White House pivots to new/old populist messaging

The New Plan at the White House seems to be to expropriate the phrasing that has become the signature of the TEA Party.  In this email just received from David Plouffe, he uses the phrase "We The People" five or six times.  Of course that's because it's the name of their new online endeavor at WhiteHouseDotGov.

 

Good morning,

We're about to change the way Americans engage with President Obama and his Administration by launching a new way for you to join with fellow Americans to petition the federal government on a range of issues. 

It's called We the People and you can learn more about it, and sign up to be the first to know when it's live here:

President Obama believes that government should be open and accountable to its citizens, and that's the goal of We the People. This online platform gives Americans a direct line to the White House on the issues and concerns that matter most to them.

Soon, anyone will be able to create or sign a petition at WhiteHouse.gov seeking action from the federal government on a range of issues. If a petition gathers enough signatures, the White House staff will review it, make sure it gets to Obama Administration policy experts, and issue an official response. President Obama will even answer a few himself.

While this is a big change for the White House's website, the idea is actually written into our founding documents. Throughout our history, Americans have used petitions to organize around issues they care about. We the People gives you a new way to join together with others to ask your government to address a problem, change a policy, or take action on a range of issues.

We the People will be launching very soon so start thinking about the issues that matter to you and the people you'll ask to join you.

We're looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

David Plouffe
Senior Advisor to the President

P.S. Help us spread the word about this new tool by forwarding this email to ten friends. And remember, if you want to learn more about We the People and be the first to know when it is live, head to

http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/WeThePeople

 

So it's not just "We The People," but again with the founding documents.

I remember that from the viral video - which, probably more than anything else, got The Won elected - in which his speech after the New Hampshire primary (which, no one seemed to notice, he had lost) was set to music.

.... It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can....

 

It was in his Inaugural Address:

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be...

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights....

Oy gevalt, it was in his Apology (#6 of 10) in France Speech, April 2009:

Our two republics were founded in service of these ideals. In America, it is written into our founding documents as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In France: "Liberté"--absolutely--"egalité, fraternité." Our moral authority is derived from the fact that generations of our citizens have fought and bled to uphold these values in our nations and others. And that's why we can never sacrifice them for expedience's sake. That's why I've ordered the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay. 

 

And I heard it again, more recently, in his speech on "the way forward" in Afghanistan, June 2011:

Though we have known disagreement and division, we are bound together by the creed that is written into our founding documents, and a conviction that the United States of America is a country that can achieve whatever it sets out to accomplish.

 

It's very telling, I think, that after that speech, at least one RonPaulist wondered if we had just "mainlined into a Sarah Palin speech." 

So WHY, having set Palin up as the Ultimate Enemy, would the White House now decide to emulate her values? Is this a maneuver to pick up some independent votes... or what? Won't it turn off the base?  I just don't "get" politics at all.

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

Politics is first and foremost the art of being all things to all people. The only way that can be done is to steal ideas that work for other candidates and make them your own. Whether or not you like the candidate from whom you steal has nothing to do with it. The only question is: "If we steal it, can we make it work for us?" Obama is a master of the technique. It's becoming increasingly clear that he intends to run a campaign based on an idea stolen from a man who isn't even running: Harry Truman. I'll betcha dollars to donuts that in the coming weeks we hear our president constantly expatiating upon the "do-nothing Congress." The phrase helped Truman beat Dewey, and it's a virtual certainty that Obama will use it -- or something very close to it -- to beat the GOP. The nice thing about swiping an idea from a man who's been dead as long as Truman is that most of the voters who would know the idea's been purloined are also dead.