And with that, Michele Bachmann’s closing-round time ran out at the Republican roundtable debate at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. But I couldn’t help thinking that moderator Charlie Rose seemed to be wishing he were back at his usual PBS table for a one-on-one with her, to have the extended conversation he’s used to.
This wasn’t empty talk of hope and change. It was about what moves us. What motivates us. What makes us better, as individuals and as a country. Not by some kind of government mandate, but by a culture that helps us encourage one another, that protects us and lets liberty flourish. This is something revolutionary: not a federal program but empowering the smallest units to use their talents to create something.
The Minnesota congresswoman had been talking about her bio and how it related to her platform. “We went to below poverty when my parents divorced. And my mother worked very hard. We all did. We all got jobs. And we were able to work our way through college. And — and eventually my husband and I started a business.” The upward-mobility American dream, the one so many out-of-work Americans want to believe in in these challenging times.
“We have broken hearts for at-risk kids, Charlie,” she went on. “That’s why we took 23 foster children into our home. I believe the best solutions are the ones closest to home. If we reach out as individuals to help people and have broken hearts for people and care for them on a personal basis, then we don’t need big government to step in and do that job.” She painted a portrait of who she is and what motivates her, and by doing so, she pointed to the heart of political and economic matters.
In the same debate, Rick Santorum drove the point, literally, home: “The biggest problem with poverty in America — and we don’t talk about [that] here, because it’s an economic discussion — and that is the breakdown of the American family. You want to look at the poverty rate among families that have two — that have a husband and wife working in them? It’s 5 percent today. A family that’s headed by one person? It’s 30 percent today. We need to do something, and we need to talk about economics. The home — the word ‘home’ in Greek is the basis of the word ‘economy.’ It is — it is the foundation of our country. We need to have a policy that supports families, that encourages marriage.”
I’ve become a firm believer in the idea that if you see something good, you should say something about it. So: Thank you, Rick. Thank you, Michele.
(Kathryn Jean lopez, NRO)