Looking Back: The Mastermind
I imagine it happened this way: After the Republican Leaders in Congress went down to the White House and made the ‘Omnibus Budget Deal’ with President Obama they then called a caucus of Republican Congressmen to get the votes to pass it.
The Leaders explained to the rows of Congressmen how the deal was not perfect policy but it was good policy and, good or bad, it was the best deal they were going to get – then in the next breath they got down to brass tacks: Politics. Because the question most of the Congressmen sitting in the room were asking themselves was: If I vote for this deal is it going to make it harder or easier for me to get reelected?
One of the Leaders then summoned ‘The Mastermind’ – the political savant who was second to no one in Washington when it came to winning elections – to the front of the room and without mincing words he told the Congressman two hard facts.
You say you voted for this Budget Deal to raise military spending to fight ISIS, he explained. Then you accuse your opponent of not supporting the military.
No doubt he said it with absolute conviction but, whether he believed it or not, his goal wasn’t to give the Congressmen a safe road to reelection – it was to get the Leaders the votes they needed and when he was finished he’d done that.
A few months later, apparently without bothering to figure out whether the Mastermind had spoken the truth or not, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers put his logic to the test: As soon as she launched her reelection campaign she fired both barrels at George Holding saying, ‘He voted against our military.’
Ellmers then made two more attacks straight out of the Mastermind’s playbook – by telling voters ‘George Holding had voted against building highways’ and ‘George Holding voted against farmers.’
And, at that point, according to the best political wisdom in Washington, George Holding should have been kaput.
But it didn’t turn out that way.
George’s campaign took five polls and each told part of the story: When George explained that he had voted against Obama’s ‘Omnibus Budget Deal’ not because he opposed funding the U.S. Army, but because Obama’s Deal had also increased non-military spending by $40 billion – his support didn’t diminish. It grew.
When he explained that the ‘Highway Bill’ Renee was attacking him for opposing also funded the Export Import Bank which provided subsidies to international corporations that could cost taxpayers billions – his support didn’t diminish. It grew.
And when he explained he had voted against what Renee called the ‘Farm Bill’ because 80% of the spending in the bill (or $756 billion) had gone to pay for Food Stamps – his support grew a third time.
George’s third poll showed 65% of the Republicans had concluded Ellmers was trying to fool them to get reelected – the Washington Mastermind’s strategy had backfired and all but sunk Renee Ellmers.
Looking Back: The Mastermind
I imagine it happened this way: After the Republican Leaders in Congress went down to the White House and made the ‘Omnibus Budget Deal’ with President Obama they then called a caucus of Republican Congressmen to get the votes to pass it.
The Leaders explained to the rows of Congressmen how the deal was not perfect policy but it was good policy and, good or bad, it was the best deal they were going to get – then in the next breath they got down to brass tacks: Politics. Because the question most of the Congressmen sitting in the room were asking themselves was: If I vote for this deal is it going to make it harder or easier for me to get reelected?
One of the Leaders then summoned ‘The Mastermind’ – the political savant who was second to no one in Washington when it came to winning elections – to the front of the room and without mincing words he told the Congressman two hard facts.
You say you voted for this Budget Deal to raise military spending to fight ISIS, he explained. Then you accuse your opponent of not supporting the military.
No doubt he said it with absolute conviction but, whether he believed it or not, his goal wasn’t to give the Congressmen a safe road to reelection – it was to get the Leaders the votes they needed and when he was finished he’d done that.
A few months later, apparently without bothering to figure out whether the Mastermind had spoken the truth or not, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers put his logic to the test: As soon as she launched her reelection campaign she fired both barrels at George Holding saying, ‘He voted against our military.’
Ellmers then made two more attacks straight out of the Mastermind’s playbook – by telling voters ‘George Holding had voted against building highways’ and ‘George Holding voted against farmers.’
And, at that point, according to the best political wisdom in Washington, George Holding should have been kaput.
But it didn’t turn out that way.
George’s campaign took five polls and each told part of the story: When George explained that he had voted against Obama’s ‘Omnibus Budget Deal’ not because he opposed funding the U.S. Army, but because Obama’s Deal had also increased non-military spending by $40 billion – his support didn’t diminish. It grew.
When he explained that the ‘Highway Bill’ Renee was attacking him for opposing also funded the Export Import Bank which provided subsidies to international corporations that could cost taxpayers billions – his support didn’t diminish. It grew.
And when he explained he had voted against what Renee called the ‘Farm Bill’ because 80% of the spending in the bill (or $756 billion) had gone to pay for Food Stamps – his support grew a third time.
George’s third poll showed 65% of the Republicans had concluded Ellmers was trying to fool them to get reelected – the Washington Mastermind’s strategy had backfired and all but sunk Renee Ellmers.