I want to share something Obama said that I found inspiring. "Michael from NYC" posted this on Al Giordana's blog, The Field."
"I love when I’m shaking hands on a rope line and"— he mimes the motion, hand over hand — "I see little old white ladies and big burly black guys and Latino girls and all their hands are entwining. They’re feeding on each other as much as on me."
He shrugs; it’s that distancing eye of the author.
"It’s like I’m just the excuse."
This morning, Giordano, whom I consider one of the most insightful political bloggers around, wrote something very much worth reading. It's been 40 years since the last real, bottom-up national political movement. 40 years since our hearts were broken and our hopes shattered by the assassinations of MLK and RFK. 40 years since many of us have believed it possible to effectuate real change. 40 years since we've pulled together as one people rather than allowing ourselves to be frightened and manipulated into pulling apart. 40 years in the desert, if you will.
As one who has been paying attention politically for quite some time, and has become a seasoned realist (not the starry eyed youth I once was), I can feel a shift. Something that goes deeper than what's apparent at the surface. Not only for our nation, but for the entire world. We've been waiting, passing time, distracting ourselves in countless ways, too afraid to hope or dream or yearn. But now our culture is shifting in a meaningful, perhaps generational, way. And it's not just about Obama. He's a carrier, a major focus, but not the cause.
Giordano's a great political analyst and closet philosopher. He understands where we've gotten stuck these last 40 years. Understands the ways we've turned inward and become self obsessed as a nation, unable to work together for the common good. He's one of those rare people who has helped carry the seeds of community orientation across the chasm.
Rather than restate what Al says so much better than I could anyway, I'd like to take a moment to offer a bit of context (and a link to his article). It would be a mistake, I believe, to consider our culture a cesspool of self absorption. The truth is way more complex, a kaleidoscope of influences, combining ever greater social and intellectual freedoms dating to at least the beginning of the 20th Century and a cultural atomization that has given rise to a profound sense of alienation.
I recall, just barely, the political landscape of the late '60s, when there was still some remnant of hope that the world could be changed for the better and still some significant instinct for community action. I remember Watergate and the cynicism that became so fashionable thereafter. The shock (of my parents) over Kent State, over the Vietnam War (as it became apparent that things were not as portrayed by our government), the realization that the United States was not the force for good in the world that many had thought, and the despair that went with it. After that, fashionable people didn’t believe in anything idealistic unless it pertained to the individual. That’s when the personal transformation movement arose and, with it, organizations like est. People withdrew from communal life; from political action, sure, but even from things as trivial as bowling leagues, immersing themselves more and more in their own personal endeavors.
Over time, most became cynical about the potential for even small-scale personal transformation (those who had bought into the notion to begin with) and we moved into a more toxic form of individualism, ushered in by Ronald Reagan and the notion that selfishness was a good thing, a socially productive driver. Since then, it seems our culture has been overtaken by every form of compulsion (or, more accurately, distraction) imaginable, from shopping to skiing, to sailing, to skydiving, to sex, to drugs, etc., etc., ad nauseum. A kind of mass narcissism, the apotheosis of which was the Clinton campaign itself, with its endless emphasis on victimization, it's self-absorbed assertion of the right to "fight on" to the last ounce of blood, the cost to party and nation be damned. (All of which was summed up extremely well, yesterday, by TocqueDeville.)
However, I don’t want to overlook the good that has come along with these cultural shifts -- the intellectual and social freedom that has arisen, progressively, throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st, raising consciousness in a variety of ways. There’s an openness now to our society that is new, a tolerance of differences (without which Obama would be unthinkable as a viable political candidate), a willingness to allow people to explore -- inwardly (spiritually) and outwardly (in the world) as well. But it came at a price — perhaps because of our own shortcomings — and evolved in an unbalanced way, drawing us into overindulgence, overspending, record borrowing (individually and collectively), (the "spending [of] our grandchildren’s inheritance," if you will), and a lack of connection to community or willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.
In this election cycle, Giordana's been offering a kind of political tough-love boot camp. For those of us who have become so used to being on the losing side of political struggles that we don't know how to hold ranks and keep our eyes on the prize (as was the mantra of the civil rights movement). That's the context for his "chicken little" remarks. Please take a few minutes to read his thoughts. I recommend perusing the comments too.
One more thing. Those of us who are part of this community have witnessed and been a part of the struggle, these last few years, for the heart and soul of the Democratic party. The old guard -- insular, corporatist and essentially focused on preserving its power -- against activists like us, trying to restore the ideals and principles of progressivism. Howard Dean has been at the center of this struggle, quietly leading as chair of the DNC.
As you know, he was instrumental in bringing the "50 State Strategy" to Washington. Fighting those who, for years, funneled all resources into so-called "swing states," leaving the party to wither and die everywhere else. Dean recognized that to restore progressive values, it was essential to rebuild the party from its grassroots.
The old guard resisted, perceiving Dean as wasting precious, finite resources in places that could never be won over. Now we're seeing Democrats winning in very "red" Republican districts. The 2006 landslide is largely attributable to his leadership, as is the 2008 race that's shaping up to be an even greater landslide.
Activists like us have fought for better Democrats, people truly committed to progressive values, up and down ticket. (It goes without saying that no small part of the credit for this movement goes to kos for creating and leading this community.)
Had Clinton won the nomination, the first thing she would have done is replace Dean, most likely with her man, Terry McAuliffe, who formerly ran the DNC (nearly into the ground) or someone very much like him. This morning, with Obama at the helm of the party, Dean was reappointed (as diaried by TomP). And, as of today, the DNC has signed onto the same pledge (as diaried by JJC) that the Obama campaign has operated under throughout the campaign, to accept no funds from lobbyists or political action committees.
This really does represent change we can believe in. Fundamental, grass roots orientation, as pioneered by Dean in 2003 and raised to an art form by Obama in 2007.
Thanks for reading.