To: John Kerry, “Super Committee” member,
I voted for you in 2004. I voted for you to be my president. I’ve got to say, you had me going. I thought you were somebody who remembered where he came from. Boy, was I wrong. Now, with the Democrats on the supercommittee making concessions on the Bush tax cuts expiring, the truth comes out. You’re just one more rich guy who doesn’t really stand with the rest of us. I’m not a lobbyist. I don’t have thousands to donate to your campaign. So I’m nobody. Just another work-a-day loser who takes food to my local Occupy camp.
My daddy grew up picking cotton in the Texas panhandle; my mom’s family mined coal in the Colorado Rockies. I grew up hearing union songs and was told, “In this family, you don’t become a Democrat, you’re born one.” Now, I watch Democrats just like you, Mr. Kerry, continuing to make concessions and betraying those who believed in you enough, or were just sucker enough, to vote for you.
For thirty years, I’ve voted as a Democrat. For thirty years, I’ve worked hard to stay informed and not take that vote for granted. Now I watch my party betray me and betray the core values of family, community, and fairness. Values that I still believe in and at one time, so did they.
Now? The Democratic Party needs to pull its head out its proverbial behind and get its priorities straight! You may have forgotten where you came from, but we haven’t. And you most certainly didn’t get there without the rest of us. If Democrats want to continue making concessions to the Republicans instead fighting for the rest of us, then they’re going to have a very rude awakening in November, 2012.
I know if I don’t see a dramatic change in the Democratic Party’s positions and tactics, then after 30 years of voting as a proud Democrat, my next ballot will be cast as an Independent.
You have one year until the next election. Make the most of it.
WE WILL BE WATCHING.