This site tries not to play favorites. But we have to admit that in recent weeks we’ve spent more time looking at the Repub campaigns than at the Dem’s. Well, who doesn’t gawk at a car wreck when you drive past one on the freeway? And Hillary’s careful consolidation her base has all the excitement of watching ice form on a New Hampshire pond. Now, finally a Democrat has done something really worth paying attention to.
John Edwards – you remember him; southern boy from a hard scrabble family with a silver tongue and a twinkle in his eye married to that feisty lawyer lady (gee, that reminds me of another Dem who once ran for President and won) – has made A GREAT SPEECH. If you like political storytelling you owe it to yourself to read the whole thing.
Notice how it follows our five-element model.
1. First, Edwards discusses the moment that he and his wife had to decide what they really cared about – their PASSION.
2. Then he describes the American People with their HEROIC “can do” spirit – this is the base he is hoping to win over.
3. Next he defines his ANTAGONIST – the corrupt, lobbyist-laden mess that has become business as usual in evil old Washington DC. He very skillfully links Hillary to the bad guys without demonizing her and actually saying she herself is corrupt (though he comes awfully close).
4. Now he uses a quote from Abraham Lincoln to make us AWARE of why this matters so much. The dream of America won’t be destroyed by foreign enemies, but by our own moral failures.
5. By the end of the speech he hopes he has TRANSFORMED our sense of what the campaign is all about.
Whether he did it or not is hard to say. But at least he gave it one hell of a good shot.
Comments