At the convention on Wednesday, Republican after Republican stood up to attack the very idea of people getting involved to improve their communities. Community organizers are a crucial component of grassroots change, and the Republican smirking confirms that they’re here to bring us just more of the same.
Former Governor George Pataki:
“[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.” The out-of-touch former governor doesn’t know what a community organizer does. He might want to learn given the rate the Bush-McCain economic policies are damaging communities across America.Fmr. Mayor Rudy Giuliani:
“On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? [Laughter]…I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.”As mayor, Giuliani was notoriously indifferent to the needs of real people in New York’s communities. No wonder he wouldn’t know a good community organizer if he held her resume in his hand.
Governor Sarah Palin:
“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”Community organizers are ‘actually responsible’ to hardworking people who can’t afford to buy attention through lobbyists. As mayor, Palin was ‘responsible’ for hiring an elite lobbyist to win her town federal earmarks.
