"The Democrats’ speeches were hardly inspiring. Nancy Pelosi...is a poor public speaker, and most of her colleagues managed to turn high political drama into garbled litanies of policy prescriptions. The Democrats are as averse to boiling things down to their essence as the Republicans are addicted to it."
Too true.
One gets the feeling that maybe, just maybe left-of-center politicians are beginning to get the idea that it will help more than it will hurt to speak about how wrong the Republican opposition is, wrong morally, intellectually and pragmatically too, wrong in every way that it is possible to be wrong. And yet still no one on the left seems quite able just to break it down and call a spade a spade. Obama has his moments, but especially when he's off script he all to easily slips into Gore-esque policy-heavy wonkese.
We need Democratic candidates to get out on the stump slinging fire and brimstone:
"In this election you have a choice between two candidates and two conflicting philosophies. And just in case any of you may feel unsure about the nature of that choice, let me make it clear for you. Over there you see a candidate who believes that the government is evil, that anything the government does to regulate the activities of rich men and giant corporations is an abomination before God. With me you stand with a man who knows that the government is nothing more and nothing less than all of us working together towards a common goal. Government is not evil. It is no worse--and no better--than we are ourselves.
"Over there you see a candidate who believes that wealth is created solely by individuals. He does not see that rich men and corporations are free to earn their billions only because we, the people of the United States of America, grant them leave to do so. He denies the existence of such a thing as the social contract. He denies that you, the people who constitute the government of the USA have any right whatsoever to a share of the profits of any of the great corporations which thrive only because you have granted them permission to thrive. If you give that man a chance, he will end taxation. Sounds good, right? 'No taxes! Money for everybody!' But who will reap the lion's share of the benefits? You? Hell, no! It'll be Exxon making out like a fox in the hen-house. And Halliburton. And Dow Chemical. And Goldman-Sachs, and so-on and so-on. Meanwhile that candidate and his cronies are going to cut your health coverage down to nothing; they're going to deny your children an education; they're going to deny your cities money to build roads and parks and public transportation systems; they're going to deny your democratically elected government the financial means to do any good for anybody at all. Hell, the only thing he will be willing to spend money on will be prisons--just so when we finish slamming shut the door of opportunity on the most troubled young people among us we have a big enough hole in which to lock them up and throw away the key."
Too true.
One gets the feeling that maybe, just maybe left-of-center politicians are beginning to get the idea that it will help more than it will hurt to speak about how wrong the Republican opposition is, wrong morally, intellectually and pragmatically too, wrong in every way that it is possible to be wrong. And yet still no one on the left seems quite able just to break it down and call a spade a spade. Obama has his moments, but especially when he's off script he all to easily slips into Gore-esque policy-heavy wonkese.
We need Democratic candidates to get out on the stump slinging fire and brimstone:
"In this election you have a choice between two candidates and two conflicting philosophies. And just in case any of you may feel unsure about the nature of that choice, let me make it clear for you. Over there you see a candidate who believes that the government is evil, that anything the government does to regulate the activities of rich men and giant corporations is an abomination before God. With me you stand with a man who knows that the government is nothing more and nothing less than all of us working together towards a common goal. Government is not evil. It is no worse--and no better--than we are ourselves.
"Over there you see a candidate who believes that wealth is created solely by individuals. He does not see that rich men and corporations are free to earn their billions only because we, the people of the United States of America, grant them leave to do so. He denies the existence of such a thing as the social contract. He denies that you, the people who constitute the government of the USA have any right whatsoever to a share of the profits of any of the great corporations which thrive only because you have granted them permission to thrive. If you give that man a chance, he will end taxation. Sounds good, right? 'No taxes! Money for everybody!' But who will reap the lion's share of the benefits? You? Hell, no! It'll be Exxon making out like a fox in the hen-house. And Halliburton. And Dow Chemical. And Goldman-Sachs, and so-on and so-on. Meanwhile that candidate and his cronies are going to cut your health coverage down to nothing; they're going to deny your children an education; they're going to deny your cities money to build roads and parks and public transportation systems; they're going to deny your democratically elected government the financial means to do any good for anybody at all. Hell, the only thing he will be willing to spend money on will be prisons--just so when we finish slamming shut the door of opportunity on the most troubled young people among us we have a big enough hole in which to lock them up and throw away the key."
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