“W

ho here knows 
who their state 
representative 

is?” my professor asked on the 
first day of class.

As I quickly scanned the 

room, I was startled. Not a 
single hand was in the air. You 
might be wondering what class 
I was in, rationalizing that 
maybe this lack of knowledge 
is acceptable in Introduction to 
Biology or Calculus 2. But you 
would be sorely disappointed, 
just as I was, to know that the 
class was Electoral Politics in 
the Developing World, a class 
taken by most political science 
majors as one of their final 
requirements for graduation. In 
a population with a relatively 
high need for basic political 
knowledge, not one person could 
name their state representative. 
His name is Adam Zemke, by the 
way, but that could not be further 
from the point. For progressives 
to reverse the causes of a Donald 
Trump presidency, they must 
not once again fall into the trap 
of throwing away local elections.

Under 
President 
Barack 

Obama, Democrats had a net 
loss of 1,042 state and federal 
posts. 
Read 
that 
number 

again 
for 
good 
measure: 

1,042. Democrats lost nine 
senate seats, 62 seats in the 
House of Representatives, 11 
governorships and over 900 
seats 
in 
state 
legislatures. 

For all of the unity and hope 
tied to Obama’s campaigns, 
it 
is 
startlingly 
evident 

that those themes did not 
translate 
to 
Democratic 

candidates 
everywhere. 
In 

fact, the opposite happened. 
Republicans running in local 
elections relied on emotional 
appeals, in direct contrast to 
those of Obama.

Using 
racism, 
anti-

Semitism, 
conspiracy 

theories and lies, politicians 
in 
these 
local 
elections 

started 
a 
transformation 

in 
the 
American 
public. 

In 
Oklahoma, 
the 
state 

legislature mandated teachers 
present 
the 
shortcomings 

of evolutionary theory. In 
North 
Carolina, 
the 
state 

voted to deny using studies 
that cited rising sea levels in 
formulating policy. Finally, in 
Georgia, the legislature had 
a four-hour meeting where 
at one point it was proposed 
that Obama was capable of 
mind control. These are just 
a few of the truly absurd 
actions local politicians have 
taken recently. The lack of 
accountability in American 
politics is striking, and it by 
no means started on Nov. 8, 
2016. In the wake of Obama’s 
resounding win, Democrats 
lost sight of the influence local 
races can have. Having the 
presidency was not enough to 
stop the destruction of trust 
in our political institutions. 
The Pew Research Center 
found that fewer Americans 
trust the government now 
than 
after 
the 
Watergate 

scandal. Democrats allowed 
Republicans 
to 
relentlessly 

attack our institutions, and 
we are seeing the effects of 
that now.

There is a lazy narrative 

out there that these baseless 
attacks, or “alternative facts,” 
were born out of a Trump 
presidency. The truth is that 
Trump was a consequence of 
almost a decade of looking the 
other way, and not a cause of 
compulsive lying in politics. 
While it is true that all of the 
examples above come from 
states 
with 
a 
Republican 

majority, Democrats are to 
blame too. Instead of fighting 
for truth and facts at every 
juncture, they chose instead to 
save their time and resources 
for only the biggest of races. 
In the congressional district 
where I grew up (Pa.-18), I 
did not get a chance to cast a 
meaningful vote for my U.S. 
representative 
because 
the 

Republican 
incumbent 
ran 

unopposed. That congressman, 
Tim Murphy, resigned this 
past October after reports 
came out that he urged his 
mistress to have an abortion, 

despite his staunch pro-life 
advocacy. Even though it was 
highly unlikely for a Democrat 
to win in the district, at least 
contesting the seat might have 
led to a more rigorous vetting 
of Murphy. More generally, 
by failing to contest races all 
over the country, Democrats 
allow Republicans to erode 
our democracy one election at 
a time.

