I am a Democrat

I am a Democrat. I vote for and support Democrats. The Democratic Party Platform lays out what I believe.  https://www.democrats.org/party-platform Every four years, we craft a new platform in consultation with Democrats from all over the country.

During the 2016 election cycle, Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, was allowed to run for president in the Democratic primaries and caucuses. I did not support him because as I said, I vote for Democrats. But, I did like some of his ideas. Some of those actually made it into the party platform. I am thankful that Senator Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate and votes with them frequently.

I supported Barack Obama when he ran for Senate here in Illinois in 2004. And I supported him in 2008 when he ran for president. I would have been just as excited if Hillary Clinton had won the nomination that year as I'd always liked her.

When Hillary ran for president again in 2016, I was 100% behind her. As a staunch supporter of Hillary, I was often attacked on social media. I was called a Hillbot. And worse. Many attackers claimed to be supporters of Bernie Sanders. It was so terrible for me and others, that many considered leaving social media. Hillary supporters began calling them Bros. And a huge divide split the party.

Many feelings were hurt by the name calling and attacks from both factions. Republicans and third party candidates were thrilled. The more Democrats and Bernie supporters attacked each other, the less heat they felt. Some of the vilest attackers weren't even true Bernie supporters. They were paid to divide the left.

In the end, most Bernie supporters ended up voting for Hillary. But, the most ardent, the ones for whom everything is a "purity test", either voted third party or chose to sit out the election.

One of the consequences is that we have Trump as president. Another serious consequence is that as a party, we still have divisions that will impact our ability to win elections. Republicans also have divisions, as we've seen with their efforts to repeal ACA. But, Republicans don't let their divisions get in the way of electing Republicans.

I want to win elections as much as any other person. But, I don't want to see the Democratic Party win by becoming like the Republicans, who will do and say anything to win. Democrats are on the right side of history. We support issues that affect every single American.

We don't have to cheat or compromise our values to win. Republicans have won because they have tons of money for advertising and because they stopped millions of people from voting!

We are the majority! We won the popular vote. We can win if we stay true to our Party's values. If you think like I do, then I ask, are you willing to put your money on the line? Two of my friends have started a SuperPac for progressive Democratic candidates. This is a legitimate SuperPac with all of the legal requirements. It is called Democrats Work for America. Here is our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DemsWork4USA/ We also have a website:  DemocratsWorkForAmerica.org  We have a Twitter account: https://twitter.com/DemsWork4USA

Recently, Angela Marx wrote about us in DailyKos: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/30/1685365/-ATTN-Candidates-Democratic-Party-Chairs-DemocratsWorkForAmerica-org-a-SuperPAC-for-you

Please consider donating. We carefully screen any candidate we chose to support. Thank you.

We're Stuck

There's no easy way to say this. We are stuck with Trump. When voters stayed home or voted for 3rd party candidates, Trump was able to get just enough votes to squeak by in 3 key states so he could get a victory in the Electoral College. It doesn't matter that he LOST the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Some say that enough voters were disenfranchised in those states to achieve the EC victory.

The reality now is that we are stuck. Don't put your hopes on Republicans impeaching him. His base will stick with him no matter what outrageous thing he does. Republicans won't even think of impeachment unless his base somehow decides he's trouble.

So, what are the 72+million of us who voted for someone else going to do? As I see it, we can protest, pay close attention to what he's doing, and most of all, we can vote. Midterms and special elections aren't as sexy as Presidential elections. Democrats don't usually bother. But, not this time. This time, Democrats must realize that we don't have the luxury of not voting. The right is busy winning elections, from school board to state legislatures to US Congress. Are we just going to sit back and cede our country to them? No! We are going to make sure we are registered, help others to get registered and we're going to vote like our lives depend on it. Because they do!

Playing by the Rules

Would you play a chess game with someone who played by a different set of rules than you? That really wouldn't make sense would it? Especially if your set of rules put you at a disadvantage. Yet, this is exactly what some critics would expect of Democrats. Critics want Democrats to pass some kind of purity test that says they shouldn't take campaign monies from Wall Street or corporations while their opponents continue to rake in the big bucks.

When Barack Obama was first running for president in 2008, he promised to pursue with his opponent the course of using only public financing for their campaigns. When he saw how primary opponents were gaming the system using 527 groups (now called Super PACs) he reversed course. The linked article explains his reasoning. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061900914.html.

As is everything in politics, it's complicated. We now have many critics of the Democratic party who want us to play by a different set of rules than our opponents. Democrats are expected to win races, but are asked to follow rules that would hinder their chances of winning.

It would be great if we had a system where presidential candidates could only use public financing and that prohibited outside groups from collecting monies or holding fundraisers for candidates. But, we don't have that. Our Supreme Court has ruled that corporations also have free speech rights under our Constitution. Their money is their speech. So, we have a system that allows PACs and Super PACs and we cannot require Democrats to play by a different set of rules than their opponents. If Democrats don't win elections, they don't have much opportunity to enact laws to change the system or to implement their platform.

Right now winning is vital. Be wary of any critic who wants to improve the Democratic Party by requiring Democrats to play by a different set of rules than their opponents.

