I grew up in a part of Ohio that is overwhelmingly Republican. My first political memory is voting in my elementary school's mock presidential election. I remember voting for everybody's favorite Viagra salesperson, Bob Dole. I also remember feeling vindicated during the Monica Lewinski scandal. Luckily, as I grew up I was able to escape the Republican party's stranglehold on the suburbs.
Two recent incidents in suburbia have made me wonder what exactly it means to be a Democrat. First, I summoned all of the courage I had and decided to go door-to-door in my neighborhood to get the signatures necessary to get progressive candidate Jennifer Brunner on the ballot. Her campaign gave me a list of the Democrats in my neighborhood, and I was shocked. The McCain/Palin yard signs in my neighborhood in 2008 had led me to believe that there very few, if any, Democrats in my neighborhood, but the list of registered Democrats was substantial. In the conversations I had with them, there were two things I heard the most: "Geez, you're brave to go door-to-door in this neighborhood," and "I'll sign the petition, but please don't tell any of the neighbors I'm a Democrat."
The second event in question took place at a family gathering. A member of my extended family was speaking about politics and said, "Boy, I sure hope that Obama doesn't get assassinated." I quickly asked why. Because the murder of any one individual is a tragedy? Because he is a man who has devoted his life to public service? I wasn't quite prepared for the answer I received. "Because I don't want 'the blacks' to riot," he said. Now, I know there are a few Democrats in my family, so I expected that this sort of racist and callous remark would not go unchallenged. Instead, I watched as they remained silent.
Judging by the way some Democrats act, you'd swear that Democrat is a bad word. It's made me wonder, what does it mean to be a Democrat?
We support, love and respect our troops. Part of this love is not putting them in harm's way via an unjustifiable war. Part of this respect is not politicizing our brave servicemen and women and using them as a wedge issue as our Republican counterparts have done so consistently over the last 7 years. We believe that peace can be patriotic.
Democrat is not a dirty word.
We support and uphold the Constitution. While the Republican party might claim this to be a Christian nation, Democrats embrace a diverse coalition of not just Christians, but Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists because we know that implied in freedom of religion is freedom FROM religion. Republicans use buzz words like 'communism' and 'socialism' to persuade the public that Democrats have no regard for the Constitution, all while engaging in warrant-less wiretapping and torture, activities that would make Stalin himself proud.
Democrat is not a dirty word.
We are the party of civil rights. Republicans have enjoyed playing political games with the civil rights of LGBT Americans, pushing anti-LGBT ballot initiatives in swing states during the 2004 election to ensure that their right-wing base showed up to the polls. Just last year, 39 Republican Senators voted against the Lily Ledbetter Act, establishing equal pay for women. And it was our party, led by President Johnson, that signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
Democrat is not a dirty word.
We are the family values party. President Bush twice vetoed the Children's Health Insurance Bill (also known as SCHIP or CHIP), a bill which would have provided health care to our country's children. Under a Democratic President, this legislation was passed (despite the best efforts of 133 House Republicans) and signed into law. There are 550,000 children in foster care, yet despite this, Republicans feel that these children would be better off with no parents as opposed to two loving same-sex parents who have made a conscious and considered choice to raise and care for that child. Earlier this year, the House passed a bill that would prevent child abuse in schools. Any party claiming to be for family values would support this bill, right? Not quite. One hundred and forty-four Republican House members voted against preventing child abuse in our schools.
I'll say it again, Democrat is not a dirty word.
Here and now, in 2010, the Democrats face a familiar challenge. The Republicans are speaking out louder and angrier than ever before, and we all know that their rhetoric is not consistent with their actions. So we have a choice to make: we can lay dormant as we have done in the past and let the Teabaggers raid the ballot box this November, or we can speak out against the lies. We can prove that our values are values that are worth fighting for. We can once more send the Republicans a message that a platform of lies and fear is a platform America will reject. I have every confidence that Democrats will turn out in November, and that we'll win. Why?
Because we're Democrats. And that should be a point of pride, not a source of shame. Democrat is not a dirty word.
[Kossacks - I know I'm kind of preaching to the choir with this piece. If you know any Dems who are unmotivated and might not turn out, I encourage you to email this to them. Let's make sure that people know the REAL differences between us and the Republicans.]