Blog
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My Response to Sarah Palin’s Book
At Thanksgiving I wrote about Sara Palin’s
new book, Going Rogue, and said that I planned
to read it over the holiday break. That brought
quite a response from many of you. Now, I want
to let you know what I found out.
The good news is that I finished the book at all – it’s 400 pages! But it’s a quick and easy read. And it’s worth reading – I urge you to buy your own copy or get one from the library. But there’s more – much more.
All of us are shaped by our childhood and surroundings and Palin is no exception. She presents herself as an avid outdoors-woman, a person of the land and water, a no-frills individual. She even says she was a nerd all through school. She wears these attributes proudly. But at the same time she seems to leave little room for others, their background, and the things they value. In the book, you get very little sense that she’s thought much about, or appreciates, the rest of America – people who live in urban Detroit, suburban New Jersey, or southern California. As I flipped through the pages, I kept wondering: Does she see and hear all Americans, or just those who subscribe to her frame of reference?
At root here is an individual’s sense of their role in society. Is it simply to divvy up America, or find ways to bring people together? Is it to search for threads of common ground, or further tear the already tattered fabric of society? Is it to build something with others, or simply make something in your own image?
Then there is her discussion of policy – about which she said little considering this was a 400-page book. Yes, there were repeated references to natural resources and pipelines and foreign countries and such; but there was no actual discussion of them. For instance, I wanted to know, beyond her childhood experiences, what formed her beliefs, what does she struggle with, and how does she come to various conclusions. Or, how does she believe her “position” will address people’s real concerns, and help to fulfill their aspirations? There’s no sense of meeting a “test” of relevance to others. Indeed, repeatedly she came back to the phrase “common sense.” At one level I get this – she seems to be saying, “Let’s be real, let’s be clear, let’s tell it like it is.” Okay, good enough. But, tell me, exactly what is IT? And how did you get there, and why, and how will that help people?
There are lots of scores settled in this book, too. Palin repeatedly casts aspersions at those she feels have opposed her or caused her harm. She seems to believe that any problems in her past were the result of campaign aides, the news media, other political leaders, and on the list goes. Supposedly, these opponents forced her to take leave from a political race, an appointed office, and elected office. Take leave or quit?
At times Palin strikes me as having a similar draw as Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, perhaps Ralph Nader, among others – people who help many Americans make sense of the world, reduce things to manageable bits and pieces, and who speak in clear, declarative language. Maybe some people want to condemn Palin for her views and positions; I don’t.
To me, the challenge goes something like this: How can any of us articulate a clear sense of direction that gives people faith that we can create hope and change in our society? And how can we do this by calling forth our best tendencies, not our worst? After writing the Thanksgiving blog I received a lot if emails and phone calls. Most people told me I was crazy to spend Thanksgiving break reading Palin’s book, and nuts to think that they would do the same.
But I’m still glad I read the book. And I still hope that you do, too. -
How Ken Armstrong is Working to Make Hope Real
This week, we wanted to share a story from someone in our network - Ken Armstrong, President of the United Way of the Big Bend, in Tallahassee, Florida. About 2 months ago, out of the blue, we saw tons of people from Tallahassee requesting copies of Make Hope Real. And every one of them indicated that this guy - "Ken Armstrong" had suggested they order a copy. So we contacted Ken, eager to find out what sparked his interest, and how he thought Make Hope Real fit with his work. Here's what he had to say:
For several months I had been carrying around a copy of Make Hope Real with my to-do and to-read pile. On a recent family trip I finally found the 45 uninterrupted minutes to read the essay. And if I have a say in the matter, Tallahassee may never be the same.
One of the benefits of being the president of our local United Way is that I'm less hemmed in by the boundaries Rich Harwood describes. I invited a hundred or so people 35 years of age and under to a “mixer and meeting.” The only prerequisite was that they had to have read Make Hope Real in advance.
Forty of them joined me for a no-holds-barred conversation about whether or not they think our community reflects the characteristics Harwood describes, and whether or not that's OK with them. The answers were Yes to the first and No to the second.
They have asked me to work with 12 of them to plan a next meeting of a larger group to see where we go next. I definitely don't know the answer. But I do know that more than 60 people from Tallahassee have downloaded Make Hope Real in the last couple months and at least share THAT as common ground. It's a start!
Click here to download a free copy of Make Hope Real
Click here to send free copies to your friends -
Obama's Afghanistan Speech
Tonight,
President Obama will give his long-awaited
speech on his Afghanistan strategy, and he’ll
do so from West Point. There will be much said
about his strategy in the coming days. But,
today, I wonder what would have happened if the
president had chosen to give his speech before
a crowd of young campaign supporters, rather
than before the nation’s best warriors.
Here’s why I ask.
Dana Millbank in this morning’s Washington Post reported that until the presidency of George W. Bush, most presidents had given very few speeches before men and women in military uniform. One can only guess that President Obama has chosen West Point because he wants to look strong. I also suspect he did so because he wants to look the young men and women he plans to send in harm’s way right in the eye as he lays out his thinking. If that’s the case, then I applaud his actions.
But I wonder how this moment might be different if the president were to speak tonight before a crowd of adoring former twenty-something campaign workers and supporters. I’ve said in the past that all leaders should go before tough crowds at least three times a year to talk about why they hold the positions they do – and to engage in a conversation about those views. Well, I think this is one of those moments for the president: a crowd that once supported him, but now may have doubts.
I realize that the President’s chief job tonight is to “sell” the American people on his new strategy. I know his staff will be closely watching overnight polling numbers, and may have various organizations like the Democratic National Committee convene focus groups to score the president’s speech and make suggestions about how he can clarify various points. What’s more, there will be a whole host of domestic and foreign allies lined up with “talking points” to vouch for the president’s new approach.
But, as you listen tonight, instead of a vast sea of young uniformed men and women, imagine you saw a vast sea of young Obama supporters. What then would the president need to say to these young supporters about the kind of nation and world his policies seek to create? How then might the president seek to justify the direction he plans to go?
As I write these words I am reminded of the night when my now 19-year old daughter came home from an Obama rally at the University of Maryland and how genuinely moved she was by what the then-candidate had to say, and by the very sense of connection she felt with others in the crowd. It was on that night that politics and public life became real for her. Her story is the story of so many young Americans.
My suggestion here is not about how the President can keep young Americans engaged in politics, though that’s important. Nor is it that the president must find a way to “spin” his policies for his young supporters. Instead, in speaking to his young supporters he would need to articulate his policies in the broadest sense – not as a “war-time president,” but as the nation’s president; not to look strong, but to be strong; not to enlist the troops, but to gain support for the troops.
Afghanistan, like so many key issues, is a test case for how we choose to move ahead as a nation – both in terms of who we are and who we want to become. Speaking before young supporters would require being clear about that.