Hopes and Dreams
I had the opportunity at Saturday's Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner to listen to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell wax poetic about the values he sees in the Democratic Party and the path he thinks we should take. While most of the speech echoed a Warner-like call for centrism and coalition-building, Rendell's comments about the nature of politics particularly caught my attention. It seemed that he couldn't emphasize enough his belief that politics, particularly Democratic politics, should be FUN.
My standard line when anyone asks me why I'm a Democrat is that "the Democratic Party is the party of hope and change for America." Its not often that I sit and think about what those words really mean, but Rendell's emphasis that Democratic politics is about hope and opportunity got me thinking.
In attempting to define the Democratic Party of the 20th century, Democrats at every level of politics have struggled to articulate a clear message and agenda that resonates with the American voters. Over the years, the GOP has created an incredibly effective message machine which has delivered political success due in large part to teaching their audience to fear.
These days, Republican politics seems to be more about facilitating citizens' fears than helping them to realize their dreams. With a core constituency of middle-class, middle-income, middle-life people, the GOP wins their votes by telling them that bra-burning feminists and marriage-aspiring gays are to blame for their middle-sized house and too small SUV. Republicans play to fear of upheaval and loss, opposing social programs which will "steal" middle-class dollars and reduce medical coverage, social security payments, and general morality.
The GOP has discovered a corporate-size payoff in the politics of fear.
Fear has never been an American value. It speaks volumes that the American DREAM inspires not only our own nation, but oppressed people around the world. The great moments in our history have been brought about by visionaries who forsaw the potential in change and the opportunities it would produce.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, James Madison, and the rest of our founders espoused a liberal philosophy of democratic ideology and self-government which was off-the-charts lefty radical for its time. What if they had given in to the politics of fear?
What if Abraham Lincoln had surrendered to the naysayers in his cabinet, or FDR had followed in the footsteps of Hoover? The politics of fear rarely triumph and when they do, history is not kind.
Democrats have always been about the triumph of hopes and dreams - the hopes and dreams of African-Americans, of women, of labor, of a myriad of minorities. We might have lost our way and strayed from the path lately, but that heritage is too strong to lose. Democrats, and Americans, are about hope and change for the future - for the realization of all of our American dreams.
Thanks Ed Rendell, for the reminder.
My standard line when anyone asks me why I'm a Democrat is that "the Democratic Party is the party of hope and change for America." Its not often that I sit and think about what those words really mean, but Rendell's emphasis that Democratic politics is about hope and opportunity got me thinking.
In attempting to define the Democratic Party of the 20th century, Democrats at every level of politics have struggled to articulate a clear message and agenda that resonates with the American voters. Over the years, the GOP has created an incredibly effective message machine which has delivered political success due in large part to teaching their audience to fear.
These days, Republican politics seems to be more about facilitating citizens' fears than helping them to realize their dreams. With a core constituency of middle-class, middle-income, middle-life people, the GOP wins their votes by telling them that bra-burning feminists and marriage-aspiring gays are to blame for their middle-sized house and too small SUV. Republicans play to fear of upheaval and loss, opposing social programs which will "steal" middle-class dollars and reduce medical coverage, social security payments, and general morality.
The GOP has discovered a corporate-size payoff in the politics of fear.
Fear has never been an American value. It speaks volumes that the American DREAM inspires not only our own nation, but oppressed people around the world. The great moments in our history have been brought about by visionaries who forsaw the potential in change and the opportunities it would produce.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, James Madison, and the rest of our founders espoused a liberal philosophy of democratic ideology and self-government which was off-the-charts lefty radical for its time. What if they had given in to the politics of fear?
What if Abraham Lincoln had surrendered to the naysayers in his cabinet, or FDR had followed in the footsteps of Hoover? The politics of fear rarely triumph and when they do, history is not kind.
Democrats have always been about the triumph of hopes and dreams - the hopes and dreams of African-Americans, of women, of labor, of a myriad of minorities. We might have lost our way and strayed from the path lately, but that heritage is too strong to lose. Democrats, and Americans, are about hope and change for the future - for the realization of all of our American dreams.
Thanks Ed Rendell, for the reminder.
posted by Anna at 1:17 PM
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