There 
are 
signs 
that 

everyday 
progressives 

started 
to 
recognize 
the 

value in consistent grassroots 
organization. 
Groups 
like 

Indivisible, 
Swing 
Left, 

Flippable, Run for Something 
and many more are equipping 
citizens who want to get 
involved in politics with the 
tools to make differences in 
their communities. There have 
been some recognizable gains 
because of this transition, 
such as the performance of 
Democrats up and down the 
ballot in Virginia; however, the 
Democratic establishment has 
not fully embraced a 50-state 
approach. 
In 
a 
Montana 

election for the House of 
Representatives, 
where 
the 

Republican candidate body-
slammed 
a 
reporter, 
the 

Democratic establishment had 
been outspent by $4 million. 
The Republican candidate won 
because the election was not 
played on a level field because 
of a lack of interest from 
the 
Democratic 
leadership. 

Members of the Democratic 
Party must demand that the 
establishment step up and 
match their fervor. Finally, my 
home district, the one where 
the Republican just resigned in 
scandal, sees the Democratic 
candidate 
only 
trailing 
by 

three points. The Democratic 
Party must be learning their 
lesson, right? They have to be 
all in, right? Nope. Republican 
outside groups have spent $3 
million to the Democrats’…$0. 
Go figure.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Thursday, February 15, 2018

DAYTON HARE

Managing Editor

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ALEXA ST. JOHN

Editor in Chief
 ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND 

ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Samantha Goldstein

Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman
Jeremy Kaplan

 
 
 
 

Sarah Khan

Lucas Maiman

Ellery Rosenzweig

Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury

 
 
 
 

 

Ali Safawi

Kevin Sweitzer
Tara Jayaram
 Ashley Zhang

In defense of hook-up culture

W

hen 
a 
former 

contestant 
on 

“The 
Apprentice” 

became a White House staff 
aide, it felt like the world was 
beginning to turn on its side 
(though, to be fair, the star of 
the show becoming president 
is probably the primary reason 
for 
why 
everything’s 
gone 

lopsided). When that same 
contestant is dismissed from 
the White House staff and then 
airs her complaints and fears 
about her former employer on 
“Celebrity Big Brother” to an 
E! News anchor, it feels like 
someone set the world ablaze.

The complaints of Omarosa 

Manigault (known, inanely, as 
the mononymous “Omarosa”), 
the 
former 
director 
of 

communications for the Office 
of Public Liaison, could be 
internalized in several ways, 
all of which indicate the 
bizarre state of media and 
news consumption.

In one aspect, it can be 

viewed as her warning to the 
American people via the popular 
reality television show about 
the hazardous ineptitude of the 
incumbent administration.

However, it can also be 

perceived as — and this is 
the way I processed such 
bizarre news headlines — that 
entertainment 
has 
seeped 

into 
the 
stratosphere 
of 

the 
already-hyperpartisan 

political climate. Or, instead 
of seeped, perhaps it has 
completely 
devoured 
it, 

distorting the face of politics 
into something that is as 
harrowing as it is amusing.

After seeing a headline 

as asinine as “Omarosa talks 
Trump 
on 
‘Celebrity 
Big 

Brother’: ‘I was haunted by 
tweets 
every 
single 
day,’ 

I recalled how a certain 
entertainer 
prophetically 

tried to tell the world, or 
at least his fans, of this 
disastrous path.

Omarosa’s 
dark 

proclamation on reality TV 
evoked a certain album that 

haunted my summer days, the 
stinging and searing “Pure 
Comedy” by folk-rock singer 
Father John Misty. The blend 
of masterful cultural criticism 
with the resonance of someone 
who’s been left exhausted and 
beleaguered by the political 
climate was both cathartic and 
blisteringly incisive.

As though with a scalpel, 

Father 
John 
Misty’s 
clean 

dissection of today’s politics 
came from a messy place, 
especially 
in 
songs 
such 

as 
“Total 
Entertainment 

Forever,” where he highlights 
how entertainment saturates 
existence, 
rich 
or 
poor, 

describing an Oculus Rift-like 
VR system that elucidates every 
desire through a screen.

Every 
dystopian 
image 

rendered is clearly rooted in 
the messiness of a culture 
whose politics have become 
circus-like. 
Two 
summers 

ago, 
after 
the 
nomination 

of President Donald Trump 
at the Republican National 
Convention, I saw Father John 
Misty at Camden, New Jersey’s 
XPoNential music festival.

