AstroTurfing Works

The insidious danger of AstroTurfing as a political/public relations/advertising/marketing/propaganda tool lies in its seductive, yet simplistic beauty.  Once successfully planted, it has the power to take root and behave as if organic.  Artificially created out of whole cloth, if blanketed and aggressively enough tended and cultivated, it becomes sod-like and grows like wildfire.  Were this not true, Barack Obama would not be president today.

There is simply no other justification for Obamania.  Let’s face it, when our currently embattled, yet once almost universally beloved, Pretendident initially threw his hat in the ring, there was no groundswell of support.  If not for the determined efforts of his personal news network, MSNBO, and its tingly-legged staff of on-air “talent,” and partners, like Slate, the Washington Post, and The Root, (launched in January, 2008 by Henry Louis Gates) along with the repossessed former Republicans-turned-”progressive” (“reprogressives?” “fauxgressives?” lying, bought-and-paid-for Axelrovian shills?) Obama cheerleading denizens of the virtual, Sheeple-thought control compound of Sullivan’s HuffCheetoville, Outer Blogistan, Barack Obama would have been the mildly interesting also-ran his resume and accomplishments justify.  Yet, when combined with a few other timely elements of former newsman and then-current political PR hack, David Axelrod’s Machiavellian AstroTurf campaign, this 98th-ranked, inexperienced junior Senator, (D-Illinois Combine) suddenly became the darling of a racially repressed nation supposedly starved to that point for representation by a semi-competent black TelePrompter reader.

Before the Iowa caucus not even black America was enamored of the Celebritician.  In fact, it wasn’t until after South Carolina that he began to eclipse Hillary Clinton with African Americans.  Even black online publications, like Tom Joyner’s  Black America Web, were routinely critical and questioning of Barack Obama, the candidate, often unfavorably comparing his record and commitment to the black community to that of Hillary Clinton.  In November, 2007, it was just this sort of reality that prompted Mika Brzezinski to ask Michelle Obama what was up with that, eliciting the now-famous “black people will wake up and get it” line.  In fact, in a November 14, 2007 article, now scrubbed from the site, (which I saved, cuz I’m sneaky like that) Black America Web had this to say:

Clinton was in California to rally black women around Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid where, according to polls, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is tightening. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) are nearly tied for the Democratic nomination in the latest poll of Iowa voters, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows Obama trailing Clinton by nine percentage points — 37 percent to 46 percent, respectively – among blacks.

Obama’s wife, Michelle, an outspoken campaign advisor, said Clinton’s lead was only temporary and that blacks will eventually “wake up” and rally around her husband’s candidacy.

“First of all, I think that that’s not going to hold,” Obama said of Clinton’s poll numbers in an interview with MSNBC Monday. “I’m completely confident.”

“Black Americans will wake up and get it,” Obama said. “But what we’re dealing with in the black community is just the natural fear of possibility. When I look at my life, the stuff that we’re seeing in these polls is played out my whole life — always been told by somebody that I’m not ready, you know, I can’t do something, my scores weren’t high enough.”

In combination with the concerted “Anybody But Hillary” campaign supported and promoted by rightwing groups like “Republicans For Obama,” alongside the well-coordinated, relentless, and sometimes vile, vicious, and verbally violent, blogosphere attacks by paid, and volunteer, commenters, and the Obama campaign-generated race-baiting, the AstroTurf, thickly applied, took root, so to speak, and soon supplanted the more organic reality.   Who can forget CNN’s Roland Martin’s black man’s advice, the “race memo,” Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s questioning of Clinton’s New Hampshire tears, unfounded accusations that Hillary hated Martin Luther King, and charges of racism about Bill Clinton’s fairy tale and Jesse Jackson comparison comments?

Of course, soon after all that, black Americans were voting for Barack Obama by overwhelming majorities, if you believe the exit polls.  And, criticism was no longer allowed from anyone, black, white, or polka-dotted.  Tavis Smiley practically made a living complaining about being run out of a job on the Tom Joyner Morning Show for simply asking Obama, the black candidate, to “represent” to his nominal community.  Suddenly, “you’re just a hater,” and, “the man is running to be the president of all America, not just black America,” and, “we’ll hold him accountable after the election,” were the standard, almost verbatim replies to anything referencing Obama on black radio and websites.   The Black Agenda Report is one of the few, if not the only, major voice of African American politics to hold itself immune from the smoke and mirrors of KoolAid and hopium.  As a regular reader, I can tell you it took a superhuman effort for them to hold fast to their beliefs.

So, now, let’s fast forward to the present-day, equally effective, rightwing AstroTurf campaign against health care reform.  Well funded and equally relentless, this campaign is finding surprising purchase with an electorate weary of broken promises from the ill-equipped man they elected to deliver on them.  These angry Democrats, along with giddy, “toldja so!” finger-pointing liberal (former?) Democrats, many of them self-identified as PUMAs, (Party Unity My Ass) justify their defiant participation in these GOP-generated TEA (TaxedEnough Already) Party campaigns by proudly holding out their voter ID cards, as if not being Republicans themselves removes the stench of rightwing agenda from their actions.  How short the memories of the efficacy of effective AstroTurfing.  Either that, or it is a disingenuous co-opting of a Democratic rebellion finally revealing itself as the GOP sham it has been all along.  Anyone who can remember how the determined actions of a relative few could derail the candidacy of their superior chosen candidate should be able to spot AstroTurf from a mile away with their eyes closed.  When they claim they cannot, a reasonable person has to ask oneself why.  Are they really going to say that the AstroTurfing worked against them from their old party, is suddenly a good thing in the hands of the party that has always worked against them?  The party that has used the exact same tactics to derail health care reform the first time around in their lifetimes, as well as similar small numbered activism that killed the Equal Rights Amendment?  According to SourceWatch:

