The Left and Emotion

Again, progressives get it wrong (Obama knows strategy though!). It isn’t about facts - you can pile facts to the ceiling (though we have truth on our side and must show it). Without a clear vision, an emotional vision, a spiritual, cultural, epic vision of the future - you won’t get the votes. Here’s Frank Luntz - Republican Party Strategist and Message Maker doing a focus group of Democrats after Super Tuesday. He asks “name one accomplishment of Barack Obama”. Almost none can do it. While Obama might have a ton of them. that’s not the main part of his message! (Also see my post: Language Warriors)

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After the polls closed on Tuesday in Super Tuesday States, Hillary and Bill Clinton injected $5 million from their personal fortunes into Hillary’s campaign. As a challenge, the Obama campaign asked their supporters to match that number. In under 24 hours, that happened - mostly from small donors giving small amounts from their pockets. That number is up to over $7,600,000.00 in a little under two day. TWO DAYS. He reached $6.5 million in a little over a day. Incredible!

The Left should ask WHY this is happening, instead of merely critiquing Obama’s politics (and theres plenty to critique). Below are six of Obama’s speeches. All are incredibly inspiring. The left should learn from his rhetoric, his lack of stupid dogmatic language, his imagery and story-telling skills, his charisma, and his message. We take that message roll with it - using real organizing, and real analysis behind it. We should stop whining and start winning!

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Here’s an letter to the San Francisco Chronicle talking by Rabbi Michael Learner. He talks about how Obama is basically one of the only spiritual progressives on the national scene:

“Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue-without-walls in San Francisco and Berkeley, and author of the 2006 national best-seller ‘The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right.’

I enthusiastically support Barack Obama, the first serious spiritual progressive candidate for the presidency. Once in office, Obama’s discourse of hope, challenging narrow technocratic consciousness, will open the possibility for serious social movements to push him beyond the constraints of Democratic Party spinelessness.

Spiritual progressives want a New Bottom Line so that institutions, social practices, even our own personal behavior is seen as efficient, rational and productive, not only to the extent that they maximize money and power (the Old Bottom Line) but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring for others, kindness and generosity, ethical and ecological sensitivity, and enhance our capacity to respond to others as embodiments of the sacred and to the universe with awe, wonder and radical amazement.

In our Spiritual Covenant with America ( www.spiritualprogressives.org ), we apply these ideas not only to support single payer health care and taxes on carbon emissions but also to replace our foreign policy Strategy of Domination with a Strategy of Generosity, recognizing that our well-being as Americans depends on the well-being of everyone else on the planet. Hence we call for a Global Marshall Plan to dedicate 1-2 percent of the GDP of the United States each year for the next 20 to once and for all eliminate domestic and global poverty, homelessness, hunger, inadequate education and inadequate health care. It will be up to us ordinary citizens to create the pressure that will allow Obama to fight for the spiritual progressive agenda he actually believes in, but is unsure can be realized at this historical moment.“

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Finally, I have been looking through Obama speeches. His speeches in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Chicago (Super Tuesday) had something really interesting about them. None of them mentioned God. In the past, Obama has talked about “an awesome God”, giving moving speeches in Churches and other religious institutions. He’s a member of the United Church of Christ, but it seems as if he doesn’t need to wear it on his sleeve. He finishes most speeches with talk about an epic mission to build a better America. Again, if the Left wants to win, we should take notice of why this man is winning…