Can you imagine any Democratic politician giving the following speech?
Here's the truth. No politician can reopen this factory or bring back the shipyard jobs...or make your union strong again. No politician can make it the way it was. Because we now live in a world without economic borders. Push a button in New York and a billion dollars moves to Tokyo. In that world, muscle jobs go where muscle labor is cheap, and that is not here. So to compete, you have to exercise a different muscle: the one between your ears. The whole country must go back to school. We have to get smarter, learn skills. And I promise this: I will work hard for you. I will think about you. I will fight to make education a lifetime thing in this country to give you the support you need to move up. But you have to do the heavy lifting your own selves.
Those are the words of Jack Stanton, the fictional Democratic presidential candidate in the book and film Primary Colors. He's a fellow based not so loosely on Bill Clinton and his 1992 presidential campaign.
Tom Hanna of MO @ Apr 04, 2008 16:23:50 PM