I'm used to the fact that most political literature doesn't say much of substance anymore. But, the palm card I picked up from the campaign of Illinois Republican Congressional candidate Rodney Davis still struck me as unusual. It reads:
In OUR AMERICA, we all put in an honest day's work. OUR AMERICA is the morning sun rising up over the cornfield, and where we hug our kids before they head off to school.
OUR AMERICA is found around a dinner table in Taylorville, in a grade school in Decatur, at a new business in Champaign, and in the pews of a church in Springfield.
RODNEY DAVIS KNOWS OUR AMERICA
...In Congress, Rodney will speak for us and fight for the things that matter most to us: family, jobs and cutting wasteful spending.
Presumably, Davis will also take tough stands in favor of rainbows and puppy dogs. What should I take from this message, other than the fact that Davis buys his campaign literature from the discount rack of Hallmark greeting cards?
Implicit in the bold, capitalized OUR AMERICA is that there must also be THEIR AMERICA. Some other morally inferior America where the sun doesn't rise in the morning, people don't work hard, and parents don't hug their children. Who are THEY in this piece? Who's the infamous other? It's left to the reader to fill in the blanks.
It was handed out by campaign representatives at a 9-12 event where "Take back Illinois" organizers told of Obama's socialist plot to destroy America. I'm sure attendees were able to identify "the other" for themselves.
Davis is running against Democrat David Gill in Illinois' new 13th district.