The Question...

I love regular old common bloggers. Everyone expects something great from the likes of Andrew Sullivan. But when you get something that is truely insightful from an unestablished blogger, the kind who has zero comments on his blogs day in day out, that is fun. John from Talent Earthquake Productions blogs much in the same way I do and seems to gravitate toward the same sources as I do. But I think for the most part he is more insightful. Today he posted his thoughts on what Obama's speech is going to look like tomorrow and suggests a question that Obama should pose that I think would be as wonderful as it is simple.

"[W]hat is [McCain's] plan to restore American greatness?"

I feel this is not something that has really been explored. Obama has touched on it but he should focus more of his energy on it. Its something that almost every American can rally around and is so simple that it requires almost no thinking. Obama has talked a lot about reclaiming America's place in the world. About a foreign policy that enables that while ceding nothing that could compromise our sovereignty. But I have yet to hear anything from McCain that speaks to this issue. What I hear instead is a series of policies that ensures that America is beholden to no one. Being beholden to no one is what North Korea is doing now. But that is something entirely different than restoring America's greatness. So the obvious question is, Do you want to be isolationist North Korea or do you want to engage in and lead a global community of shared responsibilities and shared opportunities?

Actually, President Bill Clinton hinted at this idea of restoring American greatness tonight in his address at the Democratic National Convention in a brilliant and succinct manner when he said "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

This demonstrates that our greatness lies within ourselves. It is something that is manifested not by being better than others but by being our best selves. Now some might try to point to a contradiction in the two statements I have just made - that our greatness depends on our engaging in a global community and that our greatness lies within ourselves. But the two could not be more dependent on each other. America's greatest self is actually realized through its engagement with and providing leadership within the global community.

If Obama can adopt this story line - the one that demands McCain to spell out how he will restore American greatness - he is already perfectly positioned to capitalize on it with predictable results. He has already set the tone for it, his policies are already lined up for it. All he needs to do now is ask the question.