He 
bitterly 
improvised 

a cover of Leonard Cohen’s 
“Bird On a Wire” with new 
lyrics slamming the fact that 
a “reality god” was inching 
closer to the White House, 
and that we, the crowd and 
proverbial 
“people,” 
were 

to blame for fostering an 
environment that commodified 
politics vis-à-vis an obsession 
with entertainment.

After the festival, which 

I 
went 
to 
solely 
for 
his 

appearance, I was miffed by 
his departure after singing one 
song that he didn’t really write. 
 

Yet 
his 
words 
have 

continued to linger in my 
head, and the only way to 
internalize the increasingly 
fatuous nature of our world 
has been through his music. 
It is almost as though I have 
begun reading every headline 
as inextricably tied to his 
omens 
as 
they 
manifested 

themselves in a White House 
run by clueless celebrities and 
far right zealots.

Though I doubt Father 

John Misty is the only cultural 
critic to point out the troubling 
nature of our discourse, I 
referenced his music in the 
hopes that perhaps it would 
shed light on how our insatiable 
need for entertainment has 
transmuted politics.

Omarosa’s warning could 

signify the deeply troubling 
nature 
of 
a 
White 
House 

currently teetering the world 
on the brink of apocalypse. But 
we already knew that.

Instead, 
her 
appearance 

on “Celebrity Big Brother,” 
whispering to Ross Mathews 
while she chokes back tears, 
featured the staple histrionics 
of any reality TV show as 
she exploits the fears of the 
American people. Do we blame 
the advent of capitalism for 
pushing for every last view out 
of the American people, or do 
we blame ourselves?

However, the point is that 

Father John Misty’s prophetic 
vision, 
one 
which 
doesn’t 

stand alone but, invariably, is 
constantly floating in my mind, 
has barely even been approached.

We continue to frame every 

political act in such overly 
sensationalist terms that it 
feels like a globe is falling 
off the edge with a racist, 
xenophobic 
world 
leader 

at the helm. Will we begin 
flouting this hedonism in the 
hopes 
that 
entertainment 

and politics will no longer 
be inextricable? Or are we to 
continue being complacent in 
our own decadent demise?

Perhaps this is the next 

move 
of 
the 
resistance: 

distilling 
politics 
and 

entertainment 
and 

renormalizing the culture in 
the hopes that we will never 
again elect a “reality god.”

Manigault, Misty and madness

JOEL DANILEWITZ | COLUMN

Looking to local elections first

RISHABH KEWALRAMANI | COLUMN

Rishabh Kewalramani can be 

reached at rkew@umich.edu.

Joel Danilewitz can be reached at 

joeldan@umich.edu.

ELENA HUBBELL | OP-ED

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD

Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at 
our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss 

national, state and campus affairs.

— Olympian figure skater Adam Rippon on Twitter

“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

I was recently asked in an interview 

what its like to be a gay 
athlete in sports. I said that it’s 

exactly like being a straight athlete. 
Lots of hard work but usually done 

with better eye brows. ”

W

hen I was a little 
girl, I had a very 
clear 
picture 
of 

how my romantic life would 
turn out. Here’s what would 
happen: When I was about 18 
or 19, I would meet the love of 
my life. He would come home, 
meet my parents, impress them 
and, after a few years of dating, 
we would get married. It would 
be an easy and simple system, 
following a moral code of 
conduct in parts inspired both 
by the Bible and the Disney 
princess movies I was addicted 
to watching.

As I grew older, the media I 

consumed changed from Snow 
White and “The Young Women 
of Faith Bible” to more mature 
romantic 
books 
and 
films, 

mostly romantic comedies such 
as “27 Dresses” and “Hitch.” 
With this change also came 
an alteration to my perception 
of sex and dating. All of the 
sudden, the clear picture of 
my future romantic life turned 
into a story of how I would 
date multiple awful men before 
finding The One. Sex early on in 
the relationship was imperative 
to the relationship’s survival, 
and I would have to walk the 
fine line between slut and 
prude. Though less easy and 
simple, this new system would 
also follow a sexist moral code 
of rules and regulations on how 
to act and behave in potentially 
romantic situations.

