The Bird-Magic Coalition
Mon Nov 13, 2006 at 07:44:26 AM PDT
In the wake of the elections, Democratic grass-roots are showering a lot of attention on what is perceived to be a
"new type of Democrat", as personified by Senator-elect Jon Tester. An idea is taking shape, that the simple prairie populism and down-home values embodied by Tester can become the foundation for expanding Democratic electoral gains, and reworking the Party's public image. This is all for the good, but it is important to keep in mind that rural farmers can only make up one part of a truly popular coalition.
In other quarters, Barack Obama has captured much of the public's fancy. Although Obama has come in for some criticism around here for seeming to play into Republican talking points, he remains an intriguing and forceful representative of another vital Democratic constituency: urban minorities, and the working class. What is needed is a melding of these rather disparate groups, together with other traditional supporters, into a new, 21st century Democratic coalition. To me, the best analogy would be the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson model.
(Please turn to page 2.)
Bird and Johnson were the poster children for the renaissance of the National Basketball Association in the 1980s, and between them they forged both a rivalry and a friendship that is unsurpassed in professional sports lore. Beginning with the epic NCAA title game between Bird's Indiana State and Magic's Michigan State in 1979, the two faced off in a decade of competition between Bird's Boston Celtics and Magic's L.A. Lakers that created countless cherished memories and highlight films.
What is even more meaningful than their athletic excellence, however, is the message that arises from learning their individual stories, and especially their personal friendship. Bird and Magic came from opposite roots, not unlike Tester and Obama: Bird was a down-home Indiana kid from French Lick, his folksy twang matching his no-nonsense persona and devout work ethic. Magic was the epitome of an urban black basketball star from Lansing, Michigan, with a confident swagger and an infectious smile that branded him a superstar from an early age. While they began their careers as intense rivals, over time they learned to respect and eventually admire each other above all else. They each visited the other's home, getting to know the inner man, his family, his background, and understanding how it was possible to arrive at the same pinnacle - love of the game, devotion to excellence, caring for colleagues and community, sincerity of commitment - from utterly different origins.
I think the analogy can and should apply to the new Democratic coalition, if we are to seek a meeting of the minds and spirits of both the urban working class and the rural populists. There are countless city dwellers who have never set foot on a farm, who would frankly laugh at the apparent simplicity and even boredom of life in places like Montana. And there are just as many folks living off the land and in small towns who feel mostly distrust and fear toward the Big City and much that it seems to represent.
Yet there is a lot of room for discovering the common bonds between these "regular" Americans, as Bird and Magic demonstrated, if each group has the opportunity to learn and share the concerns of the other. Farmers are just as concerned as urban workers about economic justice and opportunity - the chance to compete without being overwhelmed by mega corporate interference, the need to obtain affordable health care, public support for needed infrastructure and investment. They also largely share the same bedrock "values": privacy and individual rights, spiritual/religious commitment, community involvement, respect for elders, etc. There may be differences arising from the different backgrounds and social/cultural conditions of each segment, but there is more than enough foundation for a firm and lasting partnership of mutual respect.
I should also point out that the Bird-Magic analogy goes a bit further beyond the Midwest rural-urban mix. Because Bird played his career in Boston, and Magic in Los Angeles, the two bastions of traditional liberal/Democratic power and influence in this country. Boston is the academic, intellectual capital, the center of the Democrats' northeastern enclave, source of three Presidential candidates and generations of party and ideological leaders. L.A. is home to Hollywood, the cultural and media capital of the nation, whose moguls have been both courted and criticized for their disproportionate influence on the country's politics. Both coasts embraced and worshiped the transplanted Midwesterners during their NBA careers, finding as much inspiration in their performance and personalities as they found in each other. For the new Democratic coalition to become truly national and enduring, we need the same nexus of East and West Coast "elites" joining forces, ideologically and strategically, with the urban and rural bloodlines of middle America.
Psychic .mp3 player contribution:
I haven't mentioned this before, but I have a psychic .mp3 player. It contains over 2,000 of my favorite songs from all periods and styles of (mostly Rock) music. Yet when I set if on "random play", it almost always seems to yield forth songs that are utterly fitting to the moment, mood, or thoughts that I'm experiencing. While thinking about these issues, it served up the following:
Masterpiece, by The Temptations
Where I was born ev`rything was dull and dingy
I lived in a place they called "The Inner City"
Getting ahead was strictly a no no
'Cause nobody cares what happens to the folks
That live in the ghetto
Thousands of lives wasting away
People living from day to day
It`s a challenge just staying alive
`Cause in the ghetto only the strong survive
For a rural counterpoint, my player offered Jethro Tull, Britain's most prolific minstrel of the agrarian life:
Heavy Horses, move the land under me
Behind the plough gliding --- slipping and sliding free
Now you're down to the few
And there's no work to do
The tractor's on its way.
Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed
to keep the old line going.
And we'll stand you abreast at the back of the wood
behind the young trees growing
To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth,
and your eighteen hands at the shoulder
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
and the nights are seen to draw colder
They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power
your noble grace and your bearing
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
in the wake of the deep plough, sharing.
But for this purpose I might more readily choose, say, John Mellencamp:
Well there's a young man in a t-shirt
Listening to a rock 'n' roll station
He's got a greasy hair, greasy smile
He says: "Lord, this must be my destination"
'Cuz they told me, when I was younger
"Boy, you're gonna be president"
But just like everyting else, those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
Oh but ain't that America for you and me
Ain't that America we're someting to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me
Cross-posted from Truth and Progress
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