Astroturf techniques have been used to:

• block the transfer of federal licenses that WorldCom uses for its long distance and Internet services by Issue Dynamics Inc. using non-profit groups like the United Church of Christ
• defeat the Clinton administration’s proposed health care reform, through a front group called “Rx Partners” created by the Beckel Cowan PR firm, and the Coalition for Health Insurance Choices, created by public relations consultant Blair Childs
• harass environmentalists through the Wise Use movement
• loosen automobile fuel efficience standards
• support clear-cutting American forests, through a front group called Citizens to Protect the Pacific Northwest and Northern California Economy
• oppose restrictions on smoking in public places, through a front group called National Smokers Alliance, which was created by Burson-Marsteller
• generate a dossier of newsclips orchestrated by Edelman to assist Microsoft lobbyists persuade U.S. state attorney generals not to join a class action against the company.
• Encourage people to buy Coke (my emphasis)

According to Wikipedia, Phyllis Schlafly killed a movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment that was by that time only three states short of ratification:

By the time Schlafly began campaigning in 1972, the amendment had already been ratified by 30 of the necessary 38 states. However, Schlafly was successful in organizing a grassroots campaign to oppose further states’ ratifications. Five more states ratified ERA after Schlafly launched her opposition campaign, though an additional five state legislatures voted to rescind their ratifications. The last state to ratify was Indiana, where then State Senator Wayne Townsend, a Democrat, cast the tie-breaking vote for ratification in January 1977. In opposing ERA, Schlafly argued that “the ERA would lead to women being drafted by the military and to public unisex bathrooms.”^[15] Her views were opposed by Pro-ERA groups, led by the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the ERAmerica coalition.^[16] The amendment was narrowly defeated, despite having achieved ratification in 35 states.^[5]

Note that despite what was obviously overwhelming support, so called “grassroots” Republican opposition killed arguably the single most important piece of legislation for women ever, with the aiding and abetting of Democrats.

After having traced both the TEA Party movement and Recession Plan campaign over and over again, and noting the tremendous amount of crossover activity between the two, among other signs so obvious Ray Charles could see the truth, (and he’s dead) there’s no doubt whatsoever about the rightwing genesis, intervention, promotion and support for these activities.   And, since I’ve been following the PUMA movement since the May 31/June 1, 2008 beginning, and blogging as PUMA since August, I’m equally sure that it began as a rebellion of disaffected Democrats.  However, anybody who’s been paying attention knows that Republicans have been worming their way in since late Day One.  Many of the pro-Hillary blogs succumbed to the McCain camp outreach early on, becoming more pro McDemocrat than anti-Obama in very short order.  New blogs also sprang up claiming the PUMA name, some dying out after the election, some still hanging on.  Some PUMA sites listed on Daily PUMA don’t even qualify as PUMA at all, yet, there they are.  Some have always claimed “bi-partisanship,” and, since many of us were so disgusted with the behavior of the Democratic party last year, we gave up our membership and became Independent in protest.  So, in many ways, it’s hard to maintain that the PUMA movement was ever solely about Democrats at all.  But, there is, and always has been, a core group of self-professed “liberals” for whom PUMA is, and always will be about Democrats for whom their party has no use, and who are till spitting mad about it.  We resent having this movement hijacked, too.

So, though emails and blog posts like this one, from “Republicans” professing allegiance started showing up within days of Hillary Clinton’s concession, we still held on to our identity as current and former Democrats.   We never advocated for McCain/Palin, only that no PUMA owed the Democrats their vote.  PUMAs on those sites were only encouraged to vote for whoever they felt like voting for, be it McCain or Mickey Mouse.  Even when “Sarah P” showed up with insider “confessions,” we took them with a grain of salt as we clutched at the straws of the prospect of hopeful Obacratic commuppence they represented.  There was a reason we became Independent when we were abandoned by the Democrats; we didn’t want to be Republicans.

For those of you who don’t buy the distinction, here’s a list of townhalls, both Democrat and Republican, where you can protest Obama’s “evil” healthcare proposals to your heart’s content.  Personally, like the folks over at BAR, I prefer to find other ways to support Single Payer.  While the AstroTurfers and Rovian Ratfucking Disciples of Segretti on both sides try to divert attention from the fact that there is no single health care plan on the table, only a series of disastrous, sell-out, half-assed proposals under consideration in the Senate, and two of note in the House, HR 3200, and HR 676, insufficient attention is being paid to the insurance industry-funded machinations of guys like Max Baucus, and Obama himself.  Perhaps phone calls, emails, letters, etc., to Congressmen encouraging them to reconsider the defeated Weiner Amendment to replace 3200 with 676 would be a more productive use of time and resources.  Staying current with Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare NOW!, and Health Justice 1Payer.net works for me, too.  So does contacting both your Senators and White House.gov. and telling them what you think of their crummy plans.  I like the idea of elected officials waving around mounds of paper correspondence from their constituents on the floors of their respective Houses.  I don’t like the idea of being AstroTurfed by anybody.  Neither side can make their KoolAid sweet enough to tempt me.  Especially when the goal of both is to stop any truly grassroots-generated momentum toward the only health care reform the public really wants.

Single Payer.