The entire Democratic coalition has been framed by the right as a collection of separate selfish, self-indulgent special interests, and worse yet the population and our leaders have bought into that frame. Even now as we seek to regroup after this close but devastatingly painful loss we are fracturing along the lines of that very frame.
As liberal I am not in favor of gay rights because I am gay but because it is right. I am not in favor of welfare because I hope to collect it but because some people need it. I am not in favor of women's right because I am a woman, but because I believe in equality and freedom to choose ones role in life. I am not gay or poor or a woman but I will fight for their rights because I am a liberal and it is what my beleifs and values tell me to do.
To my mind one of the best examples of what Democrats stand for is Civil Rights. It defines us, what we stand for and the political sacrifices we make in order to do what is Right and Good. We needed every element of our coalition to make it work and those who did not join fled to the Dixiecrats and eventually to the "Southern Strategy".
We could not have brought equal right to the Black community without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, who stood up for themselves and even more proved that they were worthy of the rights they were asking for. Even still America had said no before to Blacks asking for their just due. We also needed the White people who joined the protests, largely from New England, who were willing to join the Blacks on their marches to be kicked, spat on and hated by the racist status quo. We did not succeed without the intervention of our leaders who sacrificed their political capital to bring in the National Guard and sign the Civil Rights act. They knew that they were losing votes but they did what was right.
No one can call any element of that brave coalition selfish. Most of the people involved risked a great deal in order to bring a better life to the masses. Many were not a part of the group who stood to benefit except as all American stand to benefit.
To my mind there is not reason why a Rich White New Englander cannot stand for the rights of Poor Black Southerners. The problem is speaking with passion and invoking the sacrifice that people are willing and able to make.
We talk about poor white people not voting in their "economic self-interest", of course they don't. They have values and values should trump selfishness. We need to appeal to those values not by abandoning our own, but by conveying our values to people in a way that sounds giving and worth fighting for.
One of my political heroes from the last few years if Gavin Newson, who protested Bush's anti-gay agenda by legalizing gay marriage in San Francisco. Ok, it was a popular move in his home city where he had just won a narrow election against the greens, but he is a happily married man and he has put at jeopardy his political future outside of SF. Along with that struggle the many straight people sending congratulations and flower, and the gay couples who stood up and said "I do" with dignity and the solemnity we ask of a married couple.
As Democrats and liberals, we should emphasize the moral reasons for doing what we do. We should not allow ourselves to seem selfish, but self-sacrificing. Willing to stand up for our neighbor when they are threatened.