Mark Steyn on Barack Obama

Steyn at his best:

"“Change can’t just be a slogan,” says Senator Obama, who’s committed to a Democratic party “that doesn’t just offer change as a slogan but real, meaningful change, change that America can believe in. That’s why I’m in this race, that’s why I’m running for the presidency of the United States, to offer change that we can believe in.”

Any cynical hack pol can offer change as a slogan, but Senator Obama’s offering “Change You Can Believe In” as a slogan. It’s on the side of his “Change You Can Believe In” campaign bus. “I don’t want to settle,” he declared in Bettendorf, Iowa, “for anything less than real change, fundamental change, change we need, change we can believe in.” Obama is reshaping the debate: He’s changing the way we think about change. As his chief strategist, James Axelrod, told Politico, the senator is arguing for “real and authentic change, not synthetic change.” He’s passionately opposed to “synthetic change,” mentioning no names. If you’re looking for a synthetic-change candidate, sorry, he’s not your guy. Include him out. He’ll change his hair, he’ll change his tie, but he won’t change his fierce righteous opposition to synthetic change.

In the stirring words that conclude his new TV ad in New Hampshire: “This is Barack Obama. I approve this message to ask you to believe — not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.” ...“I am here,” Obama told the crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, “because I feel a fierce urgency that the time for change is now.”

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The Democrats are the party of stasis: On affirmative action, there can be no change; on abortion absolutism, there can be no change; even on a less cobwebbed shibboleth such as the Iraq War, there can be no change — they’ve booked the band and caterers for the big Defeat Parade and no matter what happens on the ground in Baghdad and Anbar they’re not going to change their plans."

Comments

[atheling]

Hey Maduka,

Is this what the Republicans should be doing to woo the African Americans?

[Steevo]

He may woo 50.01% of the national vote. I remember Bill Clinton's first run: "I'm for change, I'm for change"; the adoring media, and the millions with minds of mush. Maybe even Hollywood will do an Obama Messiah movie.

[billm99uk]

Sounds like Tony Blair's early years - remember "Things Can Only Get Better"?

[Maduka]

Atheling,

When last did a major Republican presidential aspirant talk to an African focus group? (or even appear when invited).

Conservatives (around the World) have problems with minorities. The easy way out is to ignore them, it is slightly less easy to pander to them, but the real hard work is in engagement.

The Republican party has chosen to ignore. The Democratic party has chosen to pander.

[billm99uk]

The problem is if you "engage", but don't "pander", then minorities aren't necessarily going to like you and consequently vote for you if your message is one they don't want to hear.

[S Baker]

"When last did a major Republican presidential aspirant talk to an African focus group? (or even appear when invited). Conservatives (around the World) have problems with minorities. The easy way out is to ignore them, it is slightly less easy to pander to them, but the real hard work is in engagement." Okay I'll bite, who is the party that fought a civil war that took more lives than anyother war in america so slaves and the institution of slavery could be destroyed once and for all? Who was it that in the 1960s supported civil rights legislation? If you Answered the Republican Party you would be correct!

[Maduka]

What are we going to do -- meet in a country club in the suburbs one day? If we're going to be competitive with people of color, we've got to ask them for their vote. - Jack Kemp.

Before the civil rights era, blacks sided with the republicans. The Republican party was the anti-slavery party, the party of the abolitionists, the progressive party.

What went wrong?

1. Democratic leadership (under JFK and LBJ and with the help of Northern Republicans) effectively killed racial segregation inspite of spirited opposition within the Democratic party. This got noticed.

2. Southern Strategy:
From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats. - Kevin Phillips (Nixon Strategist)

By the '70s and into the '80s and '90s, the Democratic Party solidified its gains in the African American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out. Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong - Ken Mehlman (former chairman RNC).

These are not my words

[Maduka]

I did everything I could to convince them it was the right thing to do, [but] we are in this cycle where Republicans don't talk to minority groups.
Newt Gingrich

The Republican party has so much to offer. It is the natural party for those who work hard and the socially conservative.

Why is it turning its back on a significant minority?

[Joanna]

Maduka, this is your chance. If you feel strongly about it, do it yourself. I'm completely serious. Start brainstorming. What ways can Republicans, the party of individual people working for what they believe in, reach out? How can you work within your community, and probably your own family, to bring that about? When you have some ideas, go harass the local Republican party. If you're willing to go out of your way to help, I bet they'll listen.

[Maduka]

Joanna,

Thank you very much.

The best I will do is vote Republican. If the Republican party is too narrow-minded to reach out to the African American community, let it die!

From the ashes, a more inclusive, authentic conservative movement will be born. (It won't be the first time, the Whigs died).

[Joanna]

Maduka,

I apologize. I just re-read my post, and realized that the way I phrased it did not come over the way I intended. I'm not a political operative, so I hadn't thought about the minorities issue, though I'd heard people lamenting that the Republican party wasn't reaching out to Hispanics enough. I actually was trying to be helpful. It always frustrates me, though, when I see people, on either side of the political spectrum, talking about being unrepresented or powerless. The remedy is always there; we just have to pay the price for it. You seem to really care about the issue, so I thought I'd at least voice that. If I came across as rude, I'm sorry. Again, it was not what I intended.

[me]

i do not feel u or clinton should be in this at all!!!!
i rly hope u loose.
have a great day.

[generic viagra]

I'm very interesting in your blog about Mark Steyn on Barack Obama please send any update