Republicans have long mocked President Obama for “that hopey-changey stuff,” but the president may have reclaimed those ideas tonight. And in doing so, msnbc’s Rachel Maddow suggested, he struck a crucial blow against cynicism.
“Since Obama has been elected, something you’re supposed to be embarrassed about is that you might be moved by politics,” said Maddow after Obama’s speech accepting the nomination of the Democratic party. “That the idea of hope and change are a punchline. And that the idea that you would think you would be able to expect anything, but also able to feel anything about politics is some sort of weakness, some sort of sign of naivete. And I was moved by this speech. I find it moving and I am happy to be moved. And I think it’s a sort of cynicism eraser.”
Maddow quoted a particularly strong passage in the President’s speech:
“If you turn away now—if you buy into the cynicism that the change we fought for isn’t possible … well, change will not happen. If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void: lobbyists and special interests; the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are making it harder for you to vote.” “The addressing of the issue of hope, transferring it away from himself as a political celebrity and putting it on the people … that is what I find moving as a civics dork,” Maddow said.
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