During the Republican convention, watching the Paulites, the Tea Partiers, and the moneyed folk running the show all going at each other: watching speaker after speaker build their speech around demonstrable lies and character assassination only to get lukewarm responses even from the floor delegates; watching Chris Christie throw Romney under the bus and declare himself the front-runner for 2016 instead; watching Ann Romney attempt (poorly) to portray herself and Mitt as people who have experienced "struggles"; watching Clint Eastwood shouting at an imaginary Obama... the list does run on, doesn't it?
Watching all that, I posted on Facebook that the Republicans came off like a brittle, dysfunctional rich family out of an Edward Albee play - homogeneous on the surface (and blindingly white) but trying mightily, and failing, to conceal their distaste/open hatred for their nominee, each other, and any Americans who don't look, believe, or act just like them. Or as one of my FB friends called it FTW: "August - Hillsborough County."
Tonight at the DNC, I got a picture of a very different family - one of those big, messy, squabbling-but-close-knit blue-collar families like on heartwarming TV dramas. We're not all alike. (I cheered tonight for African-Americans, women, Hispanics, GLBTs, veterans, and I'm only personally one of those things. And I saw everyone on the floor cheering for them too. EVERYONE.) We've had our differences in the past, and when we disagree we aren't shy about calling each other out. But in the end, we're brothers and sisters, all struggling to get through the day by being there for each other. We know America is best when people pull together and help each other, and stand up for each other.
Those differences are especially apparent when you look at the view of America each party came up with. To the Republicans, America is a dystopian hellhole, and it's all because "those people" (led by You-Know-Who) have taken over and are trashing the place, giving YOUR money to the undeserving, trying to make us care about people who are inherently beneath contempt. Only "people like us" can restore order, and once they're back in power, it's every man for himself. In proud Ayn Rand fashion, they celebrated the philosophy of "screw you, I got mine." Anyone crushed under the wheels of the Machine in the process - well, it's their own fault they couldn't afford body armor. At least "people like us" will be safe.
But the America portrayed tonight was STILL the Land of Opportunity - and not just for our ancestors, but for ourselves and (if we bother to put in a little care and work on their behalf) for the generations to come after us. We're not just concerned about the 1% keeping "what's theirs," we want to pay a little of that good fortune forward. As Michelle Obama put it, we don't slam the door behind us when we succeed - instead we help the next guy, or the next generation, to come along. We celebrate each other's successes and we mourn with each other's griefs. "If any family in this country struggles, then we cannot be fully content with our family’s own good fortune. That is not who we are."
Because we're ALL brothers and sisters, and helping each other helps all of us. (Even those guys over there in Tampa who don't want any part of us. We still care about them too! And no matter how much they scream and whine about us, we're still going to work for a better tomorrow for THEM, too. You're welcome.) We can squabble with each other, as brothers and sisters do, but when the crunch comes, we pull together and NOTHING can stop us.
This is why I'm proud to be a Democrat, a progressive, an unrepentant liberal. This is the family I'm proud to be a part of. This is what America is all about.