second Amendment, we're noticed, but how much of that is simply novelty value, a "man bites dog" type of story? Does the DPO recruit candidates for office, and if it did would it be meaningful? Is the DPO a sought after source for information? Do organizations come to DPO for support in causes or issues? Do local Party events draw media attention and non-DPO attendees? Does the membership of DPO include a large percentage of Progressive Oregonians? If these things are not true on a regular basis then our power is very limited. Very limited power constrains our ability to be a force in Oregon politics. Catch22.

The Religious Right in the Republican Party (I'm sorry, it's a great example) did not start out with piles of money and politicians paying lip service to their agenda. What they started out with was networking, putting together agreed upon ideas and then pushing forward with them. They pushed into political areas that were outside their norm and that attracted attention. Every success their agenda had was news about them, because they were it's driving force. This is why there is a generic name, Religious Right, for the many different organizations composing it. There are a bunch of factions there that have much that is not in common and yet they are a recognized political force and you bet they attract money. There are things in their operation to be learned from and there are also warnings. When they over-reach, they alienate. Politicians, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy are the final expression of political power and require regard.

I suggest that we protect and enhance DPO and the way to do that is to think about our allies as if they were allies and then move outside that arena. Continuing to support Democratic candidates maintains our base, but to increase our reach we need to think and act on a wider basis. I have suggested that the Initiative Process creates an opening for DPO activity and I'm sure there are more ideas out there. Changing our frame of view can lead us to change the perception of DPO, it can put us in a position to really influence the political landscape of Oregon. I'd like that.