My fellow Americans. Our democracy is under attack from within. The well-being of the American people, the environment, and our historic values are at risk.
But we must do more than resist. The American people must rally, touch their basic goodness, and be freed of feeling they have to fight for their lives alone. This cancer impacts all Americans … rich and poor, white and people of color, young and old. The stakes have never been higher. We are all in this boat of life together and we either all rise or we all sink. We are in truth all “fellow Americans.”
The role of Democrats in this upcoming election must be to guide the American people back to the safety of dry solid land, back to the clear light of the mountaintop. This is not about winning an election; this is not about one interest winning over another. This is about the survival of American democracy, the light that has guided the world for more than two centuries.
Democrats often are not good at telling their story, their vision. The Democrats' vision is to be found in the words of the Declaration of Independence. It is past time for Democrats to regain the rhetorical upper hand and reclaim their position as the party of the people, the party of America’s historic values. And it is past time for Democrats to expose the radical Republican Right for what they are … hypocrites masquerading as the party of the people. It is the Democrats who are the party "of the people, by the people, and for the people." For the sake of our country, we must proclaim our vision for all Americans clearly and effectively. We must regain their hearts and minds.
Here is my proposed Democratic Party Mission:
“To build a country of greater opportunity where:
- each and every American has a real chance to experience the promises made in the Declaration of Independence … ‘that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights … Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness;’
- government meets its responsibility as set forth in the Declaration … ‘to secure those rights,’ within the constraints of fiscal responsibility; and
- all citizens have a shared responsibility to support the government’s efforts to secure those rights and promote the public good, each according to his ability.”
