The furore surrounding the candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves, is a symptom of the problem facing conservative parties globally. As participation in political mechanisms such as parties drops, and as social media fills the void subsequently left open for exploitation, you see radical ideas being shared and weaponised for political ends.
This has been apparent for some time, and what happened to the Liberal Party this election – 2022 is important for many reasons but especially for the fate of the Labor Party – is symptomatic of changes that are reshaping the way that we govern ourselves. 15 years ago Twitter was full of enthusiastic ponderings on the role of IT in politics, but now most people seem to regret how it has changed the tone of debate. Some who have benefited from the popularity of popularism dig in their heels and wear the condemnatory epithets of journalists with pride (sewer rat, for example). Others, who have felt the sting of partisanship go the other way and leave these platforms shaking their heads in amazement.
The majority weather the storms that periodically flare up and drag everyone into their whirlpools of unpleasantness and spite. Dangerously riding such waves are candidates like Deves.
To mix metaphors briefly, Deves sits on a fence that has been constructed by the broader community in order to give form to the public sphere that Twitter, more than most social media platforms, has created as it seeks popularity itself. While George Christensen abandons the ship and switches to One Nation, following the lead given by other pollies, most notably Mark Latham in New South Wales, Deves has simply publicly apologised for sentiments that, no doubt, many Liberal Party supporters in electorates around the country share but cannot voice.
This silent minority emblematises something else about contemporary politics that hasn’t been much discussed unless in passing, which is the inability of opinion polls to capture the sentiment of the people all the time. If only 10 percent of Liberal Party voters share Deves’ views on gender identity and sexual preference then that’s a segment of the public the Liberals neglect at their peril. Neglecting such voters risks losing support, though if they too openly cater to their biases they risk alienating people closer to the centre.
Best perhaps to force Deves to renounce her more incendiary opinions while keeping her attached to the bigger ship of the party apparatus. Best to cross the raging torrent with a pole in hand to compensate for crosswinds accompanying the play of the current.
The modern Liberal Party is a high-wire act. Winning this election would be epic due to the length of time the Liberal-National Coalition has been in power. The old paradigm of “two terms in two terms out” has been broken and minor parties like One Nation and the United Australia Party are picking up the pieces. In the latter’s case, saturation TV advertising has given Clive Palmer, the businessman who started it years ago, access that Liberal and Labor dream about as they try to find hooks to attach their wagons to voters’ imaginations. The idea of freedom, which Palmer has used in many ads, is effective because in a way ours has been taken – or, more accurately, given up – as we navigate a world where we have become addicted to feedback. Our brains need the comfort of another dopamine hit, and the electronic instruments we use to deliver these chemical drops of pleasure.
Comments