No one remembers William Jennings Bryan anymore, and if they do it's just as that doddering loony fundie in "Inherit the Wind." But that's doing all of us a disservice, because we need a leader like him right this very minute.
Bryan was nominated for president by the Democratic Party three times (1896, 1900, 1908). He never won. Then as now he faced a well-heeled Republican juggernaut. But he was absolutely beloved by millions. And he was a Christian liberal.
Bryan wanted to apply Christian fundamentals to government. That meant not sending National Guardsmen to kill striking workers. Not allowing child labor. Giving women the vote. Levying taxes proportionate to income, requiring the wealthy to pay more in order to support the poor. All of this he couched in Christian terms, and his appeal across the Bible Belt was enormous.
There's a new biography out about him called "A Godly Hero." It's worth a look.
Remember Ronnie Reagan's "trickle down" theory? That if rich people had more money in their pockets, they would buy more stuff, and the wealth would trickle down through to the poor?
Bryan felt exactly the opposite. He had a "trickle up" theory. If poor people had more disposable income, he said, they would buy stuff and that wealth would trickle up to the rich people.
We've seen "trickle down." It was a bust. We've never experimented with "trickle up." Or, I should say, when we have - as with designer sneakers - it has worked.
Bryan was a peerless speech-maker who traveled around the country and brought his message to plain folks from the back of a train. His ethics were never questioned, nor did he accept campaign cash from big business interests.
He was known as "The Great Commoner."
I think what makes Bryan pertinent to the here and now is that he combined liberalism and Christianity, implying that a government run on Christian principles would care for the poor. If we could find someone to espouse those principles, while maintaining some sanity on issues like global warming, stem cell research, and gay rights, we would have a Kos-worthy candidate.
Is being a Christian and supporting, say, gay rights, mutually exclusive? For instance, today Bryan would be on the Right on these moral issues (as well as teaching evolution in schools, of course), but he would continue to be supportive to the lower and middle classes, unions, and keeping jobs in America.
So, would an evolved William Jennings Bryan please step up? Candidates should be brimming with personality, peerless speechmakers, ethically impeccable, never beholden to corporate interests, and forward-thinking on the social issues of the day.
Applications now being accepted.