The GOP Narrative Game

The Republican Party loves a good story about The American Dream- a person rising successfully through the ranks, coming from nothing, to become something extraordinary. It means it’s still possible. It means there is no elusive “man” (or maybe a not-so-elusive 1%?) holding the people down. It means anything is possible, if you work hard enough.

Ben Carson’s story is of young man from Detroit with a “pathological temper” who acted out in nefarious ways, but eventually grew into a Yale educated Neurosurgeon. Without any past political career to vet, the media had only this dramatic personal narrative to refute- and did they ever. For other candidates with political careers, the media would point out voting inconsistencies or times they were less than faithful to their constituents, but for Carson, the media looked to professors and childhood friends from Detroit, questioning if his reminiscence of a violent youth could hold any water (and decided not). The media became the antagonist in Carson’s story, and as he continually lamented on the unfairness of their reporting, he lost sight of the politics (and the people) and let the media control his narrative.

However, it is currently Marco Rubio who holds the narrative prize after the Iowa caucuses. He is being praised as the winner for the GOP in the Iowa after coming in third place, and Donald Trump the overwhelming loser (Don’t believe me? “loser.com” automatically redirects to Trump’s Wikipedia page) after coming in second behind Cruz at a 4% margin, and only beating out Rubio at third place by 1%.  The media and Rubio alike are hailing him victorious for beating the expectations game and making it a three person race. His victory speech after landing third place overwhelmingly mentions “them” in dramatic prose- the antagonists, the ones who said it would never happen- "they told us we had no chance…they told me we had no chance because my hair wasn’t grey enough and my boots were too high. They told me I had to wait my turn.”