As promised, here’s our analysis of Opportunity and Community language at work in the Republican National Convention
speeches. An overall analysis of the
speeches shows somewhat of a struggle between a Community Values form of
Opportunity—in which we’re all in it together, and benefit from ensuring that everyone
has the tools to succeed—and a free-market form of opportunity in which
everyone is free to compete on the existing playing field but, ultimately,
you’re on your own. And in almost all of
the excerpts, the notion of Community is an individual, person-to-person form
of mutual responsibility, paired with a criticism of government.
McCain:
“We're going to change that. We're going to recover the people's trust by
standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln,
Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics. We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to
reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendants arrived on the
Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers. We're all God's children
and we're all Americans.
We believe in low taxes, spending discipline and open markets. We believe in
rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their
labor. We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life,
personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice
impartially and don't legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of
families, neighborhoods and communities.
We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and
initiative of Americans. Government that doesn't make your choices for you, but
works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.”
….
“Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal
access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to
a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with
competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors,
attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of
work.
When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve
a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.
Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many
will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children
will have that opportunity.”
“Fight with me. Fight with me.
Fight for what's right for our country.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're
Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We
make history”
Sarah Palin
“We met in high school, and two decades and five children
later he's still my guy. My mom and dad both worked at the elementary school in
our small town. And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and
every woman can walk through every door of opportunity.”
Mitt Romney
“The American people have always been the source of our nation's strength,
and they always will be. We strengthen our people and our economy when we preserve and promote
opportunity. Opportunity is what lets hope become reality. Opportunity expands when there's excellence and choice in education, when
taxes are lowered, when every citizen has affordable, portable health
insurance, and when constitutional freedoms are preserved.
Opportunity rises when children are raised in homes and schools that are
free from pornography, and promiscuity, and drugs, where there are homes that
are blessed with family values and the presence of a mom and a dad.
America -- America cannot long lead the family of nations if we fail the
family here at home. You see, liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government
largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid,
to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who
pay no taxes at all.
Dependency is death to initiative, to risk-taking and opportunity. It's time
to stop the spread of government dependency and fight it like the poison it is. You know, it's time for the party of big ideas, not the
party of Big Brother.”
Cindy McCain
“But I have also seen the resilience of the American people.
I've heard stirring stories of neighbor helping neighbor, of cities on one end
of the country offering help to fellow citizens on the other. Despite our challenges our hearts are still alive with hope and belief in our
individual ability to make things right if only the federal government would
get itself under control and out of our way.
So tonight is also about renewing our commitment to one another. Because this campaign is not about us. It's about our special and exceptional
country. And this convention celebrates a special and exceptional Republican Party ...
the hand we feel on our shoulder belongs to Abraham Lincoln.
From its very birth, our party has been grounded in the notion of service,
community and self-reliance ... and it's all tempered by a uniquely American
faith in — and compassion for — each other's neighbors. A helping hand and friendly support has always been our way. It's no surprise
that Americans are the most generous people in history.
That generosity of spirit is in our national DNA. It's our way of doing things.
It's how we view the world. I was taught Americans can look at the world and ask either: What do other
countries think of us ... or we can look at ourselves and ask: What would our
forefathers make of us and what will our children say of us? That's a big
challenge. In living up to it, we know the security and prosperity of our
nation is about a lot more than just politics. It also depends on personal commitment, a sense of history and a clear view of
the future.”
Joe Lieberman
“We meet tonight in the wake of a terrible storm that has hit the Gulf Coast
but that hurts all of us, because we are all members of our larger American
family.At times like this, we set aside all that divides us, and we come together
to help our fellow citizens in need. What matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans, but
that we are all Americans.
The truth is, it shouldn't take a hurricane to bring us together like this.Every day, across our country, millions of our fellow citizens are facing
huge problems. They are worried about their homes, their jobs, and their businesses; they
are worried about the outrageous cost of gas and of health insurance; and they
are worried about the threats from our enemies abroad.
But when they look to Washington, all too often they do not see their
leaders coming together to tackle these problems. Instead they see Democrats and Republicans fighting each other, rather than
fighting for the American people.Our Founding Fathers foresaw the danger of this kind of
senseless partisanship. George Washington himself — in his farewell address to
our country — warned that the "spirit of party" is "the worst
enemy" of our democracy and "enfeebles" our government's ability
to do its job.”
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