When I think about politics, I tend to get pretty wrapped up in strategy. I would guess that many people on a site like Daily Kos would say the same thing about themselves. Nothing wrong with that. But every now and then I come across something that reminds me of how proud I am to be a Democrat...something that speaks to our core values. Because, truth is, I think most Democrats are "values voters". And, damn, I'm proud of the values that bring us together in common political cause. Make the jump and be inspired by Charlie Rangel...
Earlier this week, Chris Matthews interviewed Charlie Rangel on Hardball. I'm always nodding along with Representative Rangel's from the heart, lack-of-talking-points eloquence, but after one of his responses to Matthews, I was literally jumping out my seat and cheering. It's not long, but I hope others will find it as inspiring as I did:
MATTHEWS: Do you think the Democratic Party‘s better than the Republican Party on war and peace issues?
RANGEL: You know...
MATTHEWS: I mean, looking back over your career, do you see a pattern where Kennedy and Johnson and Clinton were better than Reagan and Bush, et cetera, et cetera, and Eisenhower? Do you think your party‘s really got an advantage on security questions?
RANGEL: I don‘t want to look like I‘m the keeper of morality. You know, I really follow just one thing spiritually, and that is Matthew's, and that is, How do you treat the lesser of my brothers and sisters? And that‘s all it is. Do you treat those people in poverty as though you would want them treated better? Are you seeking peace rather than war? Are you prepared to give health care, Social Security and Medicare? Do you want to give an equal opportunity to people? Do you care more about people than you do about corporations?
And no matter what I‘m dealing with, Ways and Means, taxes, trade, it seems to me that the party—any party that embraces that—you take a guy like Lyndon Johnson, who took the political gamble to give Americans who were black the opportunity to vote, to know that he was going to destroy the Democratic Party as they once knew it in the South—wow. That is something that‘s the lesson of brothers and sisters. I don‘t want to say Democrats are better than Republicans, because of the personalities that are involved.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
RANGEL: But if you take a guy like DeLay, who said he wanted a permanent Republican Congress, and see the things he did, the things that he opposed, I can tell you I would rather be a losing Democrat than a winning Republican any day.
MATTHEWS: Well, you‘re neither!
Wow.
Watch the entire interview. The above exchange occurs about three and a half minutes in.
Also, be sure to check out SusanG's recent interview with Representative Rangel, and her review of his book, And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since.