{"id":571809,"date":"2010-05-20T10:41:55","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T14:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prisonplanet.com\/?p=43503"},"modified":"2010-05-20T10:41:55","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T14:41:55","slug":"activists-seize-control-of-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/571809","title":{"rendered":"Activists seize control of politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Via Prison Planet.com \u00bb Prison Planet<\/p>\n

JOHN F. HARRIS & JIM VANDEHEI
\nPolitico<\/a>
\nThursday, May 20, 2010<\/p>\n

For any politician with the usual instincts for self-protection, the lessons of Tuesday\u2019s primaries could not be more clear: This could happen to you.<\/p>\n

Arlen Specter lost<\/a> in Pennsylvania even though the party-switching Democrat was recruited and backed by a sitting president. Rand Paul won<\/a> in Kentucky even though the Republican was regarded as an eccentric renegade by that state\u2019s political establishment.<\/p>\n

The 2010 electorate has swallowed an emetic \u2014 disgorging in a series of retching convulsions officeholders in both parties who seem to embody conventional Washington politics.<\/p>\n

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)<\/p>\n

\"Activists<\/a><\/p>\n

The anti-establishment, anti-incumbent fevers<\/a> on display Tuesday are not new. The ideologically charged, grass-roots activists flexing their muscle in this week\u2019s primary showdowns are the same breed as primary voters who four years ago stripped the Democratic nomination away from Sen. Joe Lieberman<\/a> of Connecticut, who later won as an independent.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s now clear, in a way that wasn\u2019t before, is that these results<\/a> reflect a genuine national phenomenon, not simply isolated spasms in response to single issues or local circumstances.<\/p>\n

This is a stark and potentially durable change in politics. The old structures that protected incumbent power are weakening. New structures, from partisan news outlets to online social networks, are giving anti-establishment politicians access to two essential elements of effective campaigns: publicity and financial support.<\/p>\n

Full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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