I'll start with some quotes, and follow up with my thoughts on this party.
"Victory has become a habit of our party. It has been elected four times in succession, and I am convinced it will be elected a fifth time next November. The reason is that the people know that the Democratic Party is the people's party, and the Republican Party is the party of special interest, and it always has been and always will be."
- Harry S. Truman, 7/23/1948, DNC Speech in Philadelphia (
Source)
"Understand me, when I speak of what the Republicans have been doing, I'm not talking about the average Republican voter. Nobody knows better than I that man for man, individually, most Republicans are fine people. But there's a big distinction between the individual Republican voter and the policies of the Republican Party."
- HST, 9/20/1948 in Denver, CO (
Source)
(a lot more under the fold!)
"It is necessary for us, under the Constitution of the United States, to get out and have a scramble for the Presidency. We are having that right now. I am going around all over the country, facing such wonderful people as you, to tell you exactly what the domestic issues are in this campaign, and try to convince you that the Democratic Party is the party of the common people, and that the Republican Party is the party of special interests as it always has been."
- HST, 9/22/1948, San Francisco, CA (
Source)
"Now, in times past, you haven't always had that sympathy from the Federal Government. I think this 80th Congress has done more to turn the clock back than any Congress we have had since 1926--and that's going a long way back. You can't afford to have that sort of thing.
We don't want to turn the clock back. We want the clock to go forward, and if you want to go forward--if you want to go with the forward-looking people--go forward with the Democratic Party, and I claim that the Democratic Party is the forward-looking party in this United States, and that the Democratic Party has the interests of the farmer and the laborer and the white-collar man and the little businessman at heart. The Republican Party has always represented special interests, and I think they still represent special interests."
- HST, 9/23/1948, Tulare, CA (Source)
"There are two theories of government in this country. One theory believes that the special interests--that is, the people who have control of everything--should get all the profits and all the welfare of the country, and what little trickles down the other people can get by chance if they are there to get it.
The theory of the Democratic Party is that there should be an equal distribution of the wealth. That is, the farmer should get his share, the laboringman should get his share, the white-collar man should get his, and the small businessman should get his.
They don't like that, and this last 80th Republican Congress conclusively proved that when they get control of any part of the Government they work only for special interests.
Now, it's in your interest to see that that party which has the interest of the people at heart is in control of the Government. In order to get that done, on November 2d you should go to the polls and vote a straight Democratic ticket, and then you won't have any trouble."
- HST, 9/23/1948, Mojave, CA (Source)
"Now you study that situation, and when you get the issues balanced--which I discussed yesterday in Dallas and wound up in Bonham last night with the fundamentals-if you will just study those remarks, you can't help but be satisfied that the country is much safer, the welfare of the country is safer in the hands of the Democrats. When you put it in the hands of the Republicans, it isn't safe and it hasn't been safe for the last 100 years.
I have always been for the people--the man in the street. Lincoln called them the common people. He said the Lord must have loved them or he wouldn't have made so many of them.
Well now, "big" men always have people to look after their interests. They have lobbyists, highly paid men who go around trying to get things done for special interests.
The people have only one representative in Washington who is all the time for the people, and that is a Democratic President."
- HST, 9/28/1948, Sherman, TX (Source)
"I know, of course, that there are many fine people throughout the United States, who from habit or choice are members of the Republican Party. To them I say that the national leadership of their party has failed them miserably.
I know, too, that among the Republicans of the 80th Congress there were a few liberal men who joined the battle against special privilege. You can pick these men out by their votes. They voted with the Democrats in the Congress more often than they did with their own Republican leadership. When these men went to their party caucuses they must have felt very lonesome."
- HST, 10/1/1948, Charleston, WV (Source)
"The Democratic Party has always stood for the welfare of the people as a whole. The Republican Party, by its record and the record it made particularly in the 80th Congress, has been for special privilege."
- HST, 10/13/1948, Spooner, WI, (
Source
"I have been on a crusade up and down this country, telling the people just exactly what the issues in the campaign are. You know, the Republicans won't discuss the issues. They can't afford to discuss the issues because they have been wrong on all of them. Therefore, I am going up and down the country and explaining to the people just exactly what the issues in this campaign are."
