Wedge Politics Need a Better Wedge

Splitting large logs for firewood is takes more than simply whacking away with an axe. You need to identify the weak point and focus on it. There is a tool for that: a splitting wedge. Once you have a narrow opening in the log you insert the wedge. You then take a sledgehammer to it, driving it deeper. It digs in and not only holds its place, it pushes the sides apart. This is a great tool if you rely on muscle power alone.

Wedge politics is similar. You need a good wedge to succeed at sundering the electorate. But is the long gun registry the right sort of wedge and is it being properly wielded. I don't think so. First, it is an issue near and dear to groups on either side of the debate: most gun owners and gun control advocates. Both sides have their reasons and arguments (they aren't always the same) but I won't attempt to judge them.

The reason I won't judge is because from my perspective this issue is a poor wedge: I just don't care enough. I can't help but see all the media coverage and all the arguments and political posturing, but I not only don't have a position, I don't hold a strong position. If you ask me my opinion on Tuesday I might say one thing, then on Friday I'll sway over to the other side. It may annoy or infuriate those with strong opinions on the matter -- since they are often so eager to get others to adopt their positions -- but my opinion is weak and wavering, and is likely to remain so. The why of it is because the benefits of the registry seem vague or uncertain at best, while on the other hand it costs some money, but not an onerous amount, to keep it going. Although I know many gun owners I don't own one myself so it's no burden on me, and it doesn't seem like much of a burden on them, as least so far as I can tell. Sure I could be completely wrong, but I don't care enough to worry about it much. It may do some good and the cost is modest so I just wish the issue would go away so that the government can get back to important tasks like tackling the economy and the deficit.

To be an effective wedge an issue must purchase a hold on people's attention, just like that wedge working at a log. Except that this wedge keeps slipping and popping out, making the job of splitting the wood laborious. If most people are like me, and I strongly suspect they are, the task may indeed be futile. In the few moments between inserting the wedge (again) and picking up the sledgehammer, the wedge has fallen out or will spring out sideways at the first blow. The woodsman may curse, pointlessly inspect the wedge one more time, and try again, but it doesn't help: the same thing occurs time after time. He can't seem to see that the wedge is defective or not the right one for the task at hand.

Soon the issue will fade for most people except those in swing ridings the Conservatives will keep hammering away at, hoping that the wedge will work on that sort of log. There are few of that sort of log in the wood pile, but if that's the only wedge you have or are willing to use then that's what you do, if you're them.

Eventually there will be an election and I suppose the registry will pop up again as an issue the Conservatives will desperately wield once more. I think they need to find another wedge if splitting wood -- I mean the electorate -- is their objective.