There is a groundswell occurring before our very eyes. Normal folks are becoming less interested in the divisions that have been emphasized for political gain since the Nixon Administration.
People want hope. The world is proving to be a dangerous place. The markets are proving to not be as beneficient as we were led to believe. People want a leader who doesn't resort to demagoguery. They want a leader who will listen and unite.
In the review of our political history in the US, scholars have outlined six major "systems" of political opposition. It began with the Federalists (Hamilton) and Anti-Federalists (Jefferson). I believe that we are at one of the cusps in our history: the beginning of the 7th system.
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While current events are too close to be seen clearly, the Republican party appears to be on the verge of catastrophe. I have stated elsewhere that this is due to the sheer ineptitude and callousness of Bush and Rove. In their foolhardy attempts to inculcate a permanent Republican majority, they overplayed their hand.
The cornerstones of that majority were faulty, and their house of cards is falling. Afghanistan was not a large enough war to preclude recession. Iraq was a necessity. Social issues like abortion, gay marriage and guns are not enough to maintain the base constituency of social, financinal and foreign policy conservatives. Mr. Rove, nothing is permanent.
I am officially calling an end to the 6th system: Nixon through Bush 43. Conservative ideology has been paramount through this era. Clinton is notwithstanding, as his Gingrich-led Congress gave him primarily conservative agenda achievements. These include NAFTA and welfare reform.
We are standing on the edge of the future, much like where Roosevelt stood when he saw the fragmenting Republican doctrines under Hoover. It is time for the pendulum to swing back to the Left. The last forty years of robber-barons has left its mark upon us all. The poor are now much poorer. Only the bottom line is served.
Where will the new Progressive coalition be formed? As Barack Obama has said, it will be formed on the basis of human "dignity". The strongest enemy of extremism and fundamentalism is dignity. When an individual is personally fulfilled, they are far less likely to be worried about the Other. They will not seek to blame those who are different for the lack that they sense in themselves.
Senator Barack Obama has the sense of the future.