Transformational politics and remembering what it's all about

[TayTay]

I read some of a http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/2/0139/53259/319/561083">post on DailyKos about an interview Bill Moyers did with former Senator Fritz Hollings. The distinguished former Senator from South Carolina was decrying the obscene amounts of money in politics today and how all that money is being used to keep the people away from their government and elected representatives. I couldn't help but think of the words that Sen. Kerry used when http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/how_kerry_came_to_endorse_obam.html">he endorsed Sen. Obama for President back in January of this year.

But I believe that more than anyone else, Barack Obama can help our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting us and ending the division that we have faced. He has a superb talent, as all of you know, to communicate the best of our hopes and aspirations for America and for the world and that is why Barack Obama has the greatest potential to lead a transformation not just a transition.

He knows that real change only comes when millions of Americans join together and come together in a movement that demands it – when they’re united in common cause and to speak out so loudly that Washington absolutely has no choice but to listen. That’s not just a way to win the election – it’s the only way to change the nation. He understands that we have to force the politicians to feel your power – and I am here because it is Barack Obama who in a unique way brings the lessons of the neighborhood, the lessons of the legislature and the lessons of his own life to that awesome challenge. And my friends those lessons that made him a candidate to bring change to our country they’re same lessons he will bring to the oval office every day to fight for you as President of the United States.

But what are we transforming? This excerpt is from a speech in the Congressional Record that Sen. Kerry wrote in 1999. This was in support of the Clean Money, Clean Elections bill he and Sen. Paul Wellstone had written to take big money out of politics.

Today the political system is being corrupted because there is too much unregulated, misused money circulating in an environment where candidates will do anything to get elected and where, too often, the special interests set the tone of debate more than the political leaders or the American people. Just consider the facts for a moment. The rising cost of seeking political office is outrageous. In 1996, House and Senate candidates spent more than $765 million, a 76% increase since 1990 and a six fold increase since 1976. Since 1976, the average cost for a winning Senate race went from $600,000 to $3.3 million, and in the arms race for campaign dollars in 1996 many of us were forced to spend significantly more than that. In constant dollars, we have seen an increase of over 100 percent in the money spent for Senatorial races from 1980 to 1994. Today Senators often spend more time on the phone ``dialing for dollars'' than on the Senate floor. The average Senator must raise $12,000 a week for six years to pay for his or her re-election campaign.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The use of soft money has exploded. In 1988, Democrats and Republicans raised a combined $45 million in soft money. In 1992 that number doubled to reach $90 million and in 1995-96 that number tripled to $262 million. This trend continues in this cycle. What's the impact of all that soft money? It means that the special interests are being heard. They're the ones with the influence. But ordinary citizens can't compete. Fewer than one third of one percent of eligible voters donated more than $250 in the electoral cycle of 1996. They're on the sidelines in what is becoming a coin-operated political system.

The Presidential race is coming into the silly season when it will seem to be about anything but the American people. Sen. McCain is trying to get people to focus on things that don't matter to most Americans. The Reublicans have the weakest hand to play of any major political party in the last 30 years. So, they are faking populism and pretending that drilling for oil offshore will help struggling families put gas in the tank. It won't and it is breathlessly cynical for McCain's people to deploy these tactics.

Remember what this is about and why Sen. Kerry endorsed Sen. Obama back in January. Transformative politics. Yeah, Obama has a lot of big donors. But he is also getting a hell of a lot of people to check back into the process.

A lot of the skirmishes that are happening now are because the McCain people have no answer for what Sen. Obama has been able to do. None. Their entire message machine was geared to deliver negative attacks that raise hopelessness and fear and make people believe that nothing can ever get better, it can only get worse. The Republican attack is an inherently negative thing, it is about being negative and about promising that McCain can only help the least bad thing happen more slowly.

We have to get Barack Obama to the White House. We have to break this endless repetition that America can't do anything because all our options are bad and nothing we do matters anyway. That idea corrupts the process and sends voters a message that they have no place in their own government and should simply give up. We need another message. We need a transformation that invites the people in and counts them as the most essential part of the process. This is very much a battle against cynicism and hopelessness, against a politics that invites failure and one that invites hope.

[YvonneCa]

1. Thanks, TayTay...

...that's why I'm still here. :)

[wisteria]

2. Hope, change and transformation are wonderful things, but there is comfort too.

Senator Obama needs to make people feel comfortable about him and the things he wants to do. How do you make people more comfortable with Senator Obama?

[ladym55]

3. When you hear Obama speak, you feel good about him

He speaks to people with warmth, humor, and intelligence. Sadly, we aren't getting to HEAR him speak. His speech on race in this country ... his speech in Berlin. Anyone who took the time to listen GOT IT.

Now the trick will be to shut up the bobbleheads in the corporate media who stand between the people and hearing what the candidates stand for. They don't cover it. They just cover Grampy's sniping without any follow-up questions. They are trying to do to Obama what they did to JK. Anyone who had EVER heard JK didn't recognize the person characterized on TV or in the newspapers.

Obama CAN make a difference, but he will have to fight through the corporate media to get to the White House.

[wisteria]

4. True, but big speeches among large crowds do not allow him to make the connections he needs to

people, IMO. There is more to making people feel comfortable about you than just giving speeches. And, honestly, I worry that many people do not take the time to listen to what he says in his speeches. I love speeches, you probably love speeches, but I have had people comment to me that they don't have the time to pay attention to them and they do not feel a connection to Senator Obama.
Don't get me wrong, I am not just saying these things to be critical, I want to see Obama win this and from what I am hearing in my part of PA he is not reaching the people with his current strategies. I can't really blame the media for the current perception of Senator Obama or even his message. I personally think they have been more than fair to him in their coverage.That may change now, but he has had more than his fair share of media time up until now.
I do appreciate your point of view though. I am happy your experiences have been better than mine.

[beachmom]

5. I thought this "moment" in Florida was important:

If you haven't done so, watch this video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x164197

Obama was interrupted by protesters, and was very polite to them. He listened to their questions, answered them, but was still being shouted at (you can't hear the guy, but you can see his arm moving, clearly he is shouting). Obama ends with, well, you may not like the way I talk about these issues so you have a couple of options: you can vote for somebody else OR you can run for office.

I have to say, I really liked this, and was impressed. He was classy the whole time, but his final word was an empowering suggestion. It was an invitation to join the process. You know -- don't get mad or cynical, get to work. Get your message heard. Now granted it was in a large crowd (although I do know for a fact that the Obama campaign plan smaller events all the time -- but it is a tough thing, because it is the equivalent to U2 playing a small club when they could fill a stadium. A lot of disappointed people won't be able to see him when it's a smaller event)). But I found it to be an intimate moment. Imagine if it was just one on one. He may have even more to say.