To Successfully Run for Office is to Wage War
by Beverly Kelley
Monday August 28, 2000
Now I know why women don't usually head up political campaigns -- we've never even heard of Carl von Clausewitz, haven't had the yen to read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, and aren't all that sure Frederick II, the Prussian military strategist, was all that "Great."
But not to worry, John J. Pitney Jr., a frequently quoted political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, has gathered ammunition for a contemporary political field manual based on penetrating military minds from Machiavelli to the Marine Corps. In "The Art of Political Warfare," he argues that if politics resembles warfare, then military literature should be able to instruct the campaign strategist.E
And it does. The late Lee Atwater, who is not only credited with President Bush's 1988 conquest, but, according to The New York Times, is the politico most responsible for the way campaign consultancy is practiced today, claims to have read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" at least 20 times: "Everything in it you can relate to the campaign. Every time I read it, I am reminded of something very important."E
So if you, or some campaign operative, armchair strategist, or student of political science you love wants to know how to mobilize troops, launch a media blitzkrieg or take a hit, at least temporarily, this is the book for you.EE
Actually, American politics comes by its militaristic underpinnings quite honestly. After the Civil War, Union and Confederate veterans saw fit to set up political parties along military lines. World War II and the Cold War simply perpetuated political campaigns as military maneuvers. In the same way, Franklin D. Roosevelt called the country to arms against the Depression, subsequent Oval Office occupants have asked us to dig in during one interminable siege after another as this country has "declared war" on poverty, crime, cancer, drugs and AIDS.EE
Pitney brings up additional questions (especially pertinent to the consideration of gender and politics) with respect to 1. the use of language in general, namely, doesn't that which describes also shape, and 2. militaristic language in particular, namely, doesn't the use of battle terms actually make politics more warlike?
I suspect both are true and it's the "warlike" aspect that definitely turns off the average voter. George W. Bush is seemingly engaged in a kinder, gentler campaign this time. In fact, President Bush was heard to chastise Barbara Bush after she made a harsh remark about Al Gore to a reporter: "What are you doing -- you're not going to be in this interview if you're going to start talking like that. George will call and he'll be furious!"
Sun Tsu taught, "Move swiftly where he (the enemy) does not expect you." To counter President Clinton's indiscretions with Monica Lewinsky, Gore and Joseph Lieberman, are currently engaged in a moral arms race with the Republicans, and "faith" no longer seems to be the political "F" word.
The GOP big tent, on the other hand, is being uncharacteristically stretched to umbrella constituencies the Democrats have previously taken for granted. Bush started his personal outreach right here in Ventura County.
Stephanie Gutman, author of "The Kinder, Gentler Military," concludes that sexual politics is ravaging our armed forces. Retention rates for skilled officers and noncoms have taken an alarming nosedive. Gutman sees military morale reaching rock bottom as warrior types bail, performance standards weaken and drill sergeants morph into human relations counselors. It seems this man's army is no longer this man's army.
Politicos, especially those who insist on bloodying the battlefield, will never welcome women in the war room. They charge that Susan Estrich cost Michael Dukakis the presidency when she failed to respond with heavy artillery re: Willy Horton. Mary Matalin is convinced that so-called "Neanderthals" in the GOP kept her out of Bob Dole's base of operations.
So, looking to the denatured military as a harbinger of things to come, one can only hope that savvy fems, amply armed with Pitney's manual of political warfare secrets, will be able to shake up the y-chromosome-dominated power structure, once and for all.
One can only hope.
-- Beverly Kelley teaches communication courses at California Lutheran University. Address e-mail to kelley@clunet.edu.