In today’s Sun: the values proposition
Values, in politics, aren’t something. They’re everything.
So, too, is speaking with clarity and confidence.
Last week, both notions — having a set of values and communicating them to voters with conviction — were readily on display, in Canada and the U.S.
In Montreal, Justin Trudeau stepped up to a podium to talk, over and over, about “middle-class values.” And then, the next night in Denver, Mitt Romney stepped up to a podium to talk, almost as much, about “middle-class values.”
It was quaint, of course, to listen to two men born into privilege and power speak so earnestly about the mythic middle class. Neither has ever been part of it, not on a single day of their lives. Both weren’t just born with a silver spoon in their mouths — Romney and Trudeau came into this world equipped with silver shovels.
But there they were, talking like regular guys about everyday values stuff. Identity. Authenticity. Hope. Empathy.
And, in so doing — in a direct and forceful way — Trudeau and Romney pulverized their opponents.
