Let's talk about the Kennedys, just to name a political family with multi-generational wealth.
In particular, Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy made anti-poverty centerpieces of their political legacies. RFK was practically obsessed with racial and social justice; as a Senator, he spearheaded an economic development project in Brooklyn, and in a speech as a presidential candidate first introduced the concept of the "other America" who'd been passed by, prosperity-wise. Ted Kennedy was probably the biggest proponent of public education this country's ever seen.
The fact that both of these men grew up in a wealthy, influential family didn't blind them to the importance of policies that allow others to advance and build their own wealth.
That's what was running through my mind when I watched this:
It's like a bad sequel to that 2008 flop, "Sarah Palin is Better For Women Than That Guy Who Wrote the Violence Against Women Act, Even Though She Doesn't Care About Rape Victims, Just Because She Has a Uterus."
I'm sure that some of these GOP presidential hopefuls really did grow up in humble circumstances. But that doesn't automatically make them more attuned to the needs of Americans who are currently unemployed, under-employed or buried in debt. I'm a lot more interested in how the policies they say they'll support will affect those financially struggling Americans.
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