I went to bed outraged after watching MItt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin speak at the Republican National Convention the other night. They were snarky and rude in completely unnecessary ways and they managed to talk quite a bit without actually saying anything. Giuliani made comparisons between Obama and McCain without actually... well, um... comparing them. He said "But he’s [Obama] never — he’s never run a city. He’s never run a state. He’s never run a business. He’s never run a military unit." In saying this, Giuliani implied that McCain has done these things and is, therefore, qualified to "run" our nation. Well, he hasn't and he isn't. Even that could be seen as just a rhetorical error (in the kindest of analyses), but this... this is just inexcusable. I couldn't believe my ears when Giuliani said this: "On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. [roar of laughter from the crowd] What? He worked — I said — I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume." The crowd seemed completely unable to contain itself. I was completely infuriated, but managed to sit and simply clench my fists until Palin took the stage (apparently completely comfortable in her role as self-proclaimed "pit-bull with lipstick") and delivered this sucker of a line "I guess -- I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." Nice. Again, the crowd went wild. I went around for the next day in a bit of an angry fog. I had suddenly discovered that there were no other sane people in the world. Fortunately, I was proved wrong when I read this post and had my faith restored in humanity. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/105623/5197/586/586233
Yes, let's take a look at all of the incredible things that community organizers have done in the past and are doing in the present. As I read this post, I felt confirmed in what I'm doing during this year and what I plan to do with the rest of my life. Thank you Bonnie Schlitz for reminding me that the people in the stands at the Republican National Convention are not the only people in the world and that we can win in November.
Thank you for reminding me of what I've believed throughout Obama's whole campaign--that Obama is not the answer, but that the work that has come out of his campaign and the communities that have come together and the groups that have been built are. The people that have come together will stay actively engaged past this election and that, that is what will change America.
