FACING FACTS
Ellis Cose
To Dream a Little Dream of Us
This contest is not about who is the best orator; it is more about who is the best dream merchant.
It will not be Ronald Reagan's "Morning again in America." the times are too dicey for that. But the Republican National Convention this week, no less than the Democratic one that just ended, will be a showcase for dreams—and arguments about how to make them real.
The Republicans will do their best to match the Democrats' soaring rhetoric. Though, on that front, they will be challenged. It's hard to imagine Cindy McCain evoking the fervor of Michelle Obama, or Tim Pawlenty and Arnold Schwarzenegger generating the drama and heat of back-to-back Clintons. And as compelling as John McCain's own life story is, he will be hard-pressed to top the oratory of Barack Obama—whose acceptance speech was all the more poignant for coming on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legendary discourse on a dream whose fulfillment some see in Obama himself.
But this contest is not about who is the best orator; it is more about who is the best dream merchant. Make no mistake: both candidates, and both parties, have dreams to sell. Or, more accurately, they have different versions of the same dream— the American Dream. In the end, the election is likely to go to the candidate who best argues his dream is the more authentic—and his approach the most American.
Both candidates claim they are children of the Dream. Both are eloquent in offering up their versions of what it did for them, and of what it can do for other Americans. McCain's Republican version emphasizes toughness, individuality and loyalty—to country, to friends—that trumps virtually anything else. The Republican convention, themed "Country First," will wrap that vision in an American flag. It will roll out the narrative of an authentic war hero fighting a battle to lead an America that, while enduring some hard times, is basically sound. It will also be a celebration of the doggedness and ingenuity of the American people—people who, in McCain's opinion, are smart enough to know that a young man with a silver tongue but meager experience cannot lead them into a brilliant morning.
Obama's Democratic version of the Dream focuses less on celebrating individual success and more on protecting the vulnerable. But Obama also believes something that McCain does not: that the Dream itself is endangered. Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, said the dream "feels as if it's slowly slipping away." Many Obama supporters share his concern and think that dramatic measures are required. As Bernard Anderson (an assistant secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration and an Obama delegate) put it, "The fundamental process of upward mobility has broken down."
Within seconds of Obama's speech in Denver, the McCain camp blasted out what it deemed to be a corrective of the misleading claims Obama had made. Among them was Obama's statement that McCain didn't believe American families were hurting—that in McCain's view, the country had made "great progress economically."
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Member Comments
Posted By: Hope4Change2008 @ 10/22/2008 11:45:39 AM
Comment: As a white voter, I've got something to say. I just can't get past the fact that Barack Obama is black. And I unequivocally and unabashedly am extremely PROUD OF IT...Obama does stand for change and hope, that we have finally surpassed the bigotry that once shamed our nation, degraded our very Constitution and what it means to be free and have rights. It is the very brand of that bigoted, limited thinking that has destroyed our diplomatic relations with other countries, caused the terrorists to turn their malice toward us, caused the economic and class breakdown to favor "the rich". Are we ready to show the true colors of our flag, our souls, and our skins, that Americans and their President are substantive people of integrity who stand together and united in the dream and aim for greatness, not mediocrity.
Posted By: ADELFAPINEDA @ 10/17/2008 3:04:06 PM
Comment: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30122043&l=0510b&id=1130236838
EL GRAN OBAMA PRESIDENTE 2008-14 El GOBIERNO DE LA DIPLOMACIA INTERNACIONAL. con (Cuba, Venezuela, Nuevo País patria Libre Independiente, y países del Medio Oriente), serán incluidos en la integración diplomática y respeto como nació. Después del debate, en donde fue definitivo, quedo claro, el perfil, visionario y las características de OBAMA PRESIDENTE 2008-14, que sacara de la crisis económica a los EE.UU y la región. OBAMA PRESIDENTE 2008-14 aplicara políticas de gobierno organizado, los mercados y la competencia, serán métodos que se enmarque en modelos económicos, dirigidos por los economistas (analistas y especialistas), y los métodos administrativos serán de expertos, de manera que el modelo conlleve una forma efectiva de llevar a la región al desarrollo económico, social, y cultural, en donde: prime el respeto y el equilibrio estado-el mercado, Que converja en beneficio de la sociedad y encamine todos los esfuerzos sincronizados de manera que se pueda erradicar la pobreza, erradicar la cultura de violencia, guerra y corrupción, 1ADELFA PINEDA TRANSPARENCIA Y ÉTICA: Por el Desarrollo del País; Dignidad Publica,:. 1
Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/15/2008 12:27:29 AM
Comment: "Press Releases
AJC Strongly Condemns Rev. Jesse Jackson's Comment on American Jews
October 14, 2008 - New York - The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned the Rev. Jesse Jackson's statement about 'Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades.'
"Rev. Jackson's remarks, which appeared in an interview with the journalist Amir Taheri in today's New York Post, echo classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. 'This statement, regrettably, is not the first troubling comment by Rev. Jackson regarding Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people.'
Arguing as a private citizen that an Obama administration could bring significant change to U.S. foreign policy, Jackson was quoted as saying that "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" would lose much of their influence should Senator Obama be elected president."
http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=6107743
And people are upset about raciest comments some in the crowd are allegedly saying at Palin events? Isn't this the same Democrat leader who once called New York "Hymietown"?