Super Bowl Sunday gave me an idea about how to put more eyes on Idaho’s Legislature: let’s start really marketing the meaningless drama!
I admit it. I enjoyed the Super Bowl’s spicy pre-game storyline about the romance between Taylor Swift and Kansas City tight-end Travis Kelce. In the hands of PR pros, the super-ordinary act of two people dating became kindling for super-extraordinary conspiracy theories. Did you know one theory claimed that the Swift-Kelce matchup was part of some shadowy globalist cabal plan to re-elect President Biden?
Mwah-ha-ha-ha! Sceery!
Don’t get me wrong, I thought the Swift-Kelce obsession was ridiculous. But I bet it engaged new viewers. And that’s what Idaho needs, “new viewers.” If we could get NEW people watching Idaho politics, at the very least, we’d have better accountability for politicians.
So, we need to promote “clickable” political moments. We need to drive excitement for each unpredictable political season and cast of wild and wooly characters. Remember, the Super Bowl was never remotely about Swift-Kelce. But during the game, the camera landed repeatedly on Swift and her celeb besties.
That camera angle wasn’t for football fans—it was for a “new” audience.
We have plenty to work with. Look at Rep. Heather Scott for instance. She’s a bottomless pit full of fascinating ideas! Take her offering last week: a bill to outlaw feeding people to people … without their consent.
Sure. Our first impulse is to cringe, knowing this is one more far-right clown show to scare away businesses and people (aka “Heather snacks”). But let’s face it, that kind of super-wacky idea gets everyone’s attention. My middle school kid heard all about that cannibal bill at school. He couldn’t tell you a thing about how many broken bridges will stay broken for another year.
I know. It feels a little like giving up. But why let places like the Idaho Freedom Foundation be the only ones to benefit from dysfunctional government and craven politicians? And it’s not like we will make our state’s most powerful political party become any LESS serious. The Republicans will not suddenly have worse leadership than Dorothy Moon. And Gov. Little is already quaking at the softest voice of reproval from the likes of Moon and Scott.
So let’s get all the bad ideas that Idaho’s far-right has and help publicize them well before the legislative session. Let’s get people excited about those ideas! Let’s get them watching the Legislature to see if it’s really as bad as it sounds.
Just maybe “new” people—people who haven’t gotten used to the annual slate of super-bad bills in Boise—will vote out some of these super-bad politicians.