And then I was old enough 

to participate in both of the 
systems I had created in my 
head, and I began to realize just 
how unappealing they really 
were. I could either pressure 
myself into getting into a long-
term relationship at a super 
young age, or I could play 
romantic games with everyone 
I dated until I found someone 
with whom I could cut through 
the bullshit, holding myself 
to ridiculous beauty and diet 
expectations until then. So, 
though every adult I’d grown up 
with was shaming millennials’ 
“hookup culture,” I have to say 
I’ve found much more freedom 

in 
this 
supposed 
immoral 

system than in any of the other 
dating systems presented to me 
by the media and the rules of 
our parents.

The freedom I have found 

comes from the fact that in 
regard to dating, none of us 
really seem to know what the 
hell we’re doing. Some of us are 
hooking up with lots of people, 
and some of us are intentionally 
single and abstinent. The rules 
that governed the romantic 
lives of our parents don’t seem 
to apply anymore, so we’re kind 
of making things up as we go. 
And honestly, I think it’s in this 
confusion that really makes 
hook-up culture great. People in 
romantic/sexual relationships 
are forced to talk about their 
relationship status and what 
that status looks like to them. 
They’re forced to really think 
about what their expectations 
are and what they want from 
a romantic/sexual partner or 
partners. From my experience, 
I’ve learned that “casual” and 
“dating” look a lot different 
to different people, and what 
might be “casual” for one 
person might be more serious 
for another. And honestly, even 
though 
they’re 
undoubtedly 

awkward, I’m here for these 
open 
and 
communicative 

discussions. They prepare us 
for when, or if, we decide to 
enter into more serious, long-
term relationships. They make 
us better listeners and also 
better friends.

Our 
generation 
has 

seen a sexual and romantic 
revolution 
comparable 
only 

to the sexual revolution of the 
1960s. In our lifetime, we have 
witnessed the implementation 
of marriage equality, the rise 
of 
discussions 
surrounding 

consent on college campuses 
and the #MeToo movement, 
all of which have transformed 
the ways we view romance, 
sex and relationships. In my 
experience, the generational 
gap between our parents and 
us regarding attitudes towards 
LGBTQ relationships is the 

size of the Grand Canyon, and 
the universal idea that we are 
all sexual beings who wish 
for romantic happiness is very 
much in question. Suddenly, 
the conversation surrounding 
our romantic lives isn’t as open 
and shut as it once was, and I 
celebrate that.

I’ve 
read 
articles 

criticizing 
hook-up 
culture 

for dehumanizing women and 
for destroying young people’s 
abilities to have long-term, 
meaningful 
relationships. 

However, I would argue that a 
more liberal attitude toward sex 
and relationships has created a 
landscape where young people 
feel more able to express their 
wants and desires. It’s this 
more liberal attitude that I see 
bringing about the ability to 
discuss the #MeToo movement 
without the shame that was 
once 
attached 
to 
sexual 

assault and harassment. And 
apparently, since the divorce 
rate is dropping, I would 
advocate that folk’s ability to 
foster 
healthy 
relationships 

isn’t dying out, but becoming 
stronger. I would argue hook-
up culture’s liberal attitudes 
toward sex and romance are 
creating an atmosphere that 
makes sex and romance safer.

So, 
this 
Valentine’s 

Day I hope everyone does 
exactly what they want to do, 
uninfluenced by any societal 
expectations of what they 
should want. If that means 
looking for a casual hook-up, 
having a romantic date with 
a long-term partner, being 
alone or spending time with 
friends because you aren’t 
interested in romance or sex 
now or really ever, then I hope 
you do that. We are living in a 
time of unprecedented change 
and confusion in regard to our 
personal lives, and I hope you 
take advantage of that and do 
exactly what is comfortable 
for you.

Elena Hubbell is an LSA senior and 

a Senior Opinion Editor.