- HST, 10/14/1948, Waseca, MN (
Source)
"This 80th Congress is a shining example of how the Republicans work. That Congress legislated absolutely for the special interests, and the people, well, I can't say the word I would like to say to what they did to the people."
- HST, 10/14/1948, Rochester, MN (
Source)
"During the past 6 weeks I have been going around the country, talking to the American people about two different ideas of government. I have been proving by the record that the Republican Party, no matter what its candidate may say during the election campaign, works for the benefit of special interests. And I have been proving by the record that the Democratic Party works for the benefit of all the people. I have been asked a lot of questions. I have given straight answers and honest facts and correct figures. I think by this time you know exactly where I stand. There is good reason why I can be frank and honest in this business. It's because I have made no secret deals with lobbies or big business. I have no commitments except the commitment to serve the American people for the benefit of the whole country. I don't resort to double talk to conceal what I stand for and what I propose to do. I have told the people time and again what I think about high prices, the housing shortage, social security, and labor laws, and minimum wage. I have told exactly what I think ought to be done. Maybe my way isn't the way to run an election campaign. Some people say I would have more money for publicity if I wasn't so frank--the radio commentators and the newspapermen wouldn't be against me if I hadn't been against so many big corporations and so many lobbyists. But keeping quiet on the issues that are in the interests of the American people is not my way. I would rather be defeated trying to do what's right than to be elected under false pretenses. I never sit on the fence. Nor do I hang out on an upside-down farm gate trying to fool the people into believing that I know all about the farm. I spent 10 of the best years of my life on the farm."
- HST, 10/29/1948, Yonkers, NY (
Source)
"The Democratic Party is the party of the young people. It is the party that is always looking forward. It is the party that has a future. It is the party that believes in the future of this great Nation of ours. And the young people ought to make a study of exactly what's gone on in the history of this great Nation of ours. And when they do that, they can't help but get in with the party that is looking to progress."
- HST, 10/8/1952, Shenadoah, Iowa (
Source)
There's so much more, but I felt these were worth sharing first. I don't care if I had too many "Republicans are for Special Interests" quotes, because rest assured, it is true.
From what I've read from searching for quotes, Harry S. Truman talked of wishing that he could be 50 years younger because he felt that the generations ahead would be the greatest in history.
In a way, he was right.
Now, anybody with a computer an access all the information they can imagine and even more. Such a thing was not available in 1948. The ability for a group to raise awareness is greater now than ever.
But, rest assured, the movement by the GOP to put their heels in the dirt in an attempt to dismember and defeat programs for the people, that would make Harry mad.
The fact that his party only acknowledges his fighting spirit, without using it, that would make him mad.
Harry S. Truman would be a mad person over what has happened to his country, and he wouldn't be afraid to tell people about it either. He wouldn't care about nervous Neddies whose knees shake whenever they deal with angry bully Republicans.
The time we spend fighting each other is time we're not spending to try and get our party stronger. I'd rather ignore those nervous Neddies who get jittery whenever the temperature is raised. When you disagree with a man, you tell him yourself, you don't just talk behind his back like some Senators, and you don't tell the media what you said.
Howard Dean said some things, what I think of them is irrelevant. He's the chairman and I won't turn my gun on him because some Republican started to cry. I share Harry's feeling in the second quote. There are nice people who vote Republican. A lot of Republican voters work hard for a living. The people who are Republicans for a living are the ones who are the shady customers.
When it comes to Republicans talking about how to run the Democratic party, i'd rather take advice on building a henhouse from a fox.
When you hear someone say "Democrats don't have a theme".. remember that they're full of it, and that we're the party of the people. Not all of us have realized this. Some of the nervous Neddies get shaky and yelp "but that's class warfare!," but in the scheme of things, we know what side the Republicans are on, why let them get everything what they want at the expense of the people?
We're a straight-talking party that won't campaign on cleaning up Washington and then do nothing but be merry and corrupt. We should be a party that doesn't just talk about integrity and honesty, but a party that actually practices integrity and honesty when in office.
We're a party that shouldn't have to lie and divide to win elections. When it comes to parties that practice those tactics, the Republicans have black belts in lying and dividing.
I'll leave you with one last Truman quote. Good Night and Good Morning and rest assured, no problem is really solved by giving in to the other side.
"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything."