Now, I'll be the first to admit that, having been fairly well Obamacized since 2004, I was one of those who had...one...or two...heated things to say regarding the Clinton primary campaign in the earlier months of the year. It's not being untrue to a real sense of unity in purpose now to acknowledge that our differences then were not without substance.
But then something like Bill Clinton's convention speech happens, and I remember why, despite my non-DLC-ish tendencies, I supported Bill Clinton not once, but twice, and volunteered in 1992 when he came within 3.5% of George H. W. Bush here in South Dakota. Neither our side nor the other side has seen many orators in the last century better at galvanizing a crowd, managing to deftly frame the policy-wonk complexity of his ideas in a way that is accessible and simple without being simplistic.
In short, nobody can convince folks to get out to vote (and organize) for the Democrat like the Big Dawg, and he proved that amply at his joint appearance with Barack Obama in Kissimmee, Florida Thursday night, where he neatly laid out the sheer, insane immensity of the task that lies between us and the other side of November 4 into a straightforward and memorable to-do list we can all carry out.
We'll break it down, below the fold.
Direct, to the point, and electrifying, Clinton's speech in Kissimmee was truly a sterling example of Bill Clinton's persuasive gifts, and his passion for positive public service. I heartily recommend reading it in full at Real Clear Politics, or watching it here:
(Part 2 is here; the embed code doesn't seem to work.)
Big Dawg brought his "A" game. And the to-do list has only two items (the second one expands out to four points later on):
I want to say a few things that he can't say on his own behalf and then I'll bring him on to say what he can say better than anybody on his own behalf. But let me tell you, there are only two things you can do between now and Tuesday.
- First, you can vote and you can make sure everybody you know who is already supporting Senator Obama and Senator Biden vote. And understands they do not have an option to stay home not if they care about their country and their future. You've got to get our crowd there.
- The other thing you can do is find the people that are still teetering and wavering and tell them why they ought to be with us.
Don't worry if you haven't done this sort of canvassing before. If you're anything like me, the first time you set out to try and convince a complete stranger to vote for your candidate, the notion even of having something coherent to say to them seems almost insurmountably daunting. But President Clinton breaks that down for us, in four easy steps.
And so I want to tell you very briefly there are four reasons that I can tell you in a way no one else can, because I've been there. And I want you to tell this to everybody. And they don't just have to be your neighbors. You can e-mail people all over America. There are all these exchanges going on where people who are still undecided are fessing-up, at least on the Internet.
And I want you to get on there and tell them there are four reasons they ought to be for Barack Obama. The four things that really matter in a president are:
- number one, the philosophy;
- number two, the policies;
- number three, the ability to make a decision;
- and number four, the ability to execute that decision and make changes in people's lives.
So that's where we come in. We take that simple outline, and we fill it in with our knowledge, our experiences, our passions. We make these four simple things personal, and we make them our own.
- Philosophy
For my money, President Clinton again gives us all we really need to say:
He's got the right philosophy which is America works from the ground up, not from the top down.
Explore that idea in ways that relate to your own life, and maybe they'll start to see how it also applies to theirs.
- Policies
President Clinton again distills this conveniently:
Barack Obama's do-list is the better do-list.
Talk to them about the aspects of Barack's program that fire your passions, whether it's the economy, education, health care, energy independence, or the Iraq war. Got to www.barackobama.com to brush up on details if you're not sure, but I suspect most of us know a lot of this in our sleep by now.
- The ability to make decisions.
Like President Clinton, I think you can drive this one home readily by discussing two things: the two major party candidates' vice presidential picks, and their actions and reactions as the financial crisis unfolded. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, throw in McCain's opportunistic cowboy reaction to the conflict between Russia and Georgia.
- The ability to execute decisions.
I think this part of Clinton's speech was the one that inspired me the most:
If you have any doubt about Senator Obama's ability to be the chief executive, that's what the Constitution calls the president, just think about all of you. Look at this. Has there ever been a campaign that involved so many people, had made so much use of the Internet, that thought about how to solve problems, that gave people so much opportunity to give money, to give their time, to express their opinions, to do things.
He has executed this campaign in a way that is different from modern and forward thinking, something no one else ever could have done. He can be the Chief Executor of good intentions as president.
Reach into the personal again if you can, and relate your own experiences with how remarkably well-run this campaign was, and how the principle of "Respect, Empower, Include" empowered and included you.
If you really want to get creative, tie #3 back in to #2; a consistent, well-matched set of policies should flow from sensible, measured, rational decision making.
And if, after all of that, you're not sure that your persuasive skills have swayed somebody who just isn't quite convinced to vote for Barack yet, just point them at the videos linked above.
Let the Big Dawg do the heavy lifting one last time. He's used to it.
And really, what else were you going to be doing with the next four days, and how much more important is it than finally, after eight long years, putting a responsible, functioning grownup in the big chair at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue once again?
Four days to prevent the trainwreck of a McCain organization, with its daily misstep after erratic misstep, so undisciplined that all of its angry, internal finger-pointing is leaking out all over the media, from taking the reins of our government.
Four days to make sure that the architect of what may well be the best-run campaign in Presidential election history has the opportunity to turn that organization into one of the best-run Presidential administrations in history.
Four days to make sure hope and change--focused, positive, progressive, pragmatic change--win out over fear, ignorance, and rank bigotry.
Four days to Phonebank. Canvass. Donate.
Until now, the Republicans have been able to assume that money was on their side. That the ground game was on their side. This is the year we prove them wrong. This is the year we, at long last, take the fight to the Republicans' home territory.
This is the year we take back our country.
We have four more days to make history, people. Leave everything on the road.
Progressive Witness