Representative John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement,
talks of the "beloved community." What we call GOTV is merely one
element of a broader struggle to live and defend an ethic of solidarity, which underlies the beloved community.
As one Obama activist said in 2008, "I am in this for Ashley."
Each of us understands that he or she is a member of multiple overlapping communities,
and the individualism he or she celebrates reaffirms social connections and social responsibility.
The conservative claims to speak for individualism all the while cloaking the corporate form which is his true master with deception.
Win or lose tomorrow, we are the beloved community. We are family, friends, neighbors, and allies. We strive for a society in which each contributes and no one is merely an instrument for the service of others, as Kant would have it. Our goal is a fairer, more equal America. And we seek greater justice in the world through a transformative diplomacy that weakens tyrants and marginalizes terrorists.
Tomorrow our labors and investments will bear fruit as the unlikely voter turns out and blue states stay blue. There still will be a blue confederation within the United States, spaces where green plans may be implemented, where living wage jobs grow, where Wal-Mart recedes. And we will have a President on our side, plus a critical mass of Progressives nearly as strong as before.
We will continue to organize and build a new economy from the ground up, through experiments and initiatives on the local and state levels. Wherever there is opportunity we will build.
We will have and will continue to use our first amendment remedies.