Politicians are always trying to gain votes. They want to win elections. They want their policies but into law. But how do they appeal to us? In large part, they utilize the American Dream to influence us that they deserve our vote. My topic for essay #3 is the role of politicians in assessing and utilizing the American Dream.
My chapter from American Dream in the 21st Century is titled "The Politics of the American Dream, 1980 to 2008," which was written in 2011 by Professor of history Michael C. Kimmage. From this chapter I have learned that politicians use the American Dream as a source of power over the people, but in order to get that power they must evaluate and understand what their citizens need. In essence, they have to understand the citizens' version of the American Dream and from there they can appeal to what the citizens want. Kimmage splits the American Dream into the physics and metaphysics, meaning the physical aspirations (like owning a house) and the spiritual aspirations (like happiness). This distinction in parts of the American Dream helps to understand what Kimmage means when he says politicians have to assess the American Dream. This means one part of the American Dream is more likely to satisfy citizens and win votes based on the needs of the time period.
In addition to what I learned from Kimmage, I learned more from my other sources. Fisher's "Reaffirmation and Subversion of the American Dream" (1973), which we all know and love, taught me that Kimmage might not be correct that one version of the dream will apply to a specific time period, because Fisher claims that both versions of the dream coexist in politics. Fisher provides evidence for this by analyzing the rhetoric of Nixon and McGovern during their campaigns and comparing them to one another. This showed how each candidate embodied a versions of the dream, but they both were appealing to the citizens' needs.
I also learned from Professor of communication, rhetoric, and political science Martin J. Medhurst in his article "LBJ, Reagan, and the American Dream: Competing Visions of Liberty" that presidential candidates base their view of the American Dream on the word liberty, and that's what influences their campaign. While Medhurst supports this through compare and contrast of LBJ and Reagan's definition of liberty, I find it complicates both Fisher and Kimmage's claims that the candidate does not assess what the people want. Instead, suggests Medhurst, they promote and define their own version of liberty and the American Dream, which attracts voters based on how well they campaign.
Lastly, I learned a very interesting way that Obama used the American Dream through Robert C. Rowland and John M. Jones' article "One Dream: Barack Obama, Race, and the American Dream" (2011). In this article it presents the claim that Obama assessed citizens' main problem during his campaign, racial disparity, and instead of directly addressing a solution, he focused on the American Dream as a way to overcome this problem. Through the use of the American Dream, Obama was able to inspire citizens that by focusing on making the American Dream achievable for everyone, the could overcome racial boundaries.
By synthesizing these sources and all the information I've learned about the role of politicians in assessing and utilizing the American Dream, I have come to my own conclusions. Politicians, in order to be effective, must know the issues that plague society during their campaign, as well as what the citizens' want to hear will fix them. I've seen this from Kimmage as well as Rowland and Jones. Also, politicians have choices of how to approach the American Dream, just like all of these authors present, but I do not think that one way is considered the right way. I come to this conclusion by looking at how different Obama's use of the American Dream was in politics compared to past politicians, and how successful he was in bringing the nation together.
Because citizens will always have new problems and new American Dreams, politicians will continue to use the American Dream in unique ways to wins voters and help guide the nation.
