Nov
24
Listening to the Voice of Iowa
November 24, 2003 |
When I was a boy growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the local radio station WMT
was known as “the voice of Iowa.” Today, we have a real need to
hear the new voice of Iowa–the people of Iowa. If you are a
blogger in Iowa, or know a blogger in Iowa–especially one interested
in politics–right or left–please let me know. I’d like to point
to Iowa blogs, I’d like to read them. [Here is my starter set of Iowa blogs.]
My interest is not simply personal. I’d like to understand how Iowans
are making sense of events on the political landscape, and how in
particular they are dealing with the recent media blitz that is suddenly upon
them.
Future political historians will note that last week (the week
beginning November 17, 2003) marked what is probably the true beginning
of the 2004 presidential campaign air wars. In my home state of
Iowa the Bush administration launched television advertising that
appears designed to stir up fears of terrorism and that extolls George
W. Bush’s efforts to protect the people. The ads also implicitly
attack the president’s opponents, accusing them of undermining his war
on terrorism. The ads were scheduled to run just in front of a
major debate among the Democratic presidential contenders.
From The New York Times, November 23, 2003:
The advertisement, sponsored by the Republican National Committee,
shows President Bush delivering his State of the Union address in
January. As he speaks, such phrases as “Some are now attacking the
president for attacking the terrorists” flash across the screen.
The ad urges viewers to call members of Congress and ask them to “support the president’s policy of pre-emptive defense.”
This add in turn has been met by Democratic objections, as well as by new Kerry and Dean ads to counter it.
But the real counter to these sorts of ads must be the strengthening
of the “soft side of democracy” in Iowa and elsewhere in the
nation. People must become better and better able to get their
hands on real
information about their world, and to dialogue with others in
order to come to their own views. They must find more efficient
ways to educate
themselves so that they can make difficult judgments about complex
topics that go beyond the normal challenges of their daily lives. And
they must do this in the face of misinformation campaigns dropped on
them by the party of the president of the United States.
Iowans I know–and I know a lot of them–want to do this, strive to
do this–and in political years like this one do a pretty good job of
it.
Like their fellow citizens in New Hampshire, Iowan’s take seriously
the special responsibility and opportunity they have to get to know
candidates up close–and to test and challenge the leaders who would be
president.
However, this year the Republican media assault is going to be so loud
and so emotionally well-targeted that citizens–first in Iowa and then
across the nation–are going to need to work especially hard to keep
their heads above the noise. I’d
like to listen carefully to how the citizens of Iowa do this during the
next few months. I think that
the rest of us around the country may be able to learn something from
thoughtful Iowans who are the first to struggle with the new media
assualt. Perhaps we can make a vaccine against the media swine
flue that the Bush administration is unleashing in Iowa, and innoculate
the rest of the country.
PS: OK, let me be a little more overt. I think that blogging,
when combined with grassroots, face-to-face meetings, as well as
community organizing (more than simple canvassing), can help to
strengthen the connections among people, and in turn amplify their
powers of information gathering, deliberation, and wisdom. I
think that deepening these connectins is key to winning back our nation
from a political cabal that has proven itself cynically capable of
lying about the most important things–and that is now launching the
first wave of a multi-hundred-million dollar media campaign to spread
its lies futher.
PPS: My favorite Democratic candidate Iowa blog is from the Edwards Campaign. It is a real blog with real people.
My LEAST favorite Iowa candidate blog is the Iowans for Howard Dean blog, which comes up high on Google, and says,
You are being redirected to
>If you are not redirected in 10 seconds,
click on the above link.
This site has become too much of a burden for me to maintain especially
since my focus now has shifted to organizing my local precinct.
Every possible organizing tool imaginable is available at the Dean
for America homepage.
Come on, friend, we’d love to hear about your experiences
organizing your local precinct. What happened today? Who
are the characters? What is the weather like, figuratively and
literally, today? How is your mood holding up? What keeps
you going? What sometimes gets you down?
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