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Americans revere the Fourth of July because it was the birth of a really big idea----the idea that a group of people, no matter how large, small or diverse, can govern themselves. Up until that idea was embedded in the Declaration of Independence, it was an article of faith in almost all societies that a king, or emperor, or war lord, or some individual who had won authority by birth or conquest was needed to maintain order and to lay down the rules for human conduct.
Self government was a big new idea. From that day to this America has been governed largely by big ideas.
The merger of separate states into one nation stronger than the sum of its parts was another big idea. The common destiny that drove the expansion of those states from east coast to west was a big idea.
Universal public education was a big idea. Acceptance of peoples from all continents and backgrounds to help build and enrich the continent was a big idea.
Extension of the franchise and enforced equality for all has been slow in coming, but it's finally here, and it represents a major break with all that preceded it in human history. By any measure, a very big idea.
Every one of these ideas was hugely controversial in its time. Every one required extraordinary leadership to accomplish.
For 232 years Americans have bought into big new ideas if they seemed rooted in the same soil that natured U.S. independence: equality, opportunity, optimism, fairness, community.
And in 2008, Americans are more than ready for a President who will lead in that tradition.
Most Americans of voting age are hugely proud of what our nation has accomplished in the relatively few years of our existence. We are heirs to generations who set individuals free to pursue their own lives, and who built the greatest economic engine the world has ever known, and who saved the world from a new dark age of totalitarian tyranny.
We're not ready to throw in the towel now and accept the notion that those days are behind us.
We're ready to regroup our many human and resource assets to build a strong post-industrial age society.
We're ready to rebuild the lifelines of that society: our schools, and road and bridges, our rail and waterways.
We're ready for a new energy age based on renewable resources. We're ready for a new education age based on the wondrous access to knowledge new technology has brought us.
We're ready to rebuild our cities so they don't pen in the poor. And we're ready to help the poor climb out of the financial traps so many have been unable to escape.
We're ready, finally, to consider a reasonable level of health care as a right, not just another retail commodity.
The world has grown accustomed to looking toward the United States for humane, understanding and informed leadership on such questions as nuclear proliferation, arms control, emerging nation opportunity, human rights and the fight against poverty, hunger and disease.
Americans are ready to restore that leadership role, which has been so badly shaken by developments of the past few years.
Americans are aching for leadership that sees the big picture and is willing to act with boldness and creativity to address the cumulative nest of problems that survey research sums up as "80% of Americans think we are on the wrong track."
There are those who argue that presidential candidates should provide detailed programs on everything they hope to accomplish.
I disagree.
The Declaration of Independence was a statement of principles, not a how-to manual for making democracy work.
First comes the determination to set things right and the inspiration that melds the force to accomplish it.
That's what we need now.
So, please, please, don't get bogged down by the minutia of small minds, the 24-hour cable news cackling, the tit-for-tat, your-another default positions of most campaigns.
American voters are looking for---desperate for---real leadership to address big ideas.
It would be just honor to this Fourth of July for both of you to pledge yourselves to campaigns that inspire the nation with hope, confidence and energy. Once ignited, that flame, like the original American revolution, will take care of itself.
- Joe Rothstein, Editor
USPoliticstoday.com
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