Just Words

Blunders...especially made by Bill...are making it hard for the Clinton campaign to stay afloat.  He needed to cool it long ago.  I thought he'd stay in the background more after South Carolina, but he didn't.  It's been suggested that he just can't help it. Well then, Hillary should have seen to it. I think he's detracted from her candidacy...a lot. 

And now, even Hillary's come out with something that got my head to shaking: her "just words" comment about Obama's rhetoric. Hillary certainly understands the importance of words, so when she came out with that one, it seemed like...to use a football analogy...she was throwing a fourth quarter "hail-Mary" pass...and a failed one at that. She failed with her words in trying to dismiss his.    

You see, we're a people who've been feeling disgusted, saddened, helpless, and hopeless. Until now. Now, someone has awakened the hope in us...with words. And as  already noted by Obama, words do matter:

"These are the times that try men's souls..."  Thomas Paine used these words to give the Continental Army hope and inspire them to keep on fighting for a cause larger them themselves.

"We hold these truths to be self evident..."  Our founding fathers used these words to define who we are.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." Franklin D. Roosevelt used these words to console us when we thought our world was caving in on us.

"Ask not what your country can do for you..." John F. Kennedy used these words to stir us to action.

"I have a dream"... Martin Luther King used these words to give us hope.

There's a reason these words are immortal:  they move us and they remind us of who we are...who we can be.  Obama's words are conveying the same message. And we're listening. We're listening because we want desperately to be more than we've been these last twenty years.  We're listening because we want desperately to believe things can be different. And we're listening because we want desperately to have hope, for without hope, there's nothing. 

Hillary Clinton would be a competent, hard working President. Of that, I'm sure.  And if she wins the nomination, I'd have no qualms voting for her over McCain.  Her positions are in sync with mine and she knows the issues inside-out. But is that enough?  We need a new direction from Bush/Cheney policies, that's for sure...but I think we also need a change in our internal compass, and it may just take words to do it.   

 

Comments

[ssandy kessler]

amen all the way- usually so light hearted what happened to Bill ??Age??

[Susan Tidwell]

I believe Virginia went for Obama, are you going to be back there for the election?

[Becca]

You're so right - we need some new ideals to hang our hats on.
Certainly as a writer I believe in the power of words to change lives. There's no "just" about it!

[colleen]

I do wish Obama would have credited his friend (forget who) who used the Just Words list first. Obama is an author and should know better. Funny I watched both his and his friend using it and Obama's sounded SO much better. He is quite stirring.

[soapbox mom]

Well said.

...with words (!).

[Going Crunchy]

Oh gosh, what a powerful post. It really touched me, and it's honest view of what's happened in her campaign hit the nail on the head. Shannon