Idea Theft
Listen up liberals, this shit has to stop :
You hear Howard Dean supporters snidely remark that John Kerry co-opted their candidate’s anti-Bush tone once Kerry saw how popular it was with senate voters. At the candidates debate in Los Angeles Thursday night, according to one newspaper account, a Dean fan ripped a Kerry sign off a rail, saying: “You stole our message. We can steal your sign.” Now, the New York Times says, Kerry’s channeling that son-of-a-mill-worker John Edwards, too, borrowing heavily from his populist message and engaging manner.“Mr. Kerry is talking nonstop about job losses, about the ‘haves and have-nots,’ about hardship and heartache in the industrial heartland. He is even surrounding himself with mill workers to prove his point — and retelling their stories about as often as Mr. Edwards mentions that he grew up in a textile town and saw the broken spirits of those whom global trade left behind.
“Mr. Kerry’s transformation into an empathetic candidate with a decidedly blue collar on his navy pinstriped suit began months ago as he struggled to connect with audiences put off by his patrician manner and emotional distance. It has taken on new significance, however, since the senate race narrowed to Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards, whose affability, speaking style and up-from-the-bootstraps biography stand in contrast to Mr. Kerry’s Boston Brahmin image and background. And it will be even more vital, senate strategists say, should Mr. Kerry win the nomination and take on a president whose popularity is based largely on his regular-guy, emotionally direct appeal.”
If Kerry is “stealing” good ideas, isn’t that a good thing? Whoever ends up winning this thing should take all the good ideas he can get. And it’s not as if John Kerry is indifferent or opposed to the ideas he’s lifted (unlike Bush’s co-opting liberal ideas without actually doing any work to implement them).
What’s so infuriating though is how juvenile this all seems. Nobody “owns” their position on healthcare, Iraq, or taxes. John Edwards isn’t the only one who should be allowed to appeal to the working class just because he did it first and Howard Dean shouldn’t be the only one who gets to bash George Bush. The very fact that your ideas are appealing enough that they’re being co-opted should please you during the primaries.
Quit being crybabies, people. We’re all in this together.
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I think this goes more to Senator Kerry’s reputation for being opportunistic, willing to say or do whatever works to win votes rather than adhering to a core set of values or messages. That was his reputation and the Democratic Party’s reputation, and until recently both had managed to diminish their reps.
Comment by Earnest — February 27, 2004 @ 3:31 pm
as someone who’s been politicly active for about 6 years now, i can only say that the behavior of the dean supporter in the above post sounds like someone who is very new at this kind of thing. we had people like this working on the kucinich and dean campaigns out here.
considering the dean’s campaign to bring in new blood i actually dont find this all that surprising. especially considering the campaign’s righteous tones.
don’t confuse this with critical discorse. i am critical of just about everything kerry does, and even though i’m
(more than likely) going to vote for him, i won’t do that “shut the fuck up don’t criticise we have to unite to defeat bush” shit. however, juvinille sour grapes behavior like this post is different.
i think we would do well to note the differences and make sure we don’t confuse people critical of kerry as whiners.
Comment by josh — February 27, 2004 @ 3:58 pm
I agree, but there’s been a lot of whining lately about campaigns stealing ideas which is pretty ludicrous. If you’re gonna complain about that, then the goal should be to prove that your opponent doesn’t really stand behind the positions he/she is claiming. Saying “But, we thought of it first!” doesn’t mean shit if your opponent can articulate their views better than you can.
How true. I’ve read a lot of reports of Dean’s people doing some pretty immature stuff. It’s always ended up being some college kid who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing or how stupid he looks. What these newbies don’t realize is that you don’t automatically deserve votes just because you’re right, you’ve got to convince people to give you their vote. Acting like an ass isn’t the way to do it.
Comment by greg — February 27, 2004 @ 4:09 pm
I have to agree with Earnest. Although the specific events you reprinted are examples of Edwards and Dean supporters being sore losers, the real worry is that Kerry will behave like Clinton and Gore by talking a good game and then screwing his supporters. But frankely, I don’t care, because we have to get Bush out. So.
Comment by JoeW — February 28, 2004 @ 10:45 am