Extending Politics Links- Part 2

Uniqueness of the link is a concept that many debaters have a tough time wrapping their minds around at first. What makes politics distinct from most other disads you'll run is the complexity of the various link chains - all components of which much be unique.
Link uniqueness
Let’s expand upon this notion mentioned in the previous post. An average politics DA:A. Bush is Pushing Immigration reform - it will pass but political capital is keyB. Foreign aid costs Political capitalC. Immigration reform is key to the economyD. Economic growth prevents war
Has a definite uniqueness component - section A - immigration reform will pass now. But this is not the only uniqueness portion of the DA that it is necessary for the negative to win. This is what’s known as the “issue specific” uniqueness - arguments about a specific issue on the Bush agenda and whether or not it will pas. The rest of the uniqueness can be divided into a few parts
Top Level - Top level uniqueness pertains to all aspects of Bush and his agenda generically that aren’t about the specific scenario. This includes things like is he popular, is there bipartisanship, does he control the agenda, is the base angry etc.
Link Uniqueness - this is the uniqueness for the particular link argument that the negative makes in the debate, in this instance political capital. In order to win the link uniqueness the negative would have to win that political capital was high, or at least high enough to pass immigration reform. This kind of evidence has been difficult to come by as of late due the widespread hatred of the Bush administration, but it is nonetheless a crucial element of the DA.
Impact uniqueness - this would be economic growth high now. More discussion on this in a later post.
Internal link uniqueness - a bit more abstract than link uniqueness. If you read a conservative base disad, the link uniqueness may be base supports Bush now. You also need evidence that says the base is currently supporting immigration reform, simply having evidence that immigration reform will pass and a card that the base is key to reform is insufficient. You need internal link uniqueness- base supports immigration reform now.
Link uniqueness is generally glossed over if not outright ignored, but you do so at your own peril. A debater who takes the time to be updated on all segments of the DA will be able to destroy their opponents because even if these arguments are not offensive, they are generally thought by judge to be absolute defense. Lets look at 2 examples of how to use them.
On the Aff - link uniqueness is a great response to new arguments in the block. As discussed in the last post, if the negative reads a new focus link in the 2NC and you read 2 pieces of 1AR evidence that outline different parts of the agenda Bush is focusing on, that will normally be enough to win the focus link is non unique. If you then explain that this should take out the whole DA because focus is key to the agenda and he doesn’t have it, the negative will usually have difficulty responding.