The Stakes
Every four years, the presidential candidates and their parties trot out the tired cliché that “this election is the most important in our lifetimes.” In 2004, the cliché is true.
The outcome of the battle between George W. Bush and John Kerry will be a watershed event for the United States, a “line in the sand” as Bush the Elder would say. The stakes on November 2 are clear and dramatic:
Will the American people choose to renew their social contract or instead decide to shred it?
At risk is an implicit “American Bargain” that for a century has offered Americans ever-growing prosperity in exchange for contributions to the common good, expanded civil rights and freedoms matched by personal responsibility, and unprecedented global power accompanied by its wise use.
At a time of war and tectonic economic change, will Americans recommit and rededicate themselves to their country, their communities, their public institutions and each other, or will they just walk away? For Senator Kerry and the Democratic Party, the answer is simple: at home and abroad, we Americans are all in this together. For President Bush and the GOP, the contrast could not be starker: you are on your own in a Hobbesian struggle of each and against all. For the Republicans, American citizens live in an "Opt Out Society" where have no moral obligations to their government – or each other.
Every time George W. Bush opens his mouth, the American dream dies a little. His is an America that is mean-spirited and venal, an America that encourages its government to abdicate it responsibilities just as its citizens to withdraw from each other and their noblest traditions of nation, community and the public good.
On Tuesday, November, 2nd, vote for John Kerry for President.
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