As a mom it is my job to raise my children to know right from wrong and to keep their word. These things will not only serve them well now but it will be lessons that they will carry with them into adulthood.
Not only must I remind them of these things when they make mistakes and choose the wrong path, but I reinforce the message when others around them make poor decisions and either choose wrong or take back their word. With children, they see the World in the much clearer terms of black and white than adults, who have experiences in life that cloud their judgment.
When President Obama made a choice to encourage contributions to Super PACs supporting his re-election, I immediately thought of those fundamental lessons I teach my kids. The President has made the wrong choice. By accepting the practice of limitless contributions from the wealthiest Americans it breaks the very tenets for how we restore democracy and reform it to one that is free from influence of the few with deep pockets.
Instead, the President and his campaign have an option. Make a clear and concise call to America about the choice they have in this election. Provide to them a precise call to action for the sake of their future and the future of generations to come.
At the age of 18, I joined the Army two months after 9/11 and as a veteran of the Iraq War, I remember all too well the complaints that came from Democrats that President Bush never called upon the American people to unite around the cause.
The aftermath of the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court has certainly created a different kind of cause, but at the very core we have an assault on our freedom to know what forces are truly having an impact on the decisions of our government.
This is the perfect moment to double-down on our support for the DISCLOSE Act, not resort to a strategy of lowest common denominators.
When I asked my six year old son what he would do if there were two sets of rules: good rules that the good guys lived by and bad rules that the bad guys lived by and the bad guys were winning: would you start playing by the bad rules so you could beat them?
With the sincerest of looks he responded "Mom, you never play by the bad rules; because the good guys always win in the end."
Let's take advice from the six year old within us- Play by the good rules because the good guys always win.
And of course, since this is my first DailyKos post, I am sticking around for the next 30 minutes to converse.
Iraq War veteran, small business owner, wife and mother of two, Aryanna Strader is the Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania's 16th district.