I greatly admire the Senator's focus on hope and unity. It's a call that must be voiced, and it resonates throughout the country.
But I fear at this moment he is in danger of losing too many liberal hearts and minds. Results in NH and NV appear to bear that out.
I believe he must partially recast his message, to identify clearly and forcefully with the best impulses of the Democratic Party, and to explicitly offer himself as the best choice for new leadership of the party.
After all, what he is engaged in during this primary season are essentially contests for control of the party. He must be seen as the strongest Democratic leader, before he can be seen as the strongest American leader.
With that in mind, I have taken the liberty of reworking some elements of the Senator's stump speeches into a thematic appeal to dyed-in-the-wool Democrats that nevertheless stresses--and provides some additional logical underpinning for--the Senator's historic calls for unity in the face of our country's enormous challenges.
I believe the Senator's rhetorical strategy to this point has been innovative and successful: to cast a broad net over the electorate, seeking out and inspiring new voices, upending conventional wisdom, and playing to the strengths of a truly singular figure.
But to close the deal, I believe a shift in strategy is necessary--a shift in polarity. The Senator can now subtly recast himself as a magnet--the strength at the center of the party, someone with an unshakable belief in, and solidarity with, the hearts and minds of the Democratic faithful. A leader who is so confident in his party's strength and wisdom that he draws new Democrats to his side, and channels their support into a movement that welcomes new independent voices, and pursues greater national unity.
To achieve this, the Senator can capitalize on a rare opportunity in politics. While it is clear that today's Republican Party is in tatters, with no unifying identity, it is also clear that the Democratic Party is ascendant. What will drive that ascendancy even further is a successful attempt at defining what the Democratic Party stands for. In the modern era, efforts to do so have been fairly weak.
Senator Obama can seize the initiative, and clearly define the choices in this election--by illuminating what it is that distinguishes the Democratic Party as the nation's best hope, and at the same time, what makes him the party's best choice for a new leader.
The answer to both questions is that there is only one person who will lead one party in the honest, honorable, and timeless fight to serve one principle: the Common Good.
In the remarks below I do not elaborate fully on the concept of the Common Good. But you are undoubtedly familiar with it, and a more detailed and robust presentation of it will not be difficult to mount.
If Senator Obama makes the case that he is the best choice to lead the Democratic Party in its fight to serve the Common Good, he will draw millions more Democrats and Independents to his side, he will prevail, and he will win the Democratic nomination for President.
Yours Sincerely,
Andrew Long
***************************************
Suggested Remarks for Senator Obama
to be incorporated into his daily remarks to supporters
...
As we all know by now, the real roll of the dice in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result. And that's a risk we can't take. Not today. Not when the stakes are this high.
For the first time in a long time, our great Democratic Party has the chance to change the electoral math and build a new governing majority--with you, the Democratic faithful, at its core, and millions more like-minded citizens across the country--workers and mothers and sisters and fathers--rallying around you.
Together you can raise your voices, speak as one, and exercise your democratic right to force our government once again to solve problems, not create them. To tell our representatives what must be done. Today, you and I are building a grassroots movement that can forever change the face of American politics.
Today, what was improbable is beating what Washington said was inevitable. Make no mistake, that establishment is fighting back with everything it has -- with attack ads and insults; with distractions and dishonesty.
Let me be clear: we oppose the tactics of win-at-any-cost; we reject the politics of slash and burn.
It's long past time to retire the same old, same old.
And the more our fellow Democrats see that kind of politics for what it is, the more Democrats across the country are putting in a call for change.
Democrats in every city and village across the great state of South Carolina are raising their voices for change.
Our honest and generous Democratic Party is indeed ready for an era of new possibilities.
I am running for the Presidency of the United States, yes. You've probably heard a little something about that.
But as you know I am also asking for your blessing as the leader of our noble party.
And this I offer you from the core of my belief: we can lead our party in a new way.
I believe in my core that our Democratic brothers and sisters throughout the land are strong enough, and wise enough, to know that we can stand firm in our principles while reaching out, extending our hand in confidence, to those who might not always agree with us.
And you know I'm not talking about the Republican operatives in Washington.
No--the good people I'm talking about are your independent friends in the next town over. Your Republican neighbors who live across the street. Millions of our fellow citizens, who have at last lost faith in their Washington leaders but want to believe again - who desperately want something new.
They're looking for something. they want something they haven't felt in a long time.
Just one thing.
They want to be part of the solution.
And they are joining with us in ever greater numbers, to help the Democratic Party provide the answers to our country's challenges.
They are finally learning what we've always known--the principles we've been fighting for for so long.
They finally see our truth--that what we work for, what the Democratic Party stands for--day in and day out, election after election, generation upon generation--is one timeless idea: The Common Good.
We work day and night, not for the top 5% good--but for the Common Good.
We fight year after year, not for the hope-it-trickles-down good--but for the Common Good.
We stand shoulder to shoulder, not for the Beltway special interests good--but for THE COMMON GOOD.
That's what distinguishes the heart and soul of the Democratic Party--we work for all Americans. We fight for the dreams of every citizen, every soul of our great society.
And so in the end that also means we stand for another surpassing principle.
We stand for unity.
We, the Democratic Party, will stand with our independent friends and Republican neighbors, and we will fight for honesty, in our government; for justice, in our courts; for fairness, in our lives.
We will fight for those bedrock principles. Because that is what is required of a great people.
And so if you allow me to stand as the leader of our Democratic Party; if you will stand with me for change so that our children have the same chance that our parents gave us; if you'll stand with your friends and neighbors to keep the American dream alive for those who still hunger for opportunity and thirst for justice; if you're ready to stop settling for what the cynics tell you you must accept, and finally reach for what you know is possible, then we will win this election, we will change the course of history, and the real journey - to heal a nation and restore the Common Good - will have truly begun.
If we stand together, our efforts will prevail, and our nation will come together in a new spirit of unity.
We will stand for a Re-United States of America.
That vision of a better future is within our reach.
This is the moment.
This is our time.
Let's go change the world.
Thank you.
****************************
End of Remarks
Andrew Long: I'm a 42-year-old writer/editor/photographer who currently blogs about photography. I grew up in Cohasset, MA, and graduated from Middlebury College. I was an editor and writer at The New Yorker for 11 years, then Senior Editor at Departures for 3. Since then I've edited Fotolog.book: A Global Snapshot for the Digital Age (Thames & Hudson April 2006) and founded The Daily F'log, the official blog of Fotolog.com. I live in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
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