Reply #9: Cheer up - it's really unusual to care about politics

[karynnj]

months before an election.

The answer to some degree is Katrina. There was a huge shift between the values of the end of the 1920s, which were every bit as materialistic and I think there was some flirting with Fascism and the late 30s was the depression. When people could see that people, just like them - living their lives, doing the right thing - could through bad luck lose everything - they saw the need for the government to have a safety net.

In today's world where TV can make a story form LA seem like next door in NJ, the fact that we need each other's help should be obvious. What bothers me is that other than in the immediate aftermath, we're seeing very little. Firespirt's comments on what is going on now in Mississippi suggest that we are missing a fair portion of the truth.

I noticed a few of the other Conrad (or Drogan) used Kerry's comment that nowhere in the New Testament does it say to not help the poor to give tax cuts to the wealthy. (he said "no religion he knows of" ). When there are people suffering you would think these values would resonate for religious people.

What GIVES me some hope is that in 2008, 911 will be more in the past and there will be no incumbent. From the Esquire article, the most interesting comment to me is that Kerry made the point of saying he kept his integrity while running. Interesting because it suggests a conscious rejection of the alternative. I would hope that deep down America shares Kerry's values. If it doesn't, it's the county's loss, if if does, he is standing there with the same values he has demonstrated his whole life.

But if his values resonate - he needs to get people to see him for who he is. This is hard, but not as hard as the task of others which is to identify the type of person who could win, project themselves as that and then to hope their past is not too big a contradiction. (The other hard thing to get past is for Bush voters to see they not only were wrong about Bush, but about Kerry - this might be a 2 step process unless they blame the media for both misconceptions.)