A common theme of common good.

So I'm thinking more and more about what I'd like to do, and speech writing or something near that continues to pop into my consciousness as an attractive endeavor.

I began to look through Americanrhetoric.com to read and reread some great speeches, and read parts of LBJ's "We Shall Overcome" speech. One section reminded me of a recently delivered speech. Each seems to be a call for unity and the common good that works.

The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue.
And should we defeat every enemy, and should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation. For with a country as with a person, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. And we are met here tonight as Americans -- not as Democrats or Republicans. We are met here as Americans to solve that problem.

And now Sen. Obama:

There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

Howard Dean from his December 7th speech:

In America, there is nothing black or white about having to live from one paycheck to the next.Hunger does not care what color we are.In America, a conversation between parents about taking on more debt might be in English or it might be in Spanish, worrying about making ends meet knows no racial identity.Black children and white children all get the flu and need the doctor. In both the inner city and in small rural towns, our schools need good teachers.When I was in medical school in the Bronx, one of my first ER patients was a 13-year-old African American girl who had an unwanted pregnancy. When I moved to Vermont to practice medicine, one of my first ER patients was a 13-year-old white girl who had an unwanted pregnancy.They were bound by their common human experience.There are no black concerns or white concerns or Hispanic concerns in America. There are only human concerns.

I don't quite know how, but these seem to me "words that work." Harnessing simple ideas that transcend some group distinction. Some small attempt to foster community through shared problems. I'd also suggest that we include shared successes. This seems ripe for environmental use. There is nothing black nor white about the water we drink, air we breathe and soil we plow. There are mighty forests in the red states and sprawling strip malls in the blue.

It's not about X or Y it's a matter of quality of life. If the air I breate is cleaner yours will be too. If my child gets a better education in the public schools I'd ask nothing less for yours.

There are other more cheesy things Local officials can talk about: There's nothing Democratic or Republican about loving the "Fighting Mustangs" or whatever. But by highlighting the size and breadth of the progressive vision we do ourselves a greater service. I don't quite know how to use this thought, but I hope someone can take it and give it legs.