"A Vision of Mutuality"

Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where all people respected and valued each other? In such a world, there would be no domination of one set of people over another. We'd all be seen as having equal value and potential. Do you believe that such a world is possible? Are all created equal but some are just more equal than others? This simply cannot be.

A long time ago, some very patriotic and wise men got together and came up with this:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Do you recognize it? Yes, it's from the Declaration of Independence. Look back, it says "all men are created equal". Did they really mean that? All - men - ??

The Founding Fathers eventually framed a constitution that said slaves were 3/5th a person and women could not vote. So, it appears what they really meant to say was that ALL WHITE AND FREE MEN (who were landowners) are created equal. Since that time Blacks and women have had to fight to be treated equally by this Constitution. We've had to amend that Constitution several times and we've had to take issues to the Supreme Court to ensure that ALL are created and treated equally. And we aren't done yet!

Perhaps you've heard this quote, "Women's rights are human rights." It's from a speech given by Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1995. You can read the whole things here:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hillaryclintonbeijingspeech.htm

That's over 20 years ago!  Are we closer to a world where all people respect and value each other? Or do we still have work to do? If you believe we may have come a long way baby, but, we still have work to do, you might just be a feminist.

There, I said it. A feminist. Do you want to be labeled a feminist? Some think it's a dirty word describing a man-hating woman who wishes she'd been born a man. Nothing could be further from the truth.
According to Bell Hooks, who is one of our most eminent feminist leaders, feminism is, "a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." Anyone can be a feminist then. I am a feminist and I raised my three sons to be feminists. I'm proud they value equality for all. Feminism is for Everybody is the title of a book by Hooks published in 2000. Grab a copy. It's small, but, powerful.

I believe feminists need to be political. I believe ignoring politics is not an option. We need awareness of what's happening at every level in our political system. We cannot afford to ignore it. Not if we want to keep the rights we have. There are plenty who would love to see our political system return to the way it was when the Constitution was framed. 

 Are you interested? Are you willing to get involved? If you are new to political activism, start with Ballotpedia. It is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan collaborative encyclopedia designed to connect people to politics and elections at the local,state and federal level."  https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

There is carefully researched information available on the site. According to wikipedia, Ballotpedia was "Founded in 2007, it covers American federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy." Everything is referenced and it is free of partisan opinion. 

Here are some things you can do to make a difference: write a letter-to-the editor, attend a town hall, go to a city council meeting, volunteer for a candidate or organization you support; you get the idea. Act. 

Join me and others who want to make this world a place where mutual respect is the norm and all people are considered to have inherent value. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."   https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/margaretme100502.html

The First Hundred Days

I am thoroughly exhausted by the chaos that is Trump's presidency. He has gathered a cadre of people about him who all seem to have some connections to Russia and are willing to lie about it. In just 70+ days at least 3 have resigned or been fired. Now, we have a president who's campaign staff are under FBI investigation for their ties to Russia and possible collusion with Russia to influence the outcome of the November election. How on earth did we get here? Many pundits far wiser than I have been trying to figure it out. Some blame the victim of this Russian interference by saying Hillary Clinton was an awful candidate. Some blame the DNC and the head at the time, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Others blame the media for not doing their investigative duty and informing voters of the extent of Donald Trump's ties to Russia and his vast businesses that would present many opportunities for conflicts of interest.

I think there's plenty of blame to go around but let's now stop looking for someone to blame. Now is the time to figure out what to do with an amateur administration that doesn't know how to function effectively in DC or in world affairs. Not knowing is one thing. (No one expects them to know everything.) The most troubling aspect in my opinion is their willful ignorance. From my view, it looks like they don't even care to know. That's just sad.

We can only hope this administration begins to accept the extent of their ignorance and tries to remedy it by getting expert advice. Having a former media president with no experience in government advise Trump is no way to govern. The apprentice president needs experts in the room, not his children nor his in-laws. If we make it to day 100, it will be because wiser heads than his prevailed.

Action Required

It wasn't just President Obama's nightmare coming true. Most Americans were horrified to learn that Donald J Trump had won the necessary Electoral College votes to secure the presidency. President Obama had to eat his own words predicting that Trump would never be president of the United States. He had to be gracious and kind to the man who was anything but gracious and kind to him during his two terms in office. Most of us who had supported a different candidate went through the stages of grieving; many getting permanently stuck in the anger stage. Many of us finally reached the acceptance stage only to wake each morning to the reality of Trump's presidency and a new round of outrageous tweets, ridiculous surrogate statements, and bizarre Congressional committee hearings. We are only just 3 weeks into this presidency and yet nearly half of Americans polled would like to see him impeached. So, where do we go from here? As a long time Democrat, my plan is to resist most of President Trump's agenda. I don't support most of what he's proposed to do as president. I will support any Democrat in office who also opposes President Trump. I will work to encourage people to vote for Democrats who are running for office. If you share my sentiments, please find something you can do in this article on how to oppose President Trump and commit to taking action.
https://qz.com/846940/a-yale-history-professors-20-point-guide-to-defending-democracy-under-a-trump-presidency/