Hillary Clinton's speech may well have been the one everyone was waiting for, but it wasn't the one everyone should have heard.
For once, the Democratic Party had a spokesperson who actually lived what he promoted, and thus knew something about the topic of his advocacy. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner gave an excellent speech last night, declaring that this election is about reaching for the future instead of reliving the past. Warner's rewarding experience as a businessman lends credence to the innovative ideas that the Democratic Party keeps talking about but haven't walked since John Kennedy.
The space program of the 1960s was a huge success in so many ways, with the benefits spreading far and wide to even the most lowly of us. Many of us grew up drinking Tang, maybe only because the NASA astronauts did, but other, more arcane benefits derived from JFK's vision of an American Man on the Moon. Just one of these extends even to the electronic technology which resulted in the very computer upon which I write this post.
Mark Warner's speech was filled with the potential of an educated nation steeped with high technology experience and massive amounts of drive being led by an able leader capable of inspiring productive action as well as innovative dialogue. Warner's personal credibility as a successful businessman only makes this particular message all the more powerful, because all he is revealing is that the conditions which made his personal victories possible still exist for others who follow later. It's up to those successful people like Warner to show the next generations how it's done.
In presenting this call to action by the nation's successful, Warner borrowed the meme of the famous Kennedy motto regarding the idea that those who benefit from the advantages of our society have a responsibility to foster and mentor those who follow. This is a particular idea that is lacking in the message of the current version of the Republican Party, which can be condensed into mouthing the lame platitude that "I done it mah way. You kin too."
Article comments
1 - handyguy
It was indeed an excellent speech - inspiring without being corny. There was a lot of pundit-speak last night complaining that he provided no 'red meat' for partisans. Baloney. If he weren't running for the Senate, he'd be an even better VP candidate than Biden.
2 - Joanne Huspek
"Warner happens to be running for the Senate, and I hope that he doesn't become corrupted by membership in that body should he succeed"
That's my hope for everyone who makes it in. History tells us that the likelihood of that happening are slim and none.
3 - Clavos
...And Slim just left town...