Speak Proud! Speak Smart!
Cross posted at
TexasKos
This diary is aimed at Texans, but the ideas are for all Democrats. Each state has its own Democratic heroes to emulate.
Sam Houston , Jim Hogg , Sam Rayburn, Barbara Jordan, LBJ, Ralph Yarbourgh, Lloyd Bentson, Ann W. Richards. These are the Texans Democrats can look to when they are seeking their roots. Who are we as Texas Democrats? What do we stand for?
Sam Houston on principle would not pledge alliegence to the Confederacy. His political career was over. He defied the powers that be, he stood tall against the tide of popular opionion, he followed his conscience.
Jim Hogg could teach the present generation a thing to two about fighting corporate corruption , about protecting Texans from the scourge of big money allied with greedy elites. He took on the railroads, promoted higher education , fought nepotism and cryonism.
I could go on.
Texas Democrats, as David VanOs points out , are Populist. We think that political power belongs to the people. We think that common sense and common decency are damned good guides to doing right in politics and in life. Mushmouthed slogans might us sick and angry. Say what you believe , stand up for it, live it.
Texas Democrats, are pragmatic, we believe in what works, in performance, not theory.
To talk about being a Democrat, we start with values.There are almost as many lists of core Democratic values as they are Democrats. Still, starting with your values first and then telling your story is a good answer to the question, "What do Democrats stand for"?
I am a Democrat because:
* The Democratic Party believes in equality of opportunity , the right of all Americans to pursue their dream. Democrats have a long and strong record of promoting opportunity for everyone by supporting public schools, strengthening federal education aid so everyone can go to college.
* The Democratic Party believes in human dignity, that all persons have worth. In respect of that all Americans, especially children have the right to adequate and affordable healthcare. Democrats have long and strong record of supporting programs aimed at expanding programs that provid for the health and nutritional needs of the poor and broad affordable medical access by the middle and working class Americans.
* The Democratic Party believes in community, we are strong because we care for each other. Democrats have a long and proud history of defending the rights of worker to organize, to get a living wage for a good day's work.
* The Democratic Party believes in stewardship, we are responsible for the world we will pass on to our children, and our children's children. That means that every American ought to be able to breath clean air, eat safe food, and drink healthy water. Democrats have a long and strong record of protecting our environment and making sure the true costs of our actions are accounted for.
* The Democratic Party believes in shared prosperity. Every American who wants a job ought to have one, that government policies can grow our economy in a way that benefits everyone, and that the government can effectively fix harmful side effects of free markets. Democrats have a long and strong record of strengthening our economy in a way that benefits everyone.
* The Democratic Party believes in real security, individual as well as collective. Government ought to ensure the safety and security of its citizens through responsible, long-term strategies and through intelligent use of all our assets. We also believe there is strength in cooperation among free nations. Democrats have a long and strong record of strengthening both our domestic and our international security by supporting effective law enforcement not simply punishment for punishment sake, by hiring new police officers, and promoting cooperation with our long time friends in the world. Bullying and name calling are not security policies , they are signs of weakness.
[ Based on College Democrats website , http://web.utk.edu/... accessed 12-08-05 ]
When I the questions turn to my own alliegence to the Democratic Party , I do two things. I tell my story, and then I claim our values which are linked to my story. In the end, I make my reasons a single case for the bigger picture. I personalize the abstract and absract from the personal.
This is my 30 second answer to the question, "So, why are you a Democrat?".
I am a Democrat because it was the Democrats who helped my black longshoreman father get the right to vote. I am a Democrat because it was the Democrats who helped make it possible for his eldest son to be the first person in his family ever go to college. I am a Democrat because whenever middle and working class Americans are protected, their lives made better, there is a Democrat doing the heavy lifting. For all its flaws, for all the times it has broken my heart , the Democratic Party remains the last , best hope for reclaiming our country from the greedy and the cynical , from the arrogant and the powerful. That work is our work and it is best accomplished through the Democratic Party.
I think I like how David VanOs sums it up:
It is time to fight for better lives for voters instead of peddle promises to voters. It is time to treat public office as a duty, not a promotion. We must fight for the people, not in order to win their votes, but in order to win them justice.
When we Democrats as the heirs of the noblest political tradition in the world - the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, James Stephen Hogg, Ralph Yarborough, Ann Richards, and millions of unsung Democratic heroes - learn and relearn and apply these things, the people will know we are there for them and they will turn to us, because they are in need and have been in need for a long time. The more courageously and more vigorously we fight for the people against economic, cultural, and political tyranny, all the sooner will they turn to us. When that happens we will be prepared to win for the people, because we will already be thinking like winners and conducting ourselves as winners. We will dare to fight and dare to win.
So, as you get ready to attend the convention, or go to work, or visit friends and relatives, don't forget to claim your Democratic roots. If you do it smartly you will be heard. You don't have to wait for the Big Event or the next coming of FDR to start changing this state, you can start right now, right here. Influence one persons today, change one mind. When you do, you are part of the solution that will eventually give us leaders worthy of Texas' of America's greatness, leaders of whom we will no longer be ashamed.