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Political Culture of the Spectacle
The primary is a bonanza for NH – bringing in $84 million in 2004. True, it’s a countable, as opposed to a weighable sum, but not bad for clean work. Naturally, in the Chamber of Commerce spirit of too much is never enough, this year the NH Department of Tourism is trying something new: actively targeting political junkies to visit NH during the primary season. Button collectors – the new leaf peepers.
As if the season isn’t silly enough, now it’ll be the political equivalent of spring training. Or worse, Europe-in-a-week excursions – busloads of civilians roaming the state seeing six candidates in three days, loading up on buttons and hats, crowding into coffees, scarfing the ribs at barbecues, snoring at town meetings – all for the privilege of perhaps touching an actual presidential candidate or two. This is just what liberal democracy needs to finally expire – more political spectators, fewer political actors.
The opportunity to come to NH and experience the primary has always been encouraged. Out of state volunteers stay for a week or a weekend and work their asses off going door to door or standing at busy intersections on frigid days holding signs. They’re the reinforcements every campaign needs. They get loads of work done and are so happy to actually play a part that they juice the local, overworked volunteers. Meeting a candidate-crazy group from somewhere else stokes the troops who’ve been at it for a year.
Sure, most politics is bullshit, but if NH invites people to come here solely to view the primary as another NASCAR race rather than as an essential part of our dwindling democracy, they’re adding to the problem.
So come to NH and bring all your cousins, but don’t treat it like 3-D C-SPAN. Work for a candidate, do something significant, eat cold pizza, sleep on somebody’s floor, feel the rush, share the love.
Links to presidential candidates of all stripes can be found here.
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