JFK invented the primary system we know of today. Before him it was the party bosses in smoke-filled rooms who decided on the party nominee. It was party bosses who decided on FDR. It was party bosses who decided on Lincoln.
Barack Obama's massive use of social media took JFK's invention to a whole new level. Take away all that technology and Obama was toast. All prominent blacks in the country were lined up in the opposite camp. Pretty much all elected officials were lined up in the opposite camp. All the labor unions were lined up behind Hillary pretty much. There was no doubting her credentials. And there was something historic about the idea of the first woman president too.
At some level I was torn having had to choose between the idea of the first black president and the first woman president, and I am on record at this blog rooting for an eventual Barack-Hillary ticket. But at the end of the day it was not about the first black president. It really was about Barack Obama the person, it was about this particular individual. It was about moving on past the Clinton generation. It was about Obama's emphasis on getting people to meet in person, it was about his use of the newest in technology.
JFK took a big step in the direction of what I call DirectConnect, the idea that there ought to be nothing and nobody between the candidate and the voter. Barack took another big step in the direction of DirectConnect.
Endorsements and political clubs and the status quo will matter less and less going into the future. 2010 is the year of the insurgency. But it is not an insurgency of throwing one party out for another. The insurgency has been about throwing the bums out in both parties. Suddenly primaries matter like they always needed to. A lot of incumbents across the country are facing real contests. Many have faced them and lost them. More will.
The good news is primaries matter, and DirectConnect is more possible than ever before.
You want people to get engaged and stay engaged. But that is not to say polls have substituted the need for leadership. The need for leadership is acute as ever. If we did not need leaders, we would not need elections. But we do.
We have a president who has been wading FDR waters since the passage of health care reform. The recession is not over yet. It will be over finally when the unemployment is down to five per cent. And there leadership matters big time. The guy at the top has many decisions to make, and I believe he will.
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