• zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Yeah, we know they’re idiots

    Republicans: "We're using simple, concrete ideas and straightforward messaging to sell our policies on a national stage. Then we hammer away at policies we've championed as soon as we're anywhere near a position of authority. While we do alienate large portions of the electorate as a consequence, we also cultivate a fervently loyal base of supporters who dominate a critical set of rural, politically homogeneous states."

    Democrats: "We bend over backwards to make things as arcane and confusing as possible, never clearly stating our positions or advocating any one particular common theme. We pander to everyone and please almost no one, then hide behind a veil of technocracy to explain why our bullshit is optimization you plebs can't fathom. This yields us periodic big wave wins when our opposition alienates too many people, but never gets us anywhere close to advancing the stated goals of our most consistent supporters."

    Conclusion: "Democrats are Smart. Republicans are Dumb."

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Aaron Burr does exactly this throughout the play and is painted by Alexander Hamilton as an opportunist

        He's painted as a loser. Can't win Washington's affection during the war. Can't break into one of the bigger rival gangs of Congress during the peace. Can't do populism hard enough - and when you come in second place, you can't even take the Runner-Up VP spot, because Jefferson's cronies are so quick to cheat you out of it.

        (who then supports fucking Jefferson because “at least Jefferson has values he stands behind”)

        Jefferson and Hamilton have a working relationship, as they're both in the Washington inner-circle. Burr helped build the Tammany Hall political machine on behalf of Jefferson, but never officially "got in the room". Possibly because Burr was still a Northeast finance guy, while all the Jefferson cronies were Planters. Also, possibly, because Burr flirted with Abolitionism in the NY State House. Also, possibly, because he was simply too "bipartisan" - courting friends in both nascent parties - to be palatable to either camp's inner ring.

        For all the ways in which the high school history books focus on the Hamilton/Jefferson rivalry - and the play leans heavily into it - the Hamilton/Burr rivalry was at least as pivotal. In many ways, Burr was more Hamilton than Hamilton.

        That said, he still did shit, which is more than any modern Democrat can claim. So I'd be loathe to compare Burr (or Hamilton or Jefferson or any of the "Founders") to the collection of polyps currently built up within DC's rectum.