Two Political Bodies…?
Today human and posthuman stand as two general, political spheres. Each sphere interacts with the other, each taking place in the other, not easily if at all distinguishable from the other. My interest in the recent surge of Republican candidate Ron Paul speaks to this phenomenon. The question of a return to politics from an age of voter apathy needs to explore the ground on which either political sphere is founded.
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Ron Paul's success will demand a newer, revolutionary appeal.
In an age of media users the writing and sourcing of content is clearly more horizontal. One of my research interests is precisely the new political sphere emerging in this relationship and the expectations of the old political sphere that increasingly confronts the new. So the goal of part one of this piece was to forward a theory of media sainthood, directly, the question of media subjectivity.
In Iowa we have a successful caucus process. Here candidates are compelled to compete in a relatively inexpensive media market. More importantly the nature of the caucus is highly personal. Candidates need to meet those whom they wish to have support them. In short, the media often competes against the face to face meeting, where the would-be candidate must enter real communities, sit in their churches, living rooms, town halls or whatnot and sell themselves. I can tell you this is not an easy process, and I can also tell you Iowa politics is human.
The first is the role of journalism and media, its relationship to language, and its material effectiveness on the bodies that produce language. By material effectiveness do I mean employed technologies and the claim on language. And by effectiveness do I mean affect in personal language in relation to the symbolic candidate toward a posthuman politics, the mediated body. The second is the Iowa Caucuses as a conservation of human politics. The Iowa Caucuses offer two key points for consideration then, as a ‘profanation’ of media subjectivity.
In an earlier post “Why Does Ron Paul Stink So Bad?” I opined about Paul’s media problem. I discussed Herman Cain’s lack of a real campaign, then described Rick Perry’s campaign in contrast a real structure and funding. Indeed Cain is gone, Perry’s still in making panderous appeals. Ron Paul stands atop them both. So with three weeks until the Iowa Republican Caucuses, to be held on January 3, 2012, Ron Paul has indeed emerged, the media now pays attention, the real grassrootedness of his traditional campaign increasingly recognized. This is the appeal of human politics, but the ruse is the question of his youthful supporters and the ground of their libertarian affinities; is it more directly related to a new ground of language, or a return to human politics that rejects posthuman politics?
I am looking between the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. Here the consistent, more moderate, pro-science John Huntsman picks-up some ground, from 3% to 10% respectively. This shift may be linked to Ron Paul who too is tracking well, tying second place in Iowa and an impressive third in New Hampshire. Newt Gingrich’s lead is tentative in Iowa and one wonders about his flavor of the month status, as his numbers in Iowa dive down, the rest of the candidates seem to have gained a bit. This suggests a candidate may consolidate some of this field, or, that the results will be incredibly fragmented. Mitt Romney was holding steady with second place next to Ron Paul, but he has fallen beneath Paul by only 2%, not large enough to make a firm bet. Paul and Gingrich are vying for second in New Hampshire. One wonders if the Iowa results will hit hard in the Granite State.
Regardless of the outcome, the general election will be tempered by a lesson found in the Republican primary as a whole starting here in Iowa. First that “electability” is a media bias that conceals the truth of the human political sphere still intact in Iowa. This bias is exemplar of the conservative truth of the mainstream press. As a conservative press that balks at the absolutist tendencies of libertarianism, horrified in smirks, dismissive as fancy; the ‘pressure’ today is much aligned with the establishment conservatives of its postwar intellectualism. The fact remains a shift is underway seemingly toward a libertarian hedge against the gridlock of what are verisimilar political parties. Again, the emergence of Paul support indicates a rift between posthuman and human politics, the true polarities of the unified political sphere. At least an attempt to think the emergence and collisions of political worlds.
For fun I will offer up a prophecy for the Republican contest here in Iowa, but I would just concede that this race is horribly volatile. At this time it is terribly naïve to try and do this, perhaps I will set up a few numbers before election night.
Right Now
1st
Jesus Christ (yeah…)
2nd
Ron Paul (firm)
3rd
Newt Gingrich (Newt may edge out Romeny)
Mitt Romney (firm)
4th
Rick Santorum
5th
Michelle Bachmann
Rick Perry
6th
John Huntsman