Policy in the Margins: Why Grass-Roots Politics Works

What follows is a generalized breakdown of voting in any given election:

People	Percent for Victory
100%, all people	50%, plus 1
70% eligible to vote (excludes aliens, felons, and minors)	35%, plus 1
40% registered to vote (approximately 60% of eligible)	20%, plus 1
20% vote on election day (50% of registered voters)	10%, plus 1
7% almost always vote Republican
7% almost always vote Democrat
6% swing votes	3%, plus1

Three percent of the populations plus one voter is where politicians live and die.

In some local and state elections where turnout may be only 20 percent of registered voters, the margin may be far less than three percent plus one.

The average politician lives in constant fear of alienating any substantial portion of this three percent plus one voter he needs in a hotly contested race to win re-election, or to gain higher office.

What is the best way not to alienate these voters?  Do nothing to make them mad, which almost always means … do nothing.

This is why even when new politicians are elected, little seems to change.  Inertia — or the status quo — is the most potent force in politics.

However, by mobilizing and directing voters rallying around a specific issue, you can change the political environment for a politician or even a group of politicians.  One relatively small group can make it more costly for the politician not to act than it is for him or her to act as you want him to.

This is what is meant when it is said that policy is made at the margins.  Over time, the number and effectiveness of activists determines political success or failure.

This is also why the homosexual lobby, labor unions, and organized groups so often get legislation they want.  They have groups of voters who can, and will, vote on their issue alone.  And they often have workers and sometimes money to use against any politician who crosses them.

By becoming a grass-roots leader, you can, too.

That’s where the fun, and the danger, begins.

Biden Implies “Garden Variety Slap Across the Face” of a Woman is No Big Deal

March 19, 2013

By Katie Pavlich

3/13/2013

You’d think someone in the Democratic public relations complex would have sent out a memo asking Democrats to stop spouting off about rape, guns and domestic violence by now but, it clearly hasn’t happened. Speaking today at a “1 is 2 many” domestic violence awareness event sponsored by the White House, Vice President Joe Biden implied certain types of domestic violence aren’t really that bad because they’re just a “garden variety slap across the face.”

So, what exactly is 1 is 2 many? It’s a White House initiative to bring awareness to domestic violence. I didn’t see a definition for “garden variety slap across the face” anywhere.

Despite the significant progress made in reducing violence against women, there is still a long way to go. Young women still face the highest rates of dating violence and sexual assault. In the last year, one in 10 teens have reported being physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend. One in five young women have been sexually assaulted while they’re in college.

In response to these alarming statistics, Vice President Biden is focusing his longstanding commitment to reducing violence against women specifically on teens and young women ages 16-24. By targeting the importance of changing attitudes that lead to violence and educating the public on the realities of abuse, the Vice President is leading the way in an effort to stop violence against women before it begins.

One hit is too many, unless of course it’s just a “garden variety slap across the face.”

Update: This article was written based on NRO’s edited clip of Joe Biden’s remarks on domestic violence. As is reflected in the full quote below, Biden condemns all violence. However, using the phrase “garden variety slap” to describe certain types of domestic violence was insensitive and trivial.

We’ve learned that certain behaviors on the part of an abuser portend much more danger than other behaviors. For example, if an abuser has attempted to strangle his victim, if he has threatened to shoot her, if he has sexually assaulted her, and there’s a number of other signs, about eight others. These are tell-tale signs to say this isn’t your garden-variety slap across the face, which is totally unacceptable in and of itself.

Katie Pavlich

 

Katie Pavlich is the News Editor at Townhall.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiepavlich. She is also the author of Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up.

“ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING! Intrepid investigative journalist Katie Pavlich rips the lid off Team Obama’s murderous corruption and anti-Second Amendment zealotry” says Michelle Malkin.

 

“Katie Pavlich draws back the curtain on a radical administration that put Mexican and American lives at risk for no discernible reason other than to advance an ideological agenda.” – David Limbaugh

 

Buy Katie’s book today and help us keep the pressure on Obama and his attorney general Eric Holder and expose the cover-up.