The Original Founders Playbook: How Their Novel Gameplan Helped Roll Out the Red Carpet for America

Doc Cunningham
Da Island Guy
Sounding Off Social

“Blue States are getting bluer and Red States are getting redder!” That was the jarring headline from a recent USA Today analysis of where we are as a nation. Their team of journalists did an extensive look-back on the evolution of politics and voting patterns over the past four decades. What they found sends warning flags about things that contribute to the partisan discord and social divides. What does that mean for the future of America? (hold that thought).

As Israel marked the one-year anniversary of the attack on its citizens, we see ongoing instability and rising tensions. There’s increasing concern that things could get out of hand and become a regional mess. But even closer to home, as the presidential campaign season rounds the corner towards the homestretch, some are wondering if we’ll have similar post-election drama as happened in 2020. It seems both situations need a new language to describe things, while walking in the shoes of history.

In the case of the Middle East, U.S. policy supports a two-state solution. With the situation as horrific as it is, maybe that new language for moving things along might include as a mantra, “Shared Peace Lifestyle”. Furthermore, with the U.S. social/civic climate, a similar step might apply. That’s the inspiration behind SAIC, as a novel concept around civic/social issues for a higher level of citizenship, having coined the term, #MojoInAmerica (MOJO – Make Our Journeys One).

Remember, SAIC was born out of a deep dive in American history, the ‘Black to America’ story and #HometownStrong comebacks. From those lessons, we found some key ‘pivot points’ along the way. There was the Declaration of Independence in 1776; the adoption of E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) in 1782. The release of the Constitution to the States for review in 1787. Then there was the Federalist Papers being published on October 27, 1787. It’s why Oct 27^th is observed as National Civics Day. Of course, there’s that moment between Benjamin Franklin and a female bystander who posed the question, “What do we have, a monarchy or republic?”

While that question lands loudly within the current political climate, there’s a subtext that resounds even louder, kinda connecting from back then to now. Think of it in the ‘What do we have’ terms today:

Is it just about politics or also civics?
It is just protecting turf or uniting people?
Is it just the ‘horse race’ of running for a constituency or the ‘voice race’ of empowering citizenry?
Is it just promoting the policy or perfecting the Union?

With the choice at hand in the upcoming election, we can take a page from the founders’ playbook in rolling out the red carpet for America. The model left by them is one of turning the Constitutional Convention into civic mobilization that appealed to ‘hearts & homes for America’, otherwise known as ‘We the People’. Political parties didn’t arrive on the scene initially until 1796, and more established in 1800. What made the red carpet rollout special is that it was:

1. News Breaking

The three main writers of the Federalist Papers were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. According to the online History Channel, when the first essay appeared in the Independent Journal, Hamilton argued that the debate facing the nation was not only over ratification of the proposed Constitution, but over the question of “whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.” These days, what’s news breaking is more ‘shock & awe’.

2. Crowd Sourcing

As the founders returned to their States, they had the chance to share ‘meeting notes from the Convention, release notes from the Constitution.’ There was that bystander question that got the ball rolling, as Franklin left the Convention Hall. When they arrived home, their focus was to engage residents in the benefits of being part of the Union. In other words, independence was the first step in democracy and republic, but to get to Union they did ‘crowd sourcing’ instead of ‘crown sourcing’. It’s like when a potential candidate announces a listening tour, they’re trying to fine-tune and maybe foretell their plans.

3. Mojo Building

The founders and citizens knew the stakes of ratifying the Constitution. Clearly, there was some ‘mojo building’ at play. The National Anthem hadn’t yet been written so ‘E Pluribus Unum’ and the Federalist Papers were the tools. One helped to rally the social climate, the other was paramount for forging the civic climate. But something else happened, like what immigrants get to experience in becoming naturalized citizens. As with public officials, we take an oath to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” That’s tied to some ‘life, liberty and happiness’ patriotism.

4. Shift Making

The first three States to ratify the Constitution were Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with ‘shift making’ across the land. SAIC as a social-edge campaign works to embrace civics and bridge divides. Example, in consumer tech we went from black & white to color TV; same box, different technology. With civic/social issues, SAIC helps highlight that we’re “same box (flesh & blood), but different cultures”. With TV, we went from same source (channels) to different streams/smarts. Similarly, with the issues we go from the same ‘isms & schisms’ then and now to viewing things through SAIC’s ‘smart prism’ as a nation.

Before there was ‘we the democrats’ or ‘we the republicans’ there simply was ‘we the people’. With red States becoming redder and Blue State becoming bluer, we can deploy ‘See America In Color’ to bridge the civics gap and partisan divides. As the red carpet got rolled out in the early days, all the founders had to work with was appealing to ‘hearts & homes for America’. In part, that’s the inspiration behind SAIC’s latest efforts to rally around civic engagement, civics education and social impact. This means taking a page from the founders, built around news breaking, crowd sourcing, mojo building and shift making.

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Tracks: Rag’n’Bone Man – Human – https://youtu.be/L3wKzyIN1yk?si=rT6qK9HaifvTkN-d