Prometheus 6

The RSS excerpt

The Multilevel Marketing of the President
Can old-fashioned door-to-door politics combined with an Amway-style organizational pyramid get George W. Bush re-elected?

is appropriate because the Bush economic program is like a huge Ponzi scam where the rich guys were the first in and so get paid hand over fist.

Still, the article is interesting too:

''It's my fault we're behind,'' Betty confessed, her voice lowered to a whisper. ''When they asked me to be the county chair, I said, 'Well, sure.' Everybody does their turn, right? But I thought it would start in August or September, like it usually does. Not in February!''

The Bush campaign, Betty said, instructed her to recruit 643 volunteers. Not 640 volunteers or 650, but 643. I wondered aloud what the big deal was. What would they do if she didn't hit her deadlines?

''Well, they can't fire you, right?'' she asked me, sounding uncertain. ''They can't fire a volunteer.''

Wrong, Betty. The only way they can't fire you is if you're paying the bills.

Later, after the chicken dinner and a short speech in which Betty pleaded with her neighbors for help with the campaign, I ran into Kevin DeWine, a state representative and a cousin of Ohio's senior senator, Mike DeWine, a Republican. I recounted my conversation with Betty.

''That's the difference between 2000 and 2004,'' DeWine said. ''In 2000, they said, 'Yeah, sure, we'll use your local headquarters, whenever you can get it up and running, great.' This year, it's, 'Yeah, we'll use your headquarters, and we need it open right now, and we want phone banks and mailing lists, da-dah, da-dah, da-dah. . . . ' '' He ticked off imaginary demands on his fingers. ''I think it's because the president could lose, and they're nervous. And they should be.''

Another interesting chunk:

Rove and his associates are known as a controlling bunch, and it has to be frustrating for them to know that so much of what could ultimately decide the race -- an ambush in Iraq, a spike in gas prices -- is entirely beyond their control. They crave something more empirical, some new formula with which to guarantee victory in November. And they think they've found it in the reassuringly hard data of street-level politics.

I find it interesting that all the political strategies are designed to compel victory rather than convince people.