Say, I am not about building a cult of personality. I'm about rebuilding a political party. I'm about setting a course. In the last analysis, the personalities who are going to make the changes we need are you, the voters.
Say, I am not talking pie in the sky. I'm talking steady, slow, intentional progress. Slow and sure, right here, in our neighborhoods, in our counties, in our states, and in Washington, DC.
Say, we are not in an adversarial situation. There is no enemy we are fighting. And we do not play the politics of fear. We need to connect with the better angels of our nature and to work together for reasonable, common sense change -- that is the only change we can believe in.
Say, we are not out to drive a wedge between rich and poor. We recognize poverty for what it is. We eliminate it by extending opportunity to all and by ensuring a chance to every American. We can reach for the sky in this country. And I celebrate that. And we can give back too. And I celebrate that.
Say: We are a free people and we prize our liberty above all else. Our liberty is tested whenever anyone comes forward with easy answers and seductive promises -- tbe classless society, a thousand year reich. To these we say No! We will build our house on the rock of of freedom, respect for the individual, and saying a firm no to tyranny.
Say: We are a constitutional people. We have a legal system crowned by a Supreme Court whose only obligation is to hold our Constitution high. In America, we do not claim to speak for anyone but ourselves, When we are lost at sea, we return to our Constitution where our freedom is enshrined and our rights are writ large. It never fails to set us on a proper course.
Say: We are not a people mired in violence. Violence arises from resentments that seem to have no recourse. We have a recourse. Violence arises from anger when love seems to have broken down. We have a recourse. We care for the whole. No one is an island unto themselves. We reach out and treat others as we wish to be treated. We have fought wars and had revolutions to win and sustain this freedom. For us violence is always the last resort.
Warning Signs of Incipient Messianism
Focusing attention on a single spiritual or poliical leader.
Modify the problem by sharing the stage with others and discouraging adulatory statements from supporters like, You are the ONE!
Underline the breadth of participation in the campaign effort.
Underline that contributors and volunteers are not passive, worshipful folk, but strong and determined individuals who are working to achieve real change.
Play down the ecstatic and miraculous.
Even anecdotal things. Play down "transcendent excitement".
Go lightly on conspicuous success.
It might be an excellent move to accept a financial limit on campaigning, mainly to oppose the notion that this is a movement of "cult followers'. The decision to move to public financing would deflate such a prospect.
If this is not in the cards, the reasons had better be designed to protect against the "messianic" charges.
Bring humor and self-deprecation to bear around cult of personality things such as songs and displays of adulation. Even consider viral debunking video -- he's just a man sort of thing.
Underline generational realities.
Say, I am not talking pie in the sky. I'm talking steady, slow, intentional progress. Slow and sure, right here, in our neighborhoods, in our counties, in our states, and in Washington, DC.
Say, we are not in an adversarial situation. There is no enemy we are fighting. And we do not play the politics of fear. We need to connect with the better angels of our nature and to work together for reasonable, common sense change -- that is the only change we can believe in.
Say, we are not out to drive a wedge between rich and poor. We recognize poverty for what it is. We eliminate it by extending opportunity to all and by ensuring a chance to every American. We can reach for the sky in this country. And I celebrate that. And we can give back too. And I celebrate that.
Say: We are a free people and we prize our liberty above all else. Our liberty is tested whenever anyone comes forward with easy answers and seductive promises -- tbe classless society, a thousand year reich. To these we say No! We will build our house on the rock of of freedom, respect for the individual, and saying a firm no to tyranny.
Say: We are not a people mired in violence. Violence arises from resentments that seem to have no recourse. We have a recourse. Violence arises from anger when love seems to have broken down. We have a recourse. We care for the whole. No one is an island unto themselves. We reach out and treat others as we wish to be treated. We have fought wars and had revolutions to win and sustain this freedom. For us violence is always the last resort.
Warning Signs of Incipient Messianism
Focusing attention on a single spiritual or poliical leader.
Modify the problem by sharing the stage with others and discouraging adulatory statements from supporters like, You are the ONE!
Underline the breadth of participation in the campaign effort.
Underline that contributors and volunteers are not passive, worshipful folk, but strong and determined individuals who are working to achieve real change.
Play down the ecstatic and miraculous.
Even anecdotal things. Play down "transcendent excitement".
Go lightly on conspicuous success.
It might be an excellent move to accept a financial limit on campaigning, mainly to oppose the notion that this is a movement of "cult followers'. The decision to move to public financing would deflate such a prospect.
If this is not in the cards, the reasons had better be designed to protect against the "messianic" charges.
Bring humor and self-deprecation to bear around cult of personality things such as songs and displays of adulation. Even consider viral debunking video -- he's just a man sort of thing.
Underline generational realities.
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