Kerry's Campaign Theme: "Let America be America Again"

[CatWoman]

I like it.

I really do.

Drumroll, please. John Kerry has settled on a campaign theme, which could quiet the worries of all of those Democrats out there fretting over his supposed inability to communicate a coherent message, a rap that has prevented him, it seems, from getting equal time in the national media. One of the only network news stories on Kerry since April 1 was an NBC story that dwelled on the fact that Kerry's message was being drowned out.

But Kerry's trying to change all that, and hopes his newfound campaign slogan will help. The phrase is: "Let America be America again," derived from the title of a Langston Hughes poem, which Kerry referenced in his speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka, Kan. "For America to be America for any of us, America must be America for all of us," he said.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html

[PretzelWarrior]

1. How bout? "Let America stop being 1930's Germany"

or "Let 2004 be 2004 again instead of 1984"

if he went with "Restoring Fairness and Balance to the White House" he could get a bounce in poll numbers when FoxNews sues him

[CatWoman]

2. oh stop being bitchy

:D

[JI7]

3. i like it, has a nice sound to it

[RedEarth]

4. Sounds good.....I like it.

A lot of different messages could be used with this theme....Let America be the America the world respects again, etc

[CatWoman]

5. America The Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

[RedEarth]

6. They ought to play that at each campaign rally...

Positive message, beautiful song, ties in well with the new theme.

[KittyWampus]

7. Jury Is Still Out, But I'll Trust Your Judgement For The Time Being

:)

I'm still mulling it over.

[CatWoman]

8. LOL

Gee....................

thanks

:)

[mainer]

9. I think this is good! It reminds us that American CAN be great

And it plays to what Americans WANT to think about their country: that it's the best nation on earth.

[cally]

10. I like it!!

Kerry can use this in so many ways. I think this is what most Americans want.

[sangh0]

11. It's even better than MY idea for a theme

"We Can Do Better"

[CatWoman]

12. uh oh

I feel another cackling fit coming on....................

:D

[sangh0]

22. Serves me right

:spank:

[JI7]

15. because he specifically says "america"

you can't really go wrong with that. it doesn't leave it open to things like "do better like when clinton let bin laden free" ? type attacks that is expected from right wingers.

this plays into the biases of those who feel america IS the greatest by saying let it be america and it shows there is a need for change by the "again".

i think it would be good to apply it to taxes and war. by saying lets go back to when americans took responsibility and paid their war debts rather than leaving it to our future generations to deal with.

[quinnox]

13. I like his other one in the commercials

"A lifetime of service and strength"

[JI7]

16. that's great as it applies to him personally

it's nice to hear all these good ideas coming out.

[alarcojon]

14. Does anyone think Kerry has seen this?

It was around DU a few weeks back, and uses his theme very effectively. Maybe Kerry can get Danny Glover to recite the poem across the country.

http://www.ericblumrich.com/pax.html

[redqueen]

17. It will be so nice to have a REAL LEADER again. :-)

*sigh*

Although I wanted him to choose ACCOUNTABILITY as the theme, this works for me too! Less divisive, and just as necessary!

[JI7]

19. i'm sure he can have more than one

i want him to bring the accountability thing up front also. but i'm guessing the america theme is the overall one to get things going. but within it he can include serivce, accountability, and other things which will "let america be america again".

[KittyWampus]

21. Higher Standard Of Leadership. Clark Had It Down...

Kerry actually DID end up stealing it from him :)

It resonated with many people.

[Straight Shooter]

18. Hmmm ... I don't know. "Let" is such a passive word.

It doesn't inspire me. It would have been nice if the Kerry campaign had conducted a contest. I'm sure some dynamite slogans would have been generated.

Let America be America Again.

Reminds me of that Beatles tune, When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

It's just me. It doesn't resonate :shrug:

[mac56]

23. I think "let" is the right word choice.

It implies that American values are basically good, but that the country has been distracted from them by other elements (see also: Bush, G.W.). Removing these distractions will "let" America get back to being America.

I think it's a good choice.

[Rosco T.]

20. "Let America be America Again...."

... the America that has the respect of the world.
... the America that respects human dignity.
... the America that believes in in the homp of the future, not the mistakes of the past.
... the America that cares for ALL it's citizens.

and on, and on, and on...

each one a different commercial, each a different ad, each a different theme.. but all with the same core..

LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN.


brilliant....

[robbedvoter]

24. The poem:

http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm?prmID=1473
by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

  

[KittyWampus]

25. What A Beautiful Poem. Read It Out Loud

terrific... will share with friends.