Kennedy’s optimistic message – lost for decades -- has recently been excavated from the ruins of Watergate, Monica-gate, September 11, 2001 and the long desert that is the Bush Administration.
“Hope” and “change” are the main themes percolating to the top of the 2008 presidential election. This upbeat message is not only resonating with Democrats, but also with Independents, Libertarians and Republicans.
It seems most of us are finally fed up with politics-as-usual: fear mongering, war and partisan bickering.
Why is it that an optimistic message is connecting with a majority of Americans even as we face the cold reality of higher prices for groceries and gasoline, a looming recession, out-of-control national debt, a falling dollar, the threat of a job loss, mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, and (despite the past seven years of promises that policies enacted by the Bush Administration would keep us safe even as it lessened our individual freedoms and liberties) the real possibility of a nuclear attack on American soil?
Do we owe a debt of gratitude to Steven Colbert, who first exposed the naked Emperor behind the curtain at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006? That was the day that it all started – making way for others like Jon Stewart, Keith Olberman, Bill Moyers and Rachel Maddow to really start to challenge Bush and the Republicans.
Could this populist awakening be a result of more access to progressive views on the Internet?
Whatever the reason for the trend, we are excited to see that Americans are not so easily entranced by the constant barrage of subliminal and not-so-subliminal messages that we should ignore reality and consume more, fear more, hate more, and care about each other less.
People today seem more willing to question the “conventional wisdom” of pundits and pols. Do we dare dream that those are the tender shoots of a new populist movement we see sprouting up from the frozen tundra of cynicism?
If so, its really got those entrenched party partisans and talking heads so frightened they are frantically stomping their feet and spraying weed killer on all that hope and optimism lest it take hold and strangle out the power and control over our election process that they’ve enjoyed for decades.
Although we do hope the momentum will continue to swell throughout the year -- eventually cleansing
Nonetheless, we think it is possible that young people, first time voters, independents and progressives will flock to the Democratic candidate in such high numbers that it will be impossible to totally control and fix each and every ballot.
We believe that this is precisely why the Democrats won in 2006 despite Karl Rove’s assertions that he had access to “the” numbers that showed Republicans would maintain a majority.
To successfully fix an election, the party-poopers rely on one or more of the following:
- A brainwashed electorate;
- Party bosses willing to do whatever it takes to get their candidate elected;
- Redrawing district lines to favor one party over another;
- Party loyalists who are willing to cheat;
- Easy-to hack voting machines with no paper trail;
- Voter suppression;
- Few in number but large in cash contributors having more sway than voters;
- Influential personalities willing to spin party messages and repeat talking points;
- An ignorant, lazy electorate unable or unwilling to find the truth;
- Voter apathy and/or a majority of eligible voters choosing not to vote.
When the primaries are over and the candidates are chosen – no matter which one is the Democrat or the Republican – those with the most to lose will line up behind the Republican (who is more likely to maintain the corporatist status quo) to point both barrels at the Democrat (who may be more likely this time to fight for the little guy).
What we can do – all of us – during that inevitable onslaught, is to avoid the same-old trap of letting the opposition frame the terms of the debate.
This time we must not let the mudslingers hide as we debate the accuracy of their swift-boating lies.
We need to expose the source of the misinformation and show that it originates from those with the most to lose – big money interests who've been getting rich and fat off our ignorance and despair.
When the Rush Limbaugh’s, Dan Bartlett’s and Karl Rove’s (or any right-wing pundit or supporter) starts spewing the old the left/right, liberal/conservative, Republican/Democrat paradigm, let’s avoid getting defensive about our candidate’s beliefs and positions.
Instead, we'll remind one another that these are the same loud-mouthed minions who carry water for big oil, big pharma and the military industrial complex.
If we can do this, then the Democratic candidate -- and the American people -- will win.
