Sounds Lovely, But Exactly What Are You Talking About?

I'm still on John Kerry's mailing list, and today the Obama campaign used it to send the following email. When you read it, consider that this man is a Senator running for President, and that this is his outreach to the Democratic base.

Hello Jake,

When Michelle and I talked about my running for president, one of the goals we both shared for this campaign was to leave the political process better off than we found it.

We wanted to create a campaign that would energize and empower activists, and hopefully create new ones who would stay involved for years to come. We believed that at this moment in our history, we had an opportunity to move beyond cynicism and remind our fellow citizens of the potential of politics to transform our country.

This campaign has come from a long way back to be competitive in the Democratic primary. Many said we couldn't do it, but we are here because people are ready for change and ready to work together to bring it about.

Today, you can help.

If you live in one of the 22 states that are holding primaries and caucuses today, make sure you vote. But also make sure to bring someone with you.

You can find your polling location on our website:

http://action.barackobama.com/feb5statepages

No matter where you live, you can also get involved right now -- by volunteering to help get out the vote or by making calls from your own home using our online calling tool:

http://action.barackobama.com/call

We have an opportunity to give our country a new direction. We can replace the politics of division and destruction with a new politics of engagement and hope.

Thank you for your support, and thank you to the JohnKerry.com community for all you’ve done for the Democratic Party.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

I'll say this for him: he gives the impression of being positive, poised, and professional. I can't help but respect him as an orator. But what is he actually saying? I find no substance in his words.

He claims he won't be divisive or cynical, but his beliefs are far to the left of mine. If he wants to "make progress" or "give our country a new direction" then he will have to do it by fighting me and people who think like I do.

He talks about "engagement and hope"; since this email reaches his base, it must be things that he thinks they agree on: universal health care, citizenship for illegal aliens, and a pullout from Iraq. But I don't hope for those things. I don't want him to engage in those things.

If he wants to talk to me about them then I'm happy to discuss non-governmental and non-federal solutions to health care and the immigration problem, but what little he has said indicate that his solutions and mine won't coincide.

And I find that cynical. He claims not to be divisive so that he can get elected by a populace that is sick of division, but he's far enough to the left that he will surely divide the reds and blues as much as GWB did. He is not, as my friend Dennis says, offering something new. It's still "pap", in Dennis's words, just not John Edwards-style pap.

As a side note, Dennis and I were talking today, and he reiterated something he's noted before: if the left hadn't become so overrun with hatred for GWB, they could have compromised with him much more and advanced their agendas better. His positions on education, health care, immigration, and other things clearly put him to the left of this year's Republican candidates -- why couldn't they work with him? GWB should have been more divisive for Republicans (think No Child Left Behind, Harriet Myers, etc.) than he was for Democrats. At least when someone's in the other party you expect them to be against your programs. :)

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