Flashes of Hope

Democrat from Birth

I am a Democrat.  I have been a Democrat since I can remember, a Kennedy Button on my blue sweater in the 1960 campaign when I was four. My first career was as a Democrat, a “campaign operative”, plotting where to put yard signs and targeting door-to-door before I had my driver’s license.  I worked for Democratic Judge campaigns, City Council, State Representative, Congressional campaigns, and even in a winning Presidential Campaign. 

Then I found my “joy” in teaching.  As a teacher I kept most of my politics to myself. It wasn’t my goal to create “new” Democrats from my classroom.  And for those who wonder if I was trying to “indoctrinate” kids – I was.  I was trying to indoctrinate them in the “magic” of the American experience, and the “wonder” of the flawed men who created the Constitution.  I taught America’s failings as well, but based my teaching on Madison’s words in the Preamble:  to become a “More Perfect Union”.  My goal was for my students to become part of the “perfecting”.  

But I didn’t try to make them Democrats or Republicans:  just Americans. 

American First 

As a Democrat I lived the “highs” of Carter’s victory (I was part of that) in 1976, and the failures of Mondale and Dukakis.  I wasn’t a great Bill Clinton fan (Republican-lite) but was glad he won.  I suffered through the 2000 election, watching the fate of the nation decided by a hanging chad in Palm Beach.  And I swallowed my anger, and followed my candidate Al Gore when he said it was time to unite behind a new President, George Bush.  

I was an American, united, as Air Force One flew singly across the nation on the evening of 9/11.  George Bush was “my” President when he stood on the wreckage of the World Trade Center.  And even though I opposed many (most?) of the actions Bush took, and I worked for John Kerry in 2004, I “survived” the long eight years of the Bush Administration (thank goodness for The West Wing).

I never found a visceral anger against Republicans.  When it came time to pass levies, I stood beside the Republican County Chairman (a former student) as we campaigned to support the schools.  We had friendly disagreements about a lot, but we could unite in a common cause (and a pint of beer).

A Dark, Indefinite Shore

I found, along with many Americans, the future arrived early, when Barack Obama ran for President.  What was predicted to be something on the distant “dark, indefinite shore” of the mid-21^st century, was right now, today.  America was jumping with both feet into the new world, electing a Black man as President of the United States.  Even Republican candidate John McCain, in the agony of his defeat, recognized the power of the moment:

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to visit — to dine at the White House — was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. 

But America was not going to jump without a struggle.  Somewhere in the Obama eight years, it stopped being about ideas and political philosophy, and became a battle to maintain power. As a Democrat, it became harder to “respect” Republicans who simply wanted for the President to fail, ignoring the fate of the nation.  Mitch McConnell’s singular mission, regardless of precedents or the “norms”, was to defeat Barack Obama.

The Resistance

I could have lived with Mitt Romney in 2012, but was happy the President was re-elected.

I don’t blame President Obama, but his election became the focal point of American division.  Somewhere in that second term of his Presidency, our national divisions became so great that it was difficult to think of the “common cause” of all Americans.  A pint of beer wasn’t enough to overcome the anger.  And with the election of Donald Trump, a wedge was driven straight through the body politic of American life.

I struggled to understand how anyone could vote for Trump, much less millions.  To me, “the Resistance” became a part of my daily routine (I’ve got over a million words to prove it).  The anger became visceral; I saw the Republican Party enabling the “de-perfecting” of America.

I hoped the election of the “Great Consoler” Joe Biden would start to repair that division. And I believe that was Biden’s goal from the beginning, and still is.  But, so far, that’s not to be.  The American political chasm is absolutely visible, from the “$#&! Biden” Flag flying down the street, to the national acceptance of three hundred dying from Covid, and over hundred more gunned down, each day.

Common Cause

It should be no surprise to anyone who knows me, that I have watched with rapt attention the January 6^thCommittee hearings.  They are laying out the case to indict a former President, and they are documenting for the future the crimes of 2020.  But there is also an unexpected outcome.

Many of the witnesses are Republicans.  Of course they are, it was the Republicans who were up to their neck in the “Stop the Steal” nonsense that almost overturned our Nation.  But many of those witnesses are Republicans who stood up against the “Stop the Steal” crimes; who refused to break their oaths even at the behest of the President.  And listening to those men and women, I am reminded of something.

We don’t agree politically on – well – anything.  But we do have a “common cause”, in our own way:  the “more perfect Union”.  And while I still struggle with how some of those same Republicans enabled Donald Trump to the Presidency, I can see that not every Republican has lost their way.  There are still some with honor, with a clear view of right and wrong.  And with them, I can still have common cause.  There are some flashes of hope, on that distant, dark and indefinite shore.