Lessons in killer politics

[Swagman]

Stephen Loosley: Lessons in killer politics
Federal Labor should copy the remorselessness of two US Democrats

November 27, 2006
THE most chilling feature of Ernest Hemingway's brilliant short story, The Killers, is the remorselessness of the villains. The two professional assassins, Al and Max, are focused on their homicidal task without reflection. They joke that their intended victim has never seen them before and will only see them once. They're doing something for a friend, they tell the patrons in the Summit diner.
Many politicians boast about having a killer instinct. Few actually do. Significantly, in the US Congressional mid-term elections just ended, two political killers were graphically on display. Both succeeded admirably in their craft.

The two Democratic politicians in question are Representative Rahm Emanuel (Illinois) and Senator Chuck Schumer (New York). Respectively they headed the Democratic Congressional and Senate campaign committees. More than any other individuals, with the possible exception of former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, they are responsible for the Democrats taking back both houses of the US Congress.

This would merely be of interest to academics and the membership of the Chester A. Arthur Society were it not for the fact that there are salient political lessons in the US Congressional campaigns that are of value to the federal Labor Opposition. Political strategies are not always transferable but in this circumstance, US experience does have resonance in our politics
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Emanuel learned how to raise money in the formidable machine of mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago. He served in the Clinton administration and, as a congressman, he took on the job of spearheading the House campaign with a single-minded determination. Candidates were handpicked. To use the Australian political vernacular, it was a case of horses for courses. If traditional constituencies were offended by Democratic nominees, who were pro-life or pro-guns for example, then that was tough. Emanuel understood Republican vulnerabilities and candidates were there to appeal to a broad constituency, not just the core elements that have sustained the Democratic Party in 12 years out of power.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,20825343-7583,00.html

[Demeter]

1. And Howard Dean Is....Chopped Liver?

Sorry, don't buy it. What does Australia know about internal American Democratic politics, anyway?

The only ruthlessness I've detected is Democrat(INO) on Democrat.