sisyphusshrugged | need a good giggle?

Just something I thought would amuse the rest of you non-existent females who blog about politics:

Male-dominated networks and inflexible working hours have traditionally hindered the progress of female politicians. Neither affects women's ability to join in the political blogging community

but if you work them right, a friendly approach to both can be leveraged to get you a byline in the paper.

Or an internship, maybe.

edit: OK, here's why this bugs me

< rant > Over the last twenty years or so, the Republicans have made enormous strides by presenting themselves as the "populist" party to their base. Seems a little counterintuitive, considering how badly their "base" is getting screwed, but it seems to work.

Why I think it works: there are an awful lot of people out there who think, and have reason for thinking, that no-one gives a damn about them.

Sensing a branding opportunity (and you have to assume that they have at least a comfortable plurality of people in marketing), the right has taken the revolutionary step of telling those folks that their concerns matter deeply to the Republican party, and they occasionally throw them a bone to gnaw on, as long as no-one else they care about wanted it.

Karl Rove knows that. If you take a look at Bush's initiatives, all of which are strictly in line with what Republican platforms have been saying for years, there's a really bright common thread of issues that various groups of Republican voters really want that there isn't a chance in hell will get through Congress. These days, they don't even get through the House.

They do serve their purpose by convincing a lot of people that no matter what happens to their pocketbooks or their environment or their civil rights or their kids serving overseas, this guy is on their side. He's a good guy. He's standing up for them.

Now, make a half-turn to the "center" and what you get is a little less inclusive.

There are two things that make the system run: votes and money. The natural base of the Democratic party may not have a lot of money to toss around right now, but they do have votes and they aren't using them.

Maybe one of the reasons they aren't using them is that one of the most effective viral infections from the right states that anyone to the left of the ever-shifting center, even on single issues, is not quite respectable and doesn't matter, even if they behave far more reasonably than the equivalent group on the right.

I understand why the politicians see it that way. With fewer votes in play in every election, they need the money badly, and the people handing out that money have the same prejudices. One thing you can count on businessmen for, though - they're all about the return on investment. If the Democrats reach out to the excluded and it works, it'll all of a sudden become very respectable to reach out to the excluded.

If you're nominally to the left of the current crowd in power and you need to be dipped for the same ticks, just keep telling yourself what terrific opportunities there are for folks who are on the side of the party that wins. Those opportunities most likely will not be available if you start out by conceding that only a very few votes in your comfort zone are respectable enough for you to be seen going after.

Or maybe just ponder how few openings there will be for "independent" voices after four more years of Bush.

Or just say to yourself: Karl Rove is smarter than this, and he's playing me like a violin.

I'm in this as a voter and a citizen. I don't give a damn who does or doesn't return the phone calls I have no current plans to make to the corridors of power when this is all over. I do give a damn that those committee chair's offices that I'm not calling have Democrats in them.

< /rant >