Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, had been on the ground fighting in the Vietnam War. As his party’s candidate, Kerry began his speech accepting the nomination with the words “reporting for duty.” In response, Republicans began a surprising series of attacks questioning Kerry’s military performance on swift boats that traveled up Vietnamese rivers to fight the enemy. They questioned the medals he had been awarded and whether he really threw them away later to protest the war, as he claimed. While the Bush campaign kept its distance, Kerry was attacked as a New England elitist who preferred Swiss cheese to Cheez Whiz and windsurfing to clearing brush. Thecoded language invited lowly talk as to whether Kerry was less manly than Bush, although it was Kerry who had actually gone to fight the war. Amazingly, the substance of political debate—the nation’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the economy, and the solvency of Social Security—became secondary to the character attacks.
Bush won reelection in another close race that reaffirmed the depth of the nation’s political divide. But cynicism on both sides of the political divide and a deep distrust of government, the media, and political leaders reached new heights. Going into the 2008 campaign, a backlash, a national desire for candidates who could bridge the two sides, emerged. The candidate who best embodied that impulse, Democrat Barack Obama, gained attention for speaking of one America, rather than of blue states and red states, black and white, liberal and conservative. In his keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he famously challenged the country to move beyond blue states and red states and move forward as the United States. In his second book,
The Audacity of Hope
, he called for a civil, constructive dialogue and an end to the labels of “liberal” and “conservative.” After the incendiary sermons of his longtime pastor, Jeremiah Wright, surfaced in the middle of the Democrats’ primary races, he delivered one of the most revealing speeches about race relations in recent memory. In that speech in Philadelphia, he spoke of a racial stalemate where black anger and white resentment have largely become distractions that prevent the nation from coming together to solve real problems.
Obama gave the appearance of a candidate willing to engage in debate, a serious man, the anti–sound bite candidate.His critics responded that he was being treated as a “messiah” by naive followers who failed to see him as a skilled politician. The criticism did not stick, largely because Obama seemed different. He was elected the first African American leader in a country where, as
Newsweek
’s Jonathan Alter has said, the first sixteen presidents could have owned him as property. The historic nature of his candidacy, combined with his God-given talents as an orator and politician, made him a transformational figure. Because of this gravitas, there was a belief that he could succeed where other politicians had failed in changing the political discourse.
In his inaugural speech, Obama spoke to a desire for honest, real political debate to solve the nation’s problems. It was a message that played well. “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”
Many hoped that President Obama would form a governing coalition that would break down the barriers that prevent us from talking honestly and openly about the myriad problems facing our country. But either Obama never intended to cross the political divide to really debate the Right or he did not have the political skills to do so. Whatever the cause, many of the
Bush won reelection in another close race that reaffirmed the depth of the nation’s political divide. But cynicism on both sides of the political divide and a deep distrust of government, the media, and political leaders reached new heights. Going into the 2008 campaign, a backlash, a national desire for candidates who could bridge the two sides, emerged. The candidate who best embodied that impulse, Democrat Barack Obama, gained attention for speaking of one America, rather than of blue states and red states, black and white, liberal and conservative. In his keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he famously challenged the country to move beyond blue states and red states and move forward as the United States. In his second book,
The Audacity of Hope
, he called for a civil, constructive dialogue and an end to the labels of “liberal” and “conservative.” After the incendiary sermons of his longtime pastor, Jeremiah Wright, surfaced in the middle of the Democrats’ primary races, he delivered one of the most revealing speeches about race relations in recent memory. In that speech in Philadelphia, he spoke of a racial stalemate where black anger and white resentment have largely become distractions that prevent the nation from coming together to solve real problems.
Obama gave the appearance of a candidate willing to engage in debate, a serious man, the anti–sound bite candidate.His critics responded that he was being treated as a “messiah” by naive followers who failed to see him as a skilled politician. The criticism did not stick, largely because Obama seemed different. He was elected the first African American leader in a country where, as
Newsweek
’s Jonathan Alter has said, the first sixteen presidents could have owned him as property. The historic nature of his candidacy, combined with his God-given talents as an orator and politician, made him a transformational figure. Because of this gravitas, there was a belief that he could succeed where other politicians had failed in changing the political discourse.
In his inaugural speech, Obama spoke to a desire for honest, real political debate to solve the nation’s problems. It was a message that played well. “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”
Many hoped that President Obama would form a governing coalition that would break down the barriers that prevent us from talking honestly and openly about the myriad problems facing our country. But either Obama never intended to cross the political divide to really debate the Right or he did not have the political skills to do so. Whatever the cause, many of the
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