It's Election Time, And Time For A Saul Alinsky Playbook Refresher

My copy

 A few years ago a post appeared in this blog about Chicago's internationally famous leftist community organizer. No, not the one  currently occupying the White House. OTR's subject was Saul Alinsky, the founding father of the modern-day community organization movement. Alinsky died in 1972 shortly after the publication of his most famous work, Rules For Radicals (1971). Though both political parties use these rules, they are particularly alive and well - and well-polished - in the thoughts and actions of Barack Obama. He is after all the other internationally famous leftist community organizer from Chicago, and his coalition is in control of the Democratic Party.

Again, expect both political parties to uses various aspects of these tactics. but expect Obama and his party to release a relentless attack on their opposition as their odds on losing the election increase. You can bet the declining economy will guarantee us a dirty, vicious race on the part of the underdog. To help readers identify, understand, and appreciate the rules as well as respond to their power to influence American voters, here they are as written; supporting information is in brackets:

1. Power is not only what you have, it's what the enemy thinks you have. [Power is derived from two main sources - money and people.]

2. Never go outside the expertise of your people. [It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.]

3. Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. [Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.]

4. Make the enemy lie up to its own book of rules. [You can kill them with this because nobody can possibly obey all of their own rules.]

5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. [There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating.]

6. A good tactic is one your people enjoy.

7. A tactic that drags on too long become a drag. [Don't become old news. Even radical activists get bored.]

8. Keep the pressure on. Never let up. [Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, recover, regroup or re-strategize.]

9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself. [Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.]

10. If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive. [Violence from the other side can become a positive because the public sympathizes with the underdog.]

11. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. [Never let the enemy score points because you're caught without a solution to the problem. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.]

12. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. [Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people, not institutions, people hurt faster than institutions.]


In closing, readers should know that OTR was a lefty radical in 1971. Time and experience taught him well as he moved right of center - new liberals will be happy to know that he never once liked Richard Nixon. Now he  looks at the rule book and its players from two quite separate points of view as the tactics have become mainstream in the world of politics. He trusts his readers will benefit from information in this post as they likely face the most significant national election in our time.

Source: Wikipedia