Obama's Crossover Appeal

Much has been said about Obama's ability to attract independents and even some Republicans.  How does he do it?  Read the following to the attributions and I think you will understand...

On Katrina:

"Government hadn't done its first and most basic job... Signs of failure were all about us..."

"When you realize that there were 22,000 people in the Superdome to whom the government couldn't deliver water... something has failed."

"The simple fact is the city of New Orleans failed, the state of Louisiana failed, and the government of the United States failed."

On Change:

"What is needed is the profound transformation of the current system."

"In an era of ATMs, iPods, and eBay, we have government from the era of quill pens, inkwells, and paper ledgers."

"...spending on health will soon crowd out spending on other needs such as education and the environment.  Unless we act quickly to fix it..."

"Together, transformational change is possible."

"Despite all the media hype about a divided America, we are united in our desire for government that is capable, competent...."

"Transformational change will require courage, commitment, and cheerful persistence."

Etc.

I could go on and on with these quotes, but these are sufficient to demonstrate the resonance of Obama's message with the hopes and aspirations of most of us in America.

But, here's the kicker:

All of these quotes are from just the INTRODUCTION of Newt Gingrich's book, "Winning the Future".  This intro was written in 2006 for the 2nd edition of the the book, originally written in 2005.

I am not saying that Obama has plagiarized Gingrich (or vis versa.... I have not read "The Audacity of Hope" to look for similar phrases that would predate the Gingrich book.)  What I AM saying is that BOTH of these politicians have correctly identified the mood of the American electorate:

We are EXHAUSTED with, ASHAMED of, and WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE the party=centric squabbling that has characterized our government for two decades or more.  We want a government that works, can be trusted and again has a focus on the people, not the politicians.

What we want:

Simply, with the exception of the ultra Conservatives and the ultra Liberals, the interests of the people are NOT in party labels, but in ideas that actually WORK.  Accountability is NOT just a whip to punish your opponent with, but a measuring tool by which we must measure ourselves, our politicians and our strategies.

This is a "Liberal Democracy".  Democrats AND Republicans want to see an end to poverty, promotion of world peace, universal health, expansion of justice, life, liberty, happiness and opportunity to all.

Where we differ is on the MEANS to those ends.  So long as Obama and Gingrich are speaking about our frustrations and the need for change, we are excited about BOTH of them.  So long as both talk about the ideals on which this nation is founded, we stand up and cheer!  But when they talk about the role of government in achieving these ends, our unity fractures over differences about what we believe works and doesn't work.

I hope and pray that Obama is pragmatic enough to realize this.  If he votes for NEW ways to solve the old problems, he may avoid a quick demise in the polls.  He must dedicate himself to what actually WORKS, not to old socialist patterns proven to fail all over the world.

What works and what doesn't?

A large number of us believe that handouts that are not hand-ups simply enslave people psychologically.  It tells them that they cannot succeed on their own.  If we counter this negative self-image by building up a false self-image, by telling them that they are "entitled" and "just by their unique identity" they deserve xyz, we all too often create adults that act more like spoiled children.  We replace their self-doubt with un-earned pride and swollen egos that lead to violence, abuse and eventual incarceration.

From our perspective, the hand-up needed is an education that makes the individual self-sustaining in a job where he/she contributes to society, growing in earned self-respect and practiced self-discipline.

A large number of us believe that greed needs to be harnessed to encourage the production of jobs for the masses offered the "hand up", not condemned so harshly as to destroy incentives and drive the creative businessmen, inventors, artists and athletes out of the country.  A primary objective of the government and the entire legal system is to ensure a "level playing field" in which everyone can compete for jobs and customers with the only constraints imposed being those that protect the common good.  Indeed, the common good is often damaged more by over-regulation than by self-imposed personal, corporate and industry self-regulation.

Over the centuries, the only "price control" proven to work is competition... greed is our "friend" if harnessed to encourage competition and thus bring down prices to a minimum.  From this perspective, government does not "create" wealth NOR redistribute it.  Government can only provide a safe and free environment in which the world's inventors and entrepreneurs can experiment with new ideas and compete efficiently.

A large number of us believe that humanity must temper "survival of the fittest", and that this, in fact, is the reason behind civilization.  We are simply better off cooperating and specializing rather than killing.  Whether this "humanizing temperament" comes from religion, science or some reversal in the laws of evolution is of no significance compared to the value it holds to all people of good will.

From this perspective, it is offensive to turn our backs upon the suffering in the 3rd world and complain about losses among our volunteer troops or losses of riches "we could spend on our own".  Withdrawal from the world cannot be justified on the basis of "they are not worth it".  Indeed, the commitment to helping the enslaved find self-governance and self-sufficiency is not just humanitarian, but also pragmatic survivalist in origins.  We simply do not have enough guns or graveyards to hold back the starving masses if we continue to focus only on making OUR lives better.

