Real Iowa Loser: Rovian Politics

Things are moving fast in Iowa and its all pretty good. The pundits are beginning to get the fact that politics is about the positive, not just the negative.

To me the message is that US is in such a mess that the American people have decided they will have to fight their way out - not just fight among themselves.

More over the fold.

All of the turnout numbers have been landslide territory. In a pure swing state, Democrats turned out 2:1 more frequently than Republicans.

The winner and second-place candidates (Obama and Edwards) took big risks with messages of constructive change. Obama argued for heart-warming national coalescence and cooperation to tackle national problems. Edwards argued for a confrontational attack on America's chronic, lingering problems and their traditional corporate enablers.

Even in the depleted Republican camp, the runaway winner talked optimistically about positive change. Democrats may gag on the details of Huckabee's vision, but included a lot more constructivist ideas than any recent Republican campaign.

The real loser is the Karl Rove school of divisive, suppressive, negative politics. The candidates that were perceived as trying to use Rovian political tactics to suppress their opponents' support (Romney and Clinton) were hit hard.

Negative tactics only work when the populace is susceptible to being apathetic, turned off and lethargic. The massive turnout in Iowa and the support for positive messages says that American voters are eager to be passionate, enthusiastic, and constructive. All of these new voters gave their votes to people who talked about the future and offered positive, constructive, and problem-solving visions. They gave the vast majority of those votes to Democrats, but, even among those stubborn Republicans, they gave them to the least negative of their options.

R.I.P. Karl Rove - Political Guru