This old political truism may no longer be true
"All politics is local." It’s among the hoariest of political clichés.
Most often associated with Speaker Tip O’Neill, the phrase, according to Wikipedia, means that politicians’ success depends on their ability to understand and speak to the issues that matter most to their constituents.
Sounds self-evident.
But it may no longer be true. Judging by this year’s elections, it might be more accurate to say, “All politics is national.”
Consider the results in Sussex County. In 2013, Sussex Democratic Chair Mitch Crane told me - not surprisingly - that his No. 1 priority was fielding a solid slate of candidates.
He succeeded. Taken individually, the candidates looked good. As a whole, they got slaughtered. Sure, you can say Claire Snyder-Hall lost to Sen. Ernie Lopez because she hadn’t lived in the area long enough before running - even though she campaigned long and hard - but that doesn’t explain the losses of Marie Mayor, Bob Wheatley and Shirley Price, all of whom trailed their opponents by wide margins.
Delaware House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, said in Friday’s Cape Gazette that the elections were influenced by the write-in candidacy of Sheriff Jeff Christopher, who lost a primary to Robert T. Lee.
Republicans, he said, turned out to ensure the defeat of Christopher.
There’s likely some truth to that as far as Sussex goes, but Republicans won big across the country.
One reason: Republicans were successful in making the elections - even down to the dogcatchers apparently - a referendum on President Obama. In other words, the old truism - all politics is local - was turned on its head. For the 2014 midterms, all politics was national.
And in the most astounding fashion.
One factor was the “Ebola crisis.” In the weeks before the election it was the biggest news on cable. Everywhere else, too.
The U.S., it seemed, was on the verge of an Ebola outbreak. It was Obama’s fault. He had bungled the response. Hysteria reigned.
In the United States, exactly two people have died, a Liberian national who contracted the disease while visiting his homeland, and a Maryland resident who fell ill in his native Sierra Leone. (Meanwhile, thousands die from gun violence and we don’t even discuss the issue.)
Now stories are saying that Ebola - which hasn’t spread to the general population here - may not be as deadly as thought. It seems patients in the U.S. respond much better to treatment than do people in poverty-stricken nations lacking basic healthcare.
I recently heard an interview with a New York Times reporter who visited Liberia, where Ebola has killed some 2,000 people.
She was surprised by how calmly its citizens were handling the crisis. My guess is cable news isn’t as big there.
Another crisis that favored the Republicans was the rise of ISIS, or the Islamic State. ISIS released grisly videos showing prisoners, including an American journalist, being beheaded.
ISIS is a serious concern. The videos tell us all we need to know about the movement’s brutality. I understand the visceral reaction to the videos, the most recent one released on Sunday. President Obama was right to call the execution “pure evil.” But as vicious as ISIS might be, it doesn’t represent an existential threat to a nation that has stood up to and defeated Nazi Germany, Imperialist Japan and the Soviet Union.
Yet here’s how Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina responded to the ISIS threat: “This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed here back at home.”
“Before we all get killed here back at home.” Like we’re all going to line up like sheep waiting for our heads to be lopped off. It’s one of the most embarrassing statements I’ve ever heard from an American politician. Compared to Graham, Chicken Little exudes the calm assurance of a Ulysses S. Grant.
Give me “no-drama Obama” any day.
I’m not cherry-picking, singling out an obscure Republican who got carried away. Graham is one of the party’s leading voices on foreign policy.
ISIS might be bloodthirsty and power-mad but it lacks some of the tools necessary to come here and defeat the greatest military power in history. Things like a navy and an air force. Yet this pathetic fear-mongering helped seal the deal for the American electorate. And, apparently, helped seal the fate of Sussex Democrats. Hopefully, in 2106, local politicians will be judged by their stands on local issues.
