I’m A Democrat

I’m a Democrat.  I’ve been one since 1960.  I was three years old, and Mom pinned a JFK for President button on my sweater.  

Fear Itself

But being a Democrat isn’t just about tradition, or parentage (Dad was a “Rockefeller Republican”.)  It’s about a series of ideas that the Democratic Party represents.  I am a Democrat from the political party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President that told us:

 “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Roosevelt took office in the depths of the Great Depression, when the unemployment rate was approaching 25%.  One in four Americans could not find a job.  But his assertion about “fear” applies just as firmly today.  Our nation, through the voice of the current President, is in the grip of a different kind of fear:  fear of change, fear of “others,” and fear of the future.  It is unreasoning and unjustified, but it is driving the Republican base to turn to Donald Trump.  We are retreating, not advancing.

Freedom of Man

And as my button (wish I still had it) indicated, I am a Democrat from the political party of John F. Kennedy.  He is the President that told us:

“…And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

Kennedy assumed the Presidency at a time when the world was poised on the edge of nuclear holocaust and choosing between Communism and Democracy.  He urged Americans to rise to a calling higher than themselves; to serve both their country and the world.  Today, our world seems to be turning to authoritarian leaders rather than trust “the people.”  And our nation is being told that we should not only look within, but should “cleanse” ourselves of “others.”

This week President Trump nominated Steven Menashi for the Federal Appeals Court.  Menashi has specifically written about the need for “our liberal democracy” to become “ethnonationalist” to survive.  “Ethnonationalist” is a code word for racial and ethnic purity.  This future jurist, chosen by our leadership, is calling for a white America. (Here’s Menashi’s treatise on the subject – University of Pennsylvania.)

Example of Sacrifice

I am a Democrat from the political party of Jimmy Carter, who I had the honor of working for in the 1976 campaign. Carter recognized that America’s energy consumption gave control of our nation to the Middle East.  He prophetically knew America must move to alternative energies, and while the nation made fun of his sweater and solar panels at the time, it’s not so funny now. 

Jimmy Carter after his Presidency is an example of service.  From building for the homeless, to ending blinding disease in Africa, to assuring election fairness:  Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter continue to show Americans how to take power and influence and use it for good, even today, well into their nineties.

I am a Democrat from the political party of Walter Mondale, who did not become President, but warned America that taxes needed to be raised.  It cost him the election, but his words, still largely ignored today, warned of the Republican Presidency that tripled America’s debt.  Republicans, the party of “fiscal responsibility,” have continued to expand our debt each time they have been in office.

A Rainbow

I am a Democrat from the party of Jessie Jackson, who in 1988 presented America with the “Rainbow Coalition.” They called on Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Muslims, Gays, Whites, Men and Women to join together to change America. It didn’t work in 1988, but it set the stage for the American Democratic coalitions today.

And finally, I am a Democrat from the party that nominated and elected Barack Obama, a man of vision who offered a different, kinder, America.  President Obama led with grace, and presented America with stable leadership, empathetic understanding, and powerful intellect.  He raised the level of American discourse, and must have threatened segments of Americans who felt left behind.  Certainly Mr. Trump is a symbol of that counter-reaction.  

Today

I am a Democrat.  I am a member of a political party that has diversity even in its Presidential candidates.  We will choose from White, Asian, Black, or Latino candidates: from men or women, gay or straight.  We will choose from North and South, East, Midwest, Mountain and West.  Our candidates represent the spectrum of our nation, not just a narrowing class of the privileged.  That’s why I am a Democrat, a believer in the great liberal spirit that has run through my Party for the past one hundred years.