There is no doubt that the buzzword of the 2008 campaign was 'hope'. Mark my words, the buzzword of the 2010 elections will be 'courage'. On the national level, we've seen acts of courage: voting for health care, standing up for the environment, supporting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. We've also seen acts of cowardice: spreading lies about supposed death panels, insulting the dignity of a man with Parkinson's, yelling racial and homophobic slurs in our nation's capital. It's not surprising then that we've seen Ohio Senate candidate (and current Secretary of State) Jennifer Brunner make 'courage' her predominant campaign slogan. Why courage, though? I think Friedrich Nietzsche summed it up best:
"We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent."
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