Frequent commenter Jana gets me thinking about everybody's friend Saul Alinsky. I say everybody's friend, because while some GOP spinners like to insinuate dark associations between our community-organizer-turned President Barack Obama and the erstwhile activist and author who died when Obama was 11 and living in Hawaii with his grandparents, Alinsky's political tactics have been adopted by folks all over the spectrum. As Bill Moyers points out, Dick Armey's Freedom Works, which has laid Tea-Party astroturf all over the country, has distributed Alinsky's books in training sessions.
So I got to wondering: to what extent are the mystery PAC-men attacking the SDGOP Legislative leadership following Alinsky's famed Rules for Radicals? Let's look at Alinsky's rules for power tactics for some alignment:
- Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.Yes. We have no idea who these folks are, but with multiple false names, they are trying to create the impression of multiple actors, a bigger enemy than three cranky guys in a Rapid City office.
- Never go outside the experience of your people. Yes. The PAC-attackers aren't addressing issues central to the governance of the state that require complicate thought. They aren't even addressing their focus, veterans issues, in detail. They are simply listing votes and shouting "unpatriotic!"
- Whenever possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.Yes. Veterans issues are supposed to belong to the GOP. To get attacked as weak on veterans issues is a good way to throw them for a loop.
- Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.Yes. The postcard quotes GOP founder Abraham Lincoln and the SDGOP platform. That's one of my favorite tactics as well, to hit people with their own principles. It works.
- Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.Yes. The pictures on the postcard—David Lust with beer bottle, Justin Cronin looking goofy—were clearly chosen for ridicule.
- A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. Unknown. Since we don't know for sure who "their people" are, we can't call them up and ask if they're having a good time.
- A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.Unknown. Will the attackers switch their calls and cards to a different set of votes next week? Will they shift to radio ads in local districts next?
- Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose. Unknown. I haven't heard of anyone showing up in the leadership's backyard to hand out flyers. Is anyone passing out attacks on Russ Olson at Lake County Achievement Days (happening right now!)?
- The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself. No. The attackers do not appear to be threatening any specific action against the leaders.
- If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside. Not yet.
- The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Not yet. The leaders attacked include Rep. Justin Cronin, who along with Rep. Charlie Hoffman faces no general election challenge in District 23. I thus assume that the real focus of the attacks is on the GOP caucus leadership election that will take place after the general election. If the folks behind this campaign are offering alternative candidates for leadership, they haven't shown those cards yet.
- Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.Yes. These attacks are very personal.
The folks attacking the SDGOP leadership are clearly following half of Saul Alinsky's rules. But the mystery attackers' adherence to any assortment of those rules matters less than their success in Alinsky's primary strategy of organizing a community. Can they mobilize voters? Can they unite people into a movement to achieve their goals? Step One in that direction might be to tell us those goals so people where to send their campaign contributions and their votes.