Friday, December 10, 2004
Oops-I didn't check my email for a couple days and I missed the fact that MoveOn had called me to action until the link got taken down. Like I said, oops. And dammit if I didn't have an incredibly elequent message for our party leadership. So since I can't send it through MoveOn, at least I'm one of millions of people with a blog so I can post it here-
My fellow stubborn asses-I have always been a liberal, an idealist, and a democrat. Up until two years ago my sole political contribution was to do my civic duty and vote. Then something happened, the appointment of George W. Bush to the Oval Office. For the past two years I have been more involved in politics than I ever imagined I could be. I have donated money, knocked on doors, baked dozens of cookies to raise money, and helped organize voter registration drives. I volunteered my time, talents, and money for one purpose, to make America a place I could be proud of again. For me this meant getting George W. Bush out of office. I spent hours yelling at the television, at every misstep that even an unseasoned average citizen like me could see the party and our candidate making throughout this past campaign, powerless to make my voice heard. Now, thank God, we have a chance to choose new leadership for our beloved Democratic party. The party of high, liberal ideals I was raised to believe in. I've heard many in the party leadership, people I respect and admire, saying unbelievable things like we should move to the right. This, to me, is unconscionable. The radical right has enough power in this country right now, I'll have no part of seeing those skewed, and close minded values seep into MY party. We need to be bold, and define ourselves not by some new model of "what America wants", but by the flickering, now seemingly dim, light by which we've always guided ourselves. The idea that every American has a voice, that even the hopeless deserve hope, the homeless homes, the sick decent care and compassion, the poor a chance to rise above their circumstance, the uneducated a free and fair public education. As John F, Kennedy so famously said, "A rising tide lifts all boats". That quote has been used in Democratic campaigns ever since, and I'm sure will be again, but we need to feel and live, and represent the passion behind that sentiment again, or surely, our party has lost its way. I believe the person to lead us back to the path we have so long claimed to follow is Dr. Howard Dean. I don't know if anyone in Washington will ever truly understand what he tapped into, but I do. He truly understands how we all feel right now, and isn't afraid to articulate it. He knows what's at stake, and that is the two party system itself. Fair enough, he may have been a bit much for the electorate at large, but as the leader of our party I feel that he will be able to focus us on what's truly important to us as democrats. We need a strong voice that will not waiver in the face of the bullies and blowhards, and Dr. Dean is that voice. Don't shrink from this fight now, or truly all is lost.
Sincerely,
The Hepkitty
My fellow stubborn asses-I have always been a liberal, an idealist, and a democrat. Up until two years ago my sole political contribution was to do my civic duty and vote. Then something happened, the appointment of George W. Bush to the Oval Office. For the past two years I have been more involved in politics than I ever imagined I could be. I have donated money, knocked on doors, baked dozens of cookies to raise money, and helped organize voter registration drives. I volunteered my time, talents, and money for one purpose, to make America a place I could be proud of again. For me this meant getting George W. Bush out of office. I spent hours yelling at the television, at every misstep that even an unseasoned average citizen like me could see the party and our candidate making throughout this past campaign, powerless to make my voice heard. Now, thank God, we have a chance to choose new leadership for our beloved Democratic party. The party of high, liberal ideals I was raised to believe in. I've heard many in the party leadership, people I respect and admire, saying unbelievable things like we should move to the right. This, to me, is unconscionable. The radical right has enough power in this country right now, I'll have no part of seeing those skewed, and close minded values seep into MY party. We need to be bold, and define ourselves not by some new model of "what America wants", but by the flickering, now seemingly dim, light by which we've always guided ourselves. The idea that every American has a voice, that even the hopeless deserve hope, the homeless homes, the sick decent care and compassion, the poor a chance to rise above their circumstance, the uneducated a free and fair public education. As John F, Kennedy so famously said, "A rising tide lifts all boats". That quote has been used in Democratic campaigns ever since, and I'm sure will be again, but we need to feel and live, and represent the passion behind that sentiment again, or surely, our party has lost its way. I believe the person to lead us back to the path we have so long claimed to follow is Dr. Howard Dean. I don't know if anyone in Washington will ever truly understand what he tapped into, but I do. He truly understands how we all feel right now, and isn't afraid to articulate it. He knows what's at stake, and that is the two party system itself. Fair enough, he may have been a bit much for the electorate at large, but as the leader of our party I feel that he will be able to focus us on what's truly important to us as democrats. We need a strong voice that will not waiver in the face of the bullies and blowhards, and Dr. Dean is that voice. Don't shrink from this fight now, or truly all is lost.
Sincerely,
The Hepkitty
