[lbo-talk] Turnout and a Kerry Landslide

snit snat snitilicious at tampabay.rr.com
Wed Oct 6 10:39:31 PDT 2004


At 12:56 PM 10/6/2004, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:


>Roseanne was definitely in the nurturing/liberal category

I just got done reading a bit about Lakoff's work and I realized that, as much as people whine about Obama, what was compelling about his speech was that he talked about mutual responsibility --this nurturing parent frame to which you refer Wojtek:

"John Kerry believes in America. And he knows that it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are all connected as one people.

If there's a child on the South Side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child.

If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent.

If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper -- that makes this country work.

It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one."

Now, it seems to me that this is the place to start. I'd sign on to radicilize that message -- push it farther. As I understand it, this sentiment was the basis for the political movements that brought about social democracies in Western Europe. I think a lot of people can grok this --even free-marketers sell their vision on the basis that it's supposedly best for all if individuals pursue their self-interest.

That's what I was trying to get at a couple of months ago when I was saying that we have to organize around a broad message--like above--but that can be enacted concretely, so there are achievable goals. But, instead of embrace Obama's message and then try to push it farther, it just felt as if it was tossed aside so everyone could sneer at his claims about 'one america' or, more recently, his militaristic posing in preparation for 2008 (another good reason to think that Shrubya will win: Obama's preparing to run for prezdinet.)

Kelley

--

"As to my Boxers, keep off of them, they are great dogs and like a lot of Germans, they can smell beer from a long way off."

--Anton Benjamin Skoumal, Politics list



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