Politics & Power Quote by Mitch Daniels

Faith is doing double duty here: it’s both the emotional fuel and the political solvent meant to bind a fractured audience into a single “we.” Daniels frames “great enterprises” as impossible without belief, then quietly relocates that belief from any particular policy to a story about national essence. The “pearl” metaphor flatters the listener: faith isn’t naïve; it’s precious, hard-won, hidden inside grit. That’s a canny move for a politician asking for endurance and sacrifice without yet naming costs.

The subtext is a reprimand disguised as praise. “Still a people born to liberty” implies doubt has crept in; “retain the capacity” suggests that competence for self-rule is at risk. Daniels isn’t only celebrating democracy, he’s staking a claim that citizens have been treated like dependents and must be “addressed” differently. That verb matters. It hints at a communications theory of politics: talk to people as autonomous and dignified, and they will behave that way. It’s bootstrap civic psychology, with a religious seal (“God-given dignity”) that elevates the argument beyond party and turns political obligation into moral identity.

The closing clause tightens into wartime cadence: “rise yet again” and “drive back” summon a revivalist-nationalist memory of past mobilizations. “Mortal enemy” is deliberately elastic, a phrase that can map onto terrorism, authoritarianism, debt, cultural decline, or any looming crisis. The flexibility is the point. By keeping the enemy unnamed, the rhetoric recruits a broad coalition while pre-authorizing intensity. It’s persuasion by inheritance: if you accept the birthright of liberty, you’re already halfway enlisted.