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Dems Test Election Themes
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - To hear Democrats tell it, an anxious and isolated public craves a sense of national community and would galvanize behind a leader who asks people to sacrifice for the greater good. John Edwards says he's that leader.Wait a minute, so does Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Ditto for Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. Edwards, Vilsack and Warner, all likely presidential candidates in 2008, are toying with the same lofty community-and-purpose message. And that says as much about the sour mood of the country as it does about the state of the Democratic Party. "There is a hunger in America, a hunger for a sense of national community, a hunger for something big and important and inspirational that they all can be involved in," Edwards, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee, told delegates at a weekend convention of Florida Democrats. "Americans don't want to believe that they are out there on an island all alone," the former North Carolina senator said.This is not a new theme. As first lady, Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York wrote, "It Takes a Village," a book arguing that a community is an important part of a child's development. Her husband,President Clinton, tried to create a sense of national purpose when he asked Americans to help "build a bridge to the 21st century." The difference now is that six of every 10 people tell pollsters that the country is headed on the wrong track. Democrats believe they can put Republicans on the defensive by articulating the public's sense of malaise and offering hope to erase it. more at link Posted by: Bobby 2005-12-11 |
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