In summary, as long as Obama or McCain speaks to our nations ideals and pursues them through practical and pragmatic means, either of them can be our next president.

If either strays right or left into party prejudices or proposes solutions based on ignoring pragmatic facts, there will be a revolution springing from the core of the American spirit and neither party (as we know them today) will long survive.

We want to achieve Liberal objectives ("liberty and justice for all") via Conservative (proven, practical) means.  I pray that these politicians recognize this and have make this central to their policies going forward.

If this all talk turns out to be a political ploy to win elections by deceiving us into "crossover" voting, there will be hell to pay.

 

Our Shared Dream

 There has  been a great deal said about Reverend MLK's "I have a dream" speech.  Indeed, it was a wonderful moment.  But it is just one among many instances of a recurring dream spanning the ages.

 Each generation has only a narrow, hazy view of the dream, but the dream has always been the same at its core.  Even within the short span of our nation's history, the dream recurs many times.  Our founding fathers had the dream that white male colonials might have the freedoms and respect previously reserved for British aristocracy.  They fought and won a nation free of an aristocracy based upon inheritance.

 President Andrew Jackson had the dream of extending this "freedom" to the farmers and backwoodsmen of his youth, extending the benefits of democracy beyond the educated elites to the common man.

 Though many of his words are quoted by Lincoln in eloquent defense of freedom for slaves, Jackson himself saw the black man as property.  He drove the Indians of the southern states like cattle along the "Trail of Tears", in violation of treaty and against the rulings of the Supreme Court, stealing their land for the expansion of the "white man's destiny".  From Jackson's narrow dream sprang the Democratic Party, expanding "created equal" to a larger circle of citizens.

 President Lincoln further expanded the dream, correctly observed that this democracy could not survive "half slave and half free".  He freed the slaves and gave them full citizenship.  But in spite of the carnage of the civil war and decades of suffering afterwards, this nation was still segregated by race when MLK spoke of his dream, nearly 100 years later.  In spite of the limits of Lincoln's dream, the ideals gave birth to the Republican Party and again widened the circle.

 Now women vote.  Discrimination is against the law rather than imposed by the law.  And in many more subtle ways, our freedoms grow.

 But the next generation needs a new leader with the wisdom to observe that this WORLD cannot survive "half slave and half free," and the courage to bring this dream to life once more.  When the circle of freedom again expands, the hypocrisies of OUR generation will become as clear to our children as those of our fathers have become to us.  Clearly, in the future:

  - We cannot demand a clean environment in America, yet pay massive sums to export the pollution causing activities overseas or block solutions with "not in my backyard" attitudes.

  - We cannot demand social security and universal health care, yet pay for it with an economy that exploits the social insecurity of the rest of the world and neglects their health.

  - We cannot demand free education for our youth, yet deny it for the young of the world.

  - We cannot insist upon high paying jobs and minimum wage laws for our people, and not expect the rest of the world to demand their share.

 The world cannot remain half democratic and half exploited.  We cannot be true to our own "dream" if we deny it to others around the world.  We ARE our brothers' keepers.  We ARE destined to be good stewards of this entire world, else we implicitly enslave our sisters and brothers.  They certainly have every right to life and liberty we ALL have been given.  But for the grace of nature's God, we would be suffering in ignorance, poverty and enslavement with the rest of the world.

 The most shocking fact of today's politics is how well balanced the hypocrisies are across BOTH parties!  Where is the candidate that sees beyond the narrow constituencies of the past?  Where is the candidate calling for the sacrifice needed bring life to the dream?

 The challenge for our and future generations is huge.  It is literally "world-wide".   We cannot deal with these challenges by pretending we can go back to a simpler age.  The world has seen the dream and will demand it for themselves.  Pulling back from the future is NOT a possibility.

 Critics may say, "Sunni and Shiite cannot live together!"  Or critics may say, "Jew and Arab will never make peace!"  Or say, "The rich will always exploit the poor."  Or say, "Survival of the fittest is the basis for all life!"  The ranks of the naysayers are legion.

 In reply, remind them of the progress we've made to get here.  Remind them of history.  Remind them of the battlefields covered deep with the men and women who raised us to this day.  Remind them from whence civilization has come.  We ARE the masters of our own shared destiny.  We have been granted freedom and must continue to expand its blessings in ever larger circles of virtue, with love for each other, hope for the future, and faith in our shared dreams.

 Vote for unity, not blame; vote for common ground, not for selfish advantage; vote and WORK for a better future for the world, not just for our narrow interests.

 There is only enough to feed us if we share the few loaves and fishes of our lives, generously.