The New Nationalism—This is what the 2012 election is all about

In a speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas, President Obama laid out the basic issue to be decided in the 2012 election.  Ironically it is about whether the vision of a Republican President for a New Nationalism will be realized again as it was until Republicans divided American into the few haves and the many have nots.  Obama set the theme of the campaign with this speech.  Here is an excerpt from the end of Obama's speech from a transcript provided by the White House.

Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It’s been about building a nation where we’re all better off. We pull together, we pitch in, and we do our part, believing that hard work will pay off; that responsibility will be rewarded; and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on.

And it is that belief that rallied thousands of Americans to Osawatomie - maybe even some of your ancestors - on a rain-soaked day more than a century ago. By train, by wagon, on buggy, bicycle, and foot, they came to hear the vision of a man who loved this country, and was determined to perfect it.

“We are all Americans,” Teddy Roosevelt told them that day. “Our common interests are as broad as the continent.” In the final years of his life, Roosevelt took that same message all across this country, from tiny Osawatomie to the heart of New York City, believing that no matter where he went, or who he was talking to, all would benefit from a country in which everyone gets a fair chance.

Well into our third century as a nation, we have grown and changed in many ways since Roosevelt’s time. The world is faster. The playing field is larger. The challenges are more complex.  But what hasn’t changed - what can never change - are the values that got us this far. We still have a stake in each other’s success. We still believe that this should be a place where you can make it if you try. And we still believe, in the words of the man who called for a New Nationalism all those years ago, “The fundamental rule in our national life - the rule which underlies all others - is that, on the whole, and in the long run, we shall go up or down together.”

Read a transcript of the entire speech here: http://news.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/obamas-teddy-roosevelt-speech---full-transcript.php

See the video here:  http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/2467?ref=fpblg