The reality of hope - Obama's message not just rhetoric

On Monday, Hillary Clinton mocked both Barack Obama and Obama supporters by suggesting that hope was something that could not be attained.  People need to get real.  That the sky won't open, with a singing choir to shower the American people with change.  Change will only occur with the right person using elbow grease.  That person, of course, would need to be Clinton.

For many this message of reality resonates with them.  They don't understand the message of hope, nor the message of change.  Even though Obama talks about the difficulty of change, Clinton still dismisses it as wishful thinking.

But Hillary misses the point, which we all get.  Hope is important if you want to change the world. Hope is necessary to overcome the cynicism of the status quo and politics as usual.

Most importantly, Clinton misses that Obama's speeches are more than just empty rhetoric.  Obama has enacted change you can believe in.  Clinton is losing the race for one basic reason.  She didn't believe enough in the people who live in Red states or small states or African Americans or young people or Prius driving, latte drinking, Birkenstock wearing liberals.

But Obama didn't just expect the heavens to open up and deliver these voters.  He put boots on the ground in all of these states.  He energized the members of these communities to support his candidacy.  Obama knows that hope is meaningless without the grassroots organization to make those dreams manifest as action.  We on the progressive blogs have been arguing the need for a 50 state strategy for 4 years now.

Most said it would be difficult. Many said it would be too expensive.  Some said it would be impossible. Obama has made it happen.  So when Clinton or here supporters dismiss your hope or dismiss Obama's message of hope, remind them that hope combined with action can win elections.  Clinton is losing this election because she isn't a believer.  Her message of change has become weighed down by cynicism and condescension.

Clinton is losing this election because she does not know how to put hope into action and truly change American and American politics.  

In the immortal words of Martin Luther King:

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

[ . . . ]

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

[ . . . ]

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

[ . . . ]

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last"

Anyone who hears the message of hope knows that Martin Luther King's words were not just speeches or empty rhetoric to dismiss as unattainable.  Obama is manifesting that dream on a daily basis.  Look at the cross section of Americans that support Obama.  It is a campaign that has brought together Latinos, Asians, blacks and whites; young and old; Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of all other religions; Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. Everyone who supports Obama looks around at rallies where he speaks and sees the diversity of his supporters.  If you don't notice you haven't been paying attention.

Obama's campaign and his supporters have put truth to the belief that change is something we can beleive in.  Yes we can, and we're doing it every day of this election.  Putting hope into action.

•  I think we have two good candidates..

  Clinton,s two problems are Mark Penn and a last name that's too easy to associate with the "old".  I think, however, it is going a little too far to say that Clinton is not capable of translating change into action.  She has already demonstrated that capability by not giving up after being eviscerated for trying to bring universal health care to America - still holding one to win passage for a plan providing health care to 7 million children.

  I won't rain on Obama's parade, though, because I think he has an important message backed by a nice grassroots campaign.  But, even though it's looking less and less likely, it would be far from the end of the world if Hillary become the next POTUS.

  by 4democracy on Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 10:57:19 AM PDT

•  My favorite part of Dr. Kings speech...

  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

  Frankly, at the age of sixty-six I never dreamed this could actually happen in my lifetime. It thrills me to see it occurring before my teary eyes.

  Yes (Indeed) We Can!

  by Templar on Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 10:59:31 AM PDT