Commitment, persistence and determination are key words for change.
When elected officials pit themselves against rank and file democratic delegates, at a state convention, you have to wonder if it would be better to have republicans in those seats. At least we would know where they stood.
The Tulsa World stated that “some democrats stalled convention proceedings by insisting on a quorum call late in the afternoon”. I would say elected officials were very effective in orchestrating that outcome. The delegates present seemed outraged by the very idea that our elected officials would think more about their own reelection than listening to the outcry in the room. Resolutions define us. Without a debate and passage of resolutions we have no identity. Pandering to a republican like constituency for the purposes of re-election is not my idea of serving the Democratic Party.
Sure, we have differences among us on many issues, but we must define our common ground and stand firm. In a conversation with one elected official, they stated to me that their “yes” vote for parental control was a good way to compromise - “at least we still have choice”, they said. Those kinds of compromises erode our principles and may ultimately lead to restrictive legislation on choice and other issues. Compromise is important but we don’t need to sell our souls to the devil.
On the issue of abortion, why not talk about being pro-life and pro choice. Making abortions rare is something we can all agree on. Being pro-choice does not make us pro-abortion. Being for the separation of church and state does not mean we must disavow our faith. We must stop allowing our challengers to demonize us but to do that we must understand our own issues and learn to frame them in a way that the majority can identify with.
As John Edwards stated in his keynote speech, “we have to stand up and push back”. We must find “moral clarity” and the strength of character to stand up for equality, justice and human rights.
We must be committed to our goals. We must persist and not leave the fight to others because we are frustrated with the moment. Delegates to a convention should be required, by their commitment to themselves and to those who voted for them, to stay for the entire convention. We must be determined to define our issues and stand up to the pressures, inside and outside our party. We must not become republican like in our words, actions and deeds. In the truest sense of the word, we must be Democrats.
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