I've spent the this morning rereading two speeches that formed my ideas and my reasons for being not only a Democrat, but a proud liberal/progressive one. The first was delivered in 1980 by Barbara Jordan. For those not familiar with this giant of a speaker she was the first black woman elected to the Texas Legistlature and the first black woman elected from Texas to the US Congress. Her voice has been described as "the voice of God".
She spoke in 1980 of what it means to be a Democrat, she said "First, we believe in equality for all and privileges for none."
"We believe that the people are the source for all govenmental power; that the authority of the people is to be extended, not restricted."
"We believe that the government which represents the authority of all the people...has an obligation to actively underscore, actively seek to remove those obstacles which would block individual achievment obstacles eminating fom race , sex, and economic conditions"
This is a speech that every person of conscience should read. It is a speech that speaks with the pride of an unabashed Democrat, no apologies. It speaks of the role of government as a tool to help all Americans.
The Mario Cuomo speech of 1984 is different in that it was an affimative response to Reagan's "Shining city on a hill" this is a speech that could have (with a few minor changes) could have been given in 2004. He speaks of economic disparity between the haves and the have nots that the Republican party ignores. He reminded the American people that they should not have been surprised that the Reagan policies favored the wealthiest, because Reagan had said as much. Just as Bush had made clear he favored the privileged class above all.
Cuomo reminds us that Democrats are the true american family. We are not all alike and we may argue amoungst each other but we must reflect upon the Republican party's actions to unite us.
He told Democrats then, and it's true now that with regard to the Republican record, "That its disastrous quality is not more fully understood by the American people I can only attribute to the president's amiability and the failur by some to seperate the salesman from the product"
These two speaches, each more than 20 years old have resonance that echoes in this election. The Republican party of 2004 is in fact worse than 1980 and 1984. Their practice of dividing the country through inflammatory rhetoric has been made worse by a media that refuses to question the administration. This is the same media that decries Kerry's "inability" to explain his Iraq policy, and yet allows the President to ignore the warnings from his own intelligence reports and the concens of his party's senior Republicans. The media screams for substance and then does report after report on the Swifties", even though ever accusation of theirs has been soundly disproved.
"Google" both those speaches and pass them along. They are as relevant now as they were 20 years ago.