We need to talk about emotion in politics
(and don't tell me it has no place)
Too many people overlook the simple fact that politics is personal.
They expect politics to be an academic exercise rather than a schoolyard fight.
But American politics has always been this messy. Passion is not simply a symptom of rising levels of partisanship and partisan ideology. And honestly, I’d still be arguing with them even if I didn’t have more than a century’s worth of dramatic history on my side.
Most of us know that politics affects our lives. From the school board meeting that ran too late to the next hate-filled executive order, politics cuts deep in far too intimate ways.
Politics dictates when, how, or even if we can get divorced. It controls what our kids learn in school, stokes hate-speech, and entices hate crimes. Politics mandates our access to life-saving healthcare and overrides our right to due process. It decides if our loved ones will be able to afford heat in the winter or prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Politics is life and death.
Emotion in politics is (and always will be) more real than whatever theoretical fantasy people want. But still, they look down at those whose eyes become wet or throats dry. It’s a competition between those vying for a good grade in politics and those just wanting to survive.
Politics shouldn’t be clinical. It doesn’t exist only in the abstract.
I’m reclaiming my “bleeding heart” because passion isn’t a weakness but rather a recognition of what’s truly at stake.