Passionate Politics and Chris Bachelder

US! by Chris Bachelder proves once again that emotional conflict is 'a central concern of political analysis' (Goodwin, 2). Bachelder revives Sinclair over and over again because 'The poor is still with us. We still have tainted meat. We still have layoffs. We still have an economic system that eats people to get stronger.' (Bachelder, 57). Social injustice is still prevalent in the country and an intervention from the political left is more necessary, yet we find that liberals are considerably weak in modern society. This phenomenon is prevalent from emotional conflict between Sinclair and the narrator. The narrator, in frustration, yells 'That's what you are, a misjudger. An epic American midjudger with a bad ear for dialogue and an exclamation point problem. You've misjudged an entire country' (Bachelder, 56). Moreover, Sinclair's life is constantly threatened. He receives a phone call that whispers, 'do not let the sun set on your communist ass' (Bachelder, 47). And as soon as he hears a gunshot, Sinclair, 'the human rabbit, was off the couch and behind it before the sound had died away' (Bachelder, 55). These emotional states symbolize a weaker liberalism that no longer has a capacity to change the society as it once did 100 years ago.

Moreover, it is argued in 'Passionate Politics' that 'loyalty to a "collective identity' might encourage an individual to participate even if cost-benefit calculations at the level of the individual did not favor it (Goodwin, 5). Narrator's uncle, Ray, admits that ' I'll watch TV and root for him. I hope he shakes things up. But I don't want to get involved. I don't want to make it my...' (Bachelder, 61). His attitude symbolizes disinterest of the modern citizens towards social issues, an obstacle bigger than any that Sinclair or the political left had once faced.