Pathways

     First and foremost, Happy Saint Crispin’s Day! It’s not a bad idea to reread Henry V, if you have the time. Henry’s Saint Crispin’s Day speech to his troops at Agincourt is the second most famous of all Shakespeare’s soliloquies. The rest of the play ain’t bad either. If you’d rather watch than read, there’s the Kenneth Branagh movie, as well.

     Second, to those who fretted over yesterday’s emission: Relax. Two of those visits were six-month checkups; the third was a teeth-cleaning. You can’t get rid of me that easily!

     Third (now we get to the entrée), consider the following sentiment, once again shamelessly stolen from Mike Miles:

     Among “former Democrats,” perhaps the best known is Ronald Reagan. I think my Gentle Readers will agree that he left some pretty big footprints. But I expect Tulsi’s change of convictions to make some big waves, too. She’s not only a former Democrat Congresswoman and a former Presidential candidate; she’s also very attractive, eloquent, widely respected… and female. That’s more important than a casual observer of the political scene might imagine.

     Women tend to reach their political stances by a quite different route from men. Yes, some inherit them, just as we do, while some others adopt them to gain access to particular circles. But having left those categories aside, there’s a substantial number remaining… and the dominant influence on those women’s choice of alignment is emotion.

     The emotional influence on such things arises from women’s greater empathy for those who suffer. That probably derives from the maternal and consensus-oriented facets of the female psyche. (To any shirty women inclined to take me to task for generalizing thus: yes, of course there are exceptions. But look up the meaning of that word, and stop bothering me.) It’s a credit to the distaff side of our race, frankly. But let’s stick to the political effects for the nonce.

     For some decades, the Democrat Party has marketed itself as the party that “cares for people.” It’s always been a lie. Political parties exist to pursue political power and for no other reason. But we’re talking image here, which in the political realm will always differ from the underlying reality.

     Female aspirants to high office have predominantly been Democrats since the New Deal. Many of them were and are largely sincere in the belief that they could somehow help others by rising to power. The discovery that that is not the case can hit them hard. After that, what will matter to their futures is whether they have a taste for power over others. Quite as many women as men share that taste.

     Private-citizen women tend to respond strongly to the appeals of public-official women. There are several reasons for that, including admiration for a “successful sister,” but more relevant is the sense of emotional commonality. Thus a leader figure such as Tulsi has an edge in persuasive power over a similarly outspoken man. When such a figure announces a dramatic shift in convictions and perspectives, it gets women’s attention in a big way.

     Relevant here is the relatively minor influence of lifelong conservative women over other women’s political stances. The Ann Coulters and Laura Ingrahams are a special target of the Left’s denigration efforts. As most don’t put much work into softening their public personae, those efforts are more successful than not. Democrat-turned-Republican Tulsi is likely to have a large impact because she hasn’t previously been aligned with the Right. She already has a fund of female admiration and allegiance to build on that Democrat tacticians will be hard pressed to counter.

     There’s a significant synergy between Tulsi’s announcement of her realignment and the Republican Party’s recent rebranding of itself – under Donald Trump, without whom it would not have succeeded – as the party that stands for the interests of the common man. Among the reasons the Democrats are in the Slough of Despond is the predominance among their public figures of old male plutocrats. That’s not an image that generates wide appeal, as the history of the GOP shows. Still, the bulk of Democrat power and support lies with rich old men. Nor does it strengthen their appeal to note that the wealthiest members of Congress are predominantly Democrats. Even obnoxious former bartender Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is worth millions of dollars today.

     Let’s hope President Trump sees the value of keeping Tulsi front and center during what remains of the campaign. Perhaps he’ll announce that she’ll have a post in his Cabinet, as well.