GOP Mocks Public Service at its Peril

By Peter Dreier & John Atlas

Source: The Nation

September 5, 2008

“…For the first time in American history, a major political party devoted a substantial portion of its national convention to attacking grassroots organizing. Speaking Wednesday at the Republican National Convention, former New York Governor George Pataki sneered, ‘[Barack Obama] was a community organizer. What in God’s name is a community organizer? I don’t even know if that’s a job.’ Then former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivered his own snickering hit job. ‘He worked as a community organizer. What? Maybe this is the first problem on the résumé,’ mocked Giuliani. Then he said, ‘This is not a personal attack. It’s a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything. Nothing. Nada.’ A few minutes later, in her acceptance speech for the GOP vice presidential nomination, Sarah Palin declared, ‘I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.’ The party of Ronald Reagan was touting government experience over civic engagement…”  Click here to view the full article.

UPDATE: Additional perspectives on the GOP’s recent treatment of community organizing are available through the Center for Community Change (Center for Community Change and partners respond to attacks on field, Wednesday, September 3, 2008) and New York Daily News (GOP pols’ latest slur proves just how out of touch they are, September 7, 2008).