This country needs more than pretty speeches

My sister, Janie Greenspun Gale, has long been a committed advocate for worthy causes and a devoted follower of politics. She has strong feelings about the Democratic Party in this election year, which I share with you below. -- Brian Greenspun

I’m a sucker for pretty speeches. I’ve fallen for them all my life.

I’m in love with beautiful words so much so I remember lying on my floor when I was a teenager, reading my big book of unabridged poetry, weeping at the beauty of the words of the 21st Psalm,

“The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want ...”

I followed Sen. Eugene McCarthy to the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention when I was 18. He was an extraordinary speaker and I believed with all my heart that the poetic phrases he used to talk about the peaceful world he imagined would end the war that was taking people I knew and destroying their lives in the jungles of Vietnam. I couldn’t yet vote, but I was going to make sure my voice was heard.

The anti-war coalition of the Democratic Party didn’t win, the peace platform we’d hoped would be adopted went down in defeat, and I was among those chased and tear-gassed in the park. My father was with me and he witnessed police turning on unarmed anti-war protestors in the streets of Chicago. He was shocked at the police state his country, which he’d fought for in World War II, had become.

I came home and sued the state of Nevada for the right to vote at 18. I was furious. The suit became the test case Richard Nixon needed so he could pursue giving 18-year-olds the right to vote.

The Democratic Party was so divided, the left-liberal wing had become so radicalized, that the moderate middle of the country had nowhere to go but Republican. Nixon had promised to end the war, but it dragged on seven more years.

By 1972 the Democrats had fallen to their most radical edge and put up an anti-war candidate, George McGovern, against Nixon and all his dirty tricks.

Massachusetts was the only state the Democrats won that year.

Nixon gave us Watergate and the Democrats were back. In 1976 we gave the country Jimmy Carter, a political outsider from Georgia who spoke of peace and honesty. In 1980 we lost the White House to another great speechmaker, Ronald Reagan. I even voted for him.

The Republicans were energized, their base was increasing, and instead of staying in the center of political discourse, the country shot off to the right.

President Clinton brought the country back to the center. His economic policies were sound and more people moved from poverty to prosperity. We had peace and respect in most of the world, except in our own country, where political discourse was getting nastier and nastier.

Then we got George W. Bush.

All my life I have been passionate about politics. I know what it means to be idealistic, but after years of political battles, I’ve developed a healthy dose of realism.

What I love most about the current election is that a major shift in politics has already occurred, a dramatic change I’ve dreamed about. And this change has brought with it millions of young people who are energized by the political process. For the first time in recent memory, the Democrats have put aside acrimony and put forth very credible, inspiring candidates for the presidency. It speaks volumes about the party.

We all want change. Our country has been weakened by Bush’s failed economic policies and an intractable war in Iraq at a time when the whole world needs a strong America.

We will be strong when our people are strong financially, in good health and well-educated. But we can’t lose sight that we have real enemies intent on destroying our way of life. It’s comforting to think that if we leave Iraq, they will stop the terrorism. But it’s not realistic.

I’m not listening to pretty speeches anymore, for I am no longer a political neophyte. Experience is a great teacher and it has taught me that the best governance is from the middle. This country has so many serious socially and culturally divisive issues that it takes a person of experience to maneuver through the political landscape, making all Americans a part of the many solutions we need.

George Bush has alienated two-thirds of the country with his ideologies. Sen. Barack Obama promises to bring us together, but Sen. Hillary Clinton knows how to do it.

That, for me, is the essence of this election. Who is the candidate with experience? Who will govern from the middle, yet has the vision to inspire us to do better?

Hillary Clinton is the person this country needs at this moment in time. We can ill afford to try someone untested in the political arena. Her very presence in the White House would signal true change, for never in our 221-year history have we elected a woman. Plus, she is battle-tested and still standing.

Even ultraconservative Republican Pat Buchanan says she can beat the Republicans and be a strong leader. That’s consensus-building right there!

We need to restore America to greatness. To do so it is crucial that we choose wisely in this election. We can’t fall for pretty speeches.