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DEMOCRACY:
Government & Politics | February 5, 2005
TRUE
FAMILY
VALUES
An
E-Mail to Democratic Activists in Response to a Newsgroup
Article
The Right
wants the Middle and the Left to think that it is the natural
base for the Middle. We can't fall into the trap of that
thinking. The question then becomes, does the Left have anything
in common with the Middle; does "organizing the
base" of the Democratic Party have anything to do with
being "able to speak to swing voters, including moderate
married women", too many of whom we indeed did
lose.
Well,
to the extent that our party promotes progressive -- dare I
say, Leftist? -- positions on education, child care, health
care, Social Security, environmental protections, taxation,
workplace justice, corporate responsibility, social tolerance
(i.e., respect for others), etc. we are addressing the most
heartfelt concerns of most voters, on the Left, Right,
and in the Middle, not unlike how a "moderate married
woman" might care for her own family.
That's
what my old New Dealer Dad always says: If you consider the
country like a family, you'll do the right thing. You won't let
some members go sick if there's doctors or medicine that can
help them. You won't let some go uneducated if there are
teachers or schools that can help them. And you won't let some
work and be poor while others have far more than they'll ever
need.
And
of course, if we convince the country that the Democratic Party
considers the country a family, then we'll have a lot better
chance of convincing them that we'll protect them like family,
too.
Those
are true family values.
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