Republicans At Convention Hide From Issues And Reveal New Dirty Word: "Community Organizer"

Rick Davis, manager of the McCain campaign, recently stated, "This campaign is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Davis's statement reduces the campaign to a personality contest. I'm not sure it was wise for Davis to make such a declaration, but it was honest. During an election season when war, the economy and health care are such pressing issues, the Republicans naturally want to shift the focus to personality–especially when they've presided over eight years of disaster and all they offer is more of the same. Obama makes this very point in the video above at a presentation at the Siemens Hydro Power Plant, York, Pennsylvania.

Given this strategy, the speeches at the Republican National Convention were short on plans for the economy, as well as on Iraq, energy and health care. In his acceptance speech, John McCain stated in reference to American workers, "We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities"–surely a reprise of George Bush's empty promises during his debates with John Kerry. Like Bush, McCain knows that he has no such program in mind. Let him state instead that he'll put an end to tax cuts for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.

Following the strategy as defined by Davis, the convention became a junior high school-style "rank-out" session, with the target being Barack Obama. During the convention, a new dirty word entered the Republican lexicon: "community organizer." As Sarah Palin stated, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

The Republicans are clearly contradicting themselves when they disparage this valuable role. George H. W. Bush stated at his inaugural address of January 2, 1989, "I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the nation, doing good." And McCain himself, in his acceptance speech, asked listeners to "Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all."

I guess doing good and fighting for justice and opportunity are fine among the Republicans–as long as the individual who puts these words into practice isn't running for president on the Democratic ticket.

I have always been suspicious when Republicans extol the virtue of voluntarism. Between the lines I hear, "Don't expect us to properly fund education, health care and other social needs. How can we do that and afford tax cuts for the wealthy and a repeal of the estate tax? Let volunteers and charity handle it."

Regardless of my suspicions, the fact is that Barack Obama is entitled to high praise for his work as a community organizer. As recounted by  U.S News & World Report, "After graduating from Columbia University in 1983 with a major in political science, Obama worked as a financial consultant in New York City. But he was bored—and drawn to public service."

So instead of staying on Wall Street and raking in dough, Obama took a tremendous salary cut in order to help people. His annual salary was $10,000. I realize that the work of CEOs and hedge fund managers command more respect according to the Republican value system. But how can anyone, except those operating on the most cynical of motives, deny Obama's idealism and patriotism?

So what did Obama do as a community organizer? According to U.S. News, "In 1985, he moved to Chicago to work with local churches organizing job training and other programs for poor and working-class residents of Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project where 5,300 African-Americans tried to survive amid shuttered steel mills, a nearby landfill, a putrid sewage treatment plant, and a pervasive feeling that the white establishment of Chicago would never give them a fair shake."

Goodness, how irresponsible can one get?

Note that Obama worked with "local churches"–a point conveniently forgotten by Palin, the new rock star of the religious right. And a party that preaches self-help ought to praise Obama for the values he sought to instill in others: "...whether it was getting the city to fill potholes, provide summer jobs, or remove asbestos from the apartments or persuading the apartment managers to repair toilets, pipes, and ceilings, Obama encouraged residents to come up with their own priorities with the gentle admonition: "It's your community."

The attempt to mock Obama for his praiseworthy work as a community organizer must be seen as one more diversion by a Republican campaign that is bankrupt of ideas and offers the nation an extension of the failed